BRITAIN'S CALL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 172, 22 July 1940, Page 4

BRITAIN'S CALL.

TRADE AND WAR.

INDUSTRY'S EFFORT. CYCLES FOR NEW ZEALAND. MAKERS GUARANTEE PRICES. Indie,i ting Britain's confidence in the face, of the present crisis. An.'lsland merchants ha\t received from manufacturers of c\ elei-, and parts at Home cabled advice stating that British makers solicit immediate co-operation by the placing of orders for export in maximum quantities for six months ahead. The cable adds that tiie British i.uvei nenent, is prc«-dng strongly for export development and is making allocations for the delivery of materials, which will be supplied on the basis of immediate forecasts of future trade.

"We arc willing to guarantee to supply at existing prices all machines dispatched from Britain before December ,'il," states the cable.

Much significance is attached by representatives of the cycle trade in Auckland to the fact that the drive for trade by Britain is being made at a time when the nation is standing to arms ready to deal with an attempt at invasion. Besides indicating the confidence of the manufacturers in the future, the cable also reveals their ability to accept orders and to quote prices for a period of several months ahead for goods in which steel and other metals and materials, all in heavy demand for armaments, are required.

The cable l.arf followed communication* by New Zealand members of the cycle trade with British firms to ascertain whether tlicv are able to continue supplying the Dominion under the new conditions which have developed. Local merchants have also been advised that ships loaded with goods for the Dominion, including consignments of cycles, left British ports lately, probably in convoys, while Nazi attacks on shipping near the British coast were being made daily. "Orders have already been placed for cycles covering the whole of the fourth period allocation* for imports, that is, iip to the end of December," s-aid a leading representative of thp Auckland cycle trade this morning. "In order to take advantage of Britain's urgent call for trade it is necessary that we should receive allocations for the fifth period, from January to June of next year, as early as possible. Restrictions in imports of cycles during the past eighteen months under the import control system have had the effect of cleaning up shocks in New Zealand, and some popular models have now gone completely off the market. The demand has continued active throughout this period, and lately has sharply increased, due to petrol rationing. The 'poor man's motor car' has come into its own, and it is now not uncommon to see elderly men and women riding through the suburbs and on the highways around the city. With younger people the cycle is extensively used in travelling to and from work." "