BRITISH GOODS.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18723, 21 June 1926, Page 11

BRITISH GOODS.

TO THE EDITOB OT THB PRESS. Sir,—l have been somewhat tardy in , replying to "Mere Farmer's" letter on the subject..of British goods, but the j question may still be of slight interest } to New Zealanders whether, they re- r gard themselves as just plain members ! of tho..British Commonwealth ns a < whole, or more particularly as citizens of "God's Own Country."' I do not think I am wrong in claiming that tho' interests of the two are indissoluble. I have not "Mere Farmer's" letter .by me, but since we have, not as. yet reached tho' usual culmination of newspaper correspondence, to wit, acrid interchange of personalities, 1 trust he will-'forgive me if I misinterpret him, my' pica being that the only axe I i have to.grind is that of. my existence , as a British citizen—a somewhat pro- , carious, ono in tho present state of, ( th ln & my first letter of May 24th, \ I deliberately did not touch on the j question of cars, English versus Amen- , can,-for the subject, is rather'above .j the piano pf my indifferent grasp of , affairs, but.sirice th«Fangels are holding , hack, lam sure-I don't mind rushing, ] in again. When-. I spoke of British ] versus American, articles (article is a , vaguo'ter'ni, I-admit), I" intended to ] convey.the meauihg of small, not j necessarily expensive, objects bought ( "daily by the public in hiuidreds or \ thousands. ■_■ ,■. y ' i But to get down to f the particular,as ] against the Fanner 1 asks whether he is expected to purchase English cars of twice' the prico , and half the. value of the American, or 1 words that effect... Certainly .not— , if he is.sure'ihat there'are not English 1 cars Of .the 6ame prico and the Banie . value, oj" more properly, cars costing ; perhaps a little • more, but possessing i twice the value in durability and equal j suitability for normal Now. Zealand con-' ■< •ditions. And surely,, jwhatever the ; siuatiba- was a few years, ago, there are. < such-cars now.. The cheap American ] car is undoubtedly wonderful value— ( in America, and' when I say cheap, 1 refer to the car-that can be mar kcted- (again, in America) on the principle" that it is so choap_ that it can be scrapped as soon, within, reason, as the owner feels he would like a new one, ,or as the upkeep becomes too expensive,. or for other reasons. But, for good or for bad, we are not yet ono of the United States of America, and by the time.that car, through expensive channels, comes into the hands of the ~New Zealand consumer; dees the price warrant him•: treating it in the same, way? I think.inot,,-though he may .still do it, but not on a sound basis, for all economists (correct me if I am wrong) are agreed that New Zealand spends too much money on motorcars, and as far ns American cars are concerned, some, half at any rate, goes out of ijtho country in cash. 'Where the other half goes does not come within, the purview of this letter. Supposing that there were no such ihin'gs as quasi-cheap American cars, is it. at all certain that the more •humbly, situated among us would be any the less happy for not possessing a 'car, beyond at times being slightly envious of tho rich, who are at liberty to be-as unhappy as they please? The commercial man, and any one who absolutely had to cover tho maximum amount of ground in pursuit of his . daily.'bucud, would own a car'just the same, because it would eanr him more money, even if the first, cost was greater, And,here I may .before anyone jumps down my throat, that I have been, referring all along only to the lower-priced ears. Someono else (if there is anyone else, in these apathetic times, interested, in the subject besides "1.M."), may ccrty it into the realm ,of the more expensive car, and all the other aspects of the question.- . ''- As regards happiness and prosperity — of the average farmer, at any. rate —I would like' to put' forward -the theory that tho telephone is a much more useful and economical link with civilisation than a car. eren if the former were to cost him £3O .to £4O per annum! v . But "revenous a- nos moutons." "Mere Farmer" contends that there are other markets than Great Britain waiting for our lamb. I should bo interested to hear of them: - Markets there may be, but what of the price?— Yours, etc., z SIMPLE SIMON. Juno 19th, 1926.