TRADE WITH AMERICA.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2002, 9 March 1914, Page 4

TRADE WITH AMERICA.

That tnere is a deiflialid for New Zeajan-d hntter in the United States, but jsarti&iiki'ly in the States bordering on the Pizteifib, ■is very obvious Iron-! the -shipments that- have bccii wade to Sail Fra-uciseo, and aJso to VanGouvci , , and slwakl iaereaai if the business is piijpeiiy iia-odled. But few people It-no-sv the difjfeuK'ics and risks attending the business, feeently a very iarge ■sliipttieait had to bo cancelled because ! there was no provision for credits-, Sad there was also tfo& ease of JJ-ftw Zealand kit-ter king eo-nde-mned by the United States Fe-deral autfeOfities. Because the product contained ■a fcTaee of hone a-cid, there bfiiflg- a strict prohibition against the use of preservatives in butter, e-nloited by the Fcdcra} food asd Drug t>e-p4ftmeii-t. The gi'eatcst difficulty, and -one that will be veiy hard to overcome, is the lax wm-memal I nwrality" o! the American- dealer or jobber as eoiftpared with his British Viral. An unfortunate impjMjssion' ; was created a little time ii-go by tlie cieads-twiiatioß of a shipinent -of butI ter. It scorns that 1000 boxes, of ' totter were oeadejnMed by theanalyst, tho reason given, f&r tlie. I clseision being that it contained "tte■finjte traces of heiric aeid," Just about this time butfe-i , fi'om Aust#a-. lasia. was Eclliug at -a- )oss.j that is.: : the iraporters wro losing mojipy, ■ a-ad the withdrawal from $alo of t-hso condemned btttter .ensed the ppsitioji; fat a number of jobbers. TfeiKre h no appeal from the decision of.the ■ analysts* and the idea prevails that unless some a-rraDßemont is at if which the United States aufcheritios will aecefit tlie gua-raflt^e' : or certificate of the , Ifew Zealand Governnienti traces of boric acid are . liable to be discovered whenever the market goes against the Amori-Can [ importer. In another iafitaiic«, -alarge .quantity of butter was prae-

ticaliy rcipiuUatod by the buyers because letters of Credit w<sro hot established . In this ea-so «ilso tJte raarfest .it.the time was agairtst tlin buyers. ■ Yet another exporter had an cspwreflco of a. sofeiewliat sffflibr ebayaetev witk Vittipouver bujfets. Tfe -market went a.gaiiis't tiitf la'tfer unci, notwithstanding that they bad enteved into writ-ten e&ntraets. Uwsft are stated So have boeii repviiliatcd and the s.olk;-r liacl no r-cdr-ess, Tiie Canadian law a.ppareiiti.y gave, him no standing in tlw Law , Courts tliero. ■ so. that he could_ not sue.. Those who do business with British jotoWs cm, rely on contracts Jioing,' faitlifiiHy eatriod-<rtit. % nvlioiher the wi.irkHis for or ajrailisfc tluim. awd the American nftd Cnnndian. exporicmyis s.rr l>y contrast extremely bad. i\%. can arlinifo Mus Aittoricms fat' lEc, r y'nrwdiicsE) their ptishhiiftess, and their |nv*»tiv*| g-ffiius, h\t iheir business fflorality is, broadly gpeak-

ing, capable of a great deal of improvement. Of course, there arc many honourable exceptions, bat the butter mci'dwrtts appear to have come in contact with some who dc> not respect contracts, This aspce* of the trade must be pat right promptly, lot unless there is confidence on both sides there, can lies no hope of iitiy expansion of business. As oiiß exporter remarked: "We ai-c not likely to sKp twice on tljfi same banana skin." Fortunately, our merchants have tlae whip hand. We can sell our Jnitter ifl the United Kingdom without any fear of meeting with peculiar and questionable business methods, The' Americans want our butter, and, that being so. they must do business on our terns and conditions,'which must lie made more stringent than those rulinjr with British jobbers, if we wish to avoid risk. It should be pointed out that the brunt of teelopiug tlie Pacific trade is being bwMo % the exporting merchants. Jjiey into contracts with tho factories and, however they may be treated by those to whom they .resell, the factories are paid. It is not all profit for the muMkman iti this ease.