TRADE WITH THE EAST

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21147, 24 April 1934, Page 13

T RADE WITH THE EAST

! extension wanted to Bll\ Elt ' 'Knd seller 1 al)D ress to chamber of I COMMERCE ! rri ie benefits which New Zon'f would derive from an cxcinn of trade in Iho Fast, and immense potentialities of the ?°Jrn markets were mentioned &S Jhv bv Mr J. A. Hyndman, of the Nippon j 1 Un Kaisha, one of the largest ? Inonese shipping firms, who ; J f. p „ at luncheon by j Z Canterbury Chamber of Com--3 „prce Mr Hyndman outlined the I Sress Japan had made recently ■f « a manufacturing country, and j Lhasised the advantages of rc- < Socal trade between Japan and ! S Dominion. Mr A F. Wnght ■i Indent of the Chamber of 4 e mmerce, also spoke of the dcI lability of more trade with the "j East. I; Mr Wright said that New Zea- j | j anc | er? were developing an intensive | Interest in the East. New Zealand Ls on the look-out for new markets. 1 to tariffs and quotas a? Ihey were a Lday, it was absolutely essential 1 (tot the country should exploit every | [pportunity of finding new overseas l| Lrkets for her goods. Wc had t ) c ancd for long on Great Britain, and - had regarded Great Britain as a * free and unrestricted market, but f during the last months wc had had la rude awakening. This was parij tictllarly evident over the last few days, owing to the unfortunate posiItion of the dairy industry. New Zealand had neglected to exploit new markets. Australia had been building up a wonderful trade with the gait, but New Zealand had allowed matters to drift. No Direct Shipping jlcw Zealand was unfortunately placed in that she had no direct comintmicafion with the Eastern countries The Dominion's industries required insulated rpacc in transport steamers and storage accommodation at the market end. It was to be hoped that British shipping coinpanics would seize the opportunity of I friending New Zealand's trade with JiflEast. If they did not there-were I fix important shipping concerns,) j 'Ji of, which Mr Hyndman was re-j and some which were | TJr.jiit'?.-jiViV rolled, which were willing t to extend,'facilities to Dominion trade. : j.' it was j not served by British intcrals. Mr Wright, said that it was to be hpctl that any extension of steamer ."[rcmmodn'iou between New Zca;Sl and the East would include arMScmrjil.; fur more ships iu come South Island ports. The South T"i:nd had been badly neglected in this respect. Canterbury had a fine barter at Lytlclton. where any ship touki be berthed comfortably. Some i: the largest; ships afloat had been arommodated at Lyttelton, including I.lb Hood and the Renown. It was a natter for regret that we did not see nore overseas shipping at Lyttelton for there was sufficient: produce at the South Island ports to warrant a large ratension of their shipping. Japanese Progress Japan, said Mr Hyndman, wds toifiay ohe of the great Power.! of the world, and this position had been gained from scratch during a period of 70 yeat?. This progress had been diie principally to the Japanese faculty of being able and willing to study the most minute details, but behind this was the great spirit of patriotism and Bushida —a code of chivalry which had been developed almost to <i religion. The people of no other hltion were more faithful to their tountry than the Japanese, and none would make greater sacrifices for i their homeland. Mr Hyndman referred to the creation of the new empire of Mantllukuo. and said that the Japanese Movement in this direction had bacn entirely successful. Japan had had strictly honourable ends in view, and 'here was no reason why British psople and others should not benefit from the possibility of trading with Manchukuo. Japan, an Intensely industrial nation, *had been compelled to move as she had done, principally in order that a field of consumers should be made a field of customers. Since the bandits and war lords had fceen driven out, and since a responsible government had been established, conditions were fast changing, "id the farmers and artisans were low able to purchase the necessities of life. This "meant that more than 30,000,000 people had been made potential buyers. * Mr Hyndman said that he had seen coolies in Hsingking. Mukden, and, TO smaller cities of Manchukuo, buygarments of cotton and wool. In JJJard to the latter it was certain jnat some of these goods were manufactured from New Zealand wool. During the last few years Japan's purchases of New Zealand wool had MCn increasing and there was no reason why this should not continue, provided New Zealanders realised that " a Pan was not a producer of wool, but a manufacturer, and that New Zeala"d had not the population to supj l .®! manufacturing beyond certain Tariff Walls It seems unreasonable that you i, • e °nsider setting up a high wiu waJl against goods manufactured principally from your own raw products," he continued. "It is more that preference should be ; r n '; H 'n to this class of merchandise. W ? 1 'S urnGn t does not apply to wool. /■' to such goods ns casein, which enters into the manufacture of articles which you need and land arc re ' m^ortcc ' to New Zean,,„S,Uch items as meat and dairy ra- - ? ts 'with the exception of whfU hone y on d all food products, >cn when exported do not return,

should be taken into consideration when arranging tariffs on goods manufactured in other countries and which cannot be economically manufactured in your own. It is a fact that almost 90 per cent, of the products which are now purchased by you from Japan (wiin the exception of silk goods) were, before the war, supplied from Germany, Austria, France, and America, and this shows that you are not untrue to Empire trade when buying these goods from Japan." Exchange of trade was essential, said Mr Hyndman. Shipping companies could not carry at low rates unless they had two-way traffic. Not many years ago New Zealand was considered an inaccessible country and of very little v importance commercially. Now it was fast growing in importance. This position could best be developed by New Zealamders sticking to their job by producing and marketing their natural wealth, by maintaining a high standard of production on a competitive level, by patience in teaching the excellence of New Zealand's trade-marked goods, and by honesty in commercial dealings. Japan To-day Mr Hyndman referred to the present. financial position of Japan. The national debt had risen from 3,(109,000,000 yen in 1023 to 6,188,000,000 yen in 1932. The interest burden of this debt would bring heavy taxation, but the Government hoped that industry would be stimulated sufficiently to bear the cost without undue hardship. The amount of assistance given directly by the Government to industry had often been exaggerated to imply that the Government had paid, to apparently successful industries, large subsidies without which their rapid development would have been impossible. The Japanese policy had certainly aimed at fostering manufacturers. The imposition of tariffs had kept out many goods which might have competed with the home industries in their early stages, but the actual amount of subsidies paid had been comparatively small. The Bank of Japan estimated that in 1920 private industry had received not more than £"2.000.000. more than half of which went to the shipping industry. Some idea of the growth of the industrialisation of Japan could be gained from a comparison of production in 1922 and 1932. Cotton yarn production had increased by nearly 26 per cent., and cotton tissue production by 76 per cent. Foreign trade statistics showed the great degree of industrial development. In 1922 raw material averaged about 43 per cent, of total imports: by 1932 fnis had increased to nearly GO per cent. The same trend was illustrated by the decline in the imports of finished noods. Mr Wright, in thanking Mr Hyndman for his address, said that anything we could do in extending trade with the East would be well done. At three weeks' sailing from New Zealand there was a population of 100,000.000, and we could not afford to neglect any more of our opportunities. Mr W. J. Dexter, manager at Shanghai for the South British Insurance Company, was also present at the luncheon.