Wanted: A New Board of Trade,

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2579, 29 September 1915, Page 14

Wanted: A New Board of Trade,

■ The' British Board of Trade is such ati ili-detiued' -'and badly-worked depart-' I . inent that it' is not surprising that wo | liear to-day 'of the necessity ! ■ for its' rei'drnv." Its chief'_defect is'its inability ; to 'adapt ; itself readily to ever- . changing commercial v Recently^'it li as; been divided-'into several' departments, more consistent with the needs of'tlie age. .Foreign InternationalExhibitions and' Commercial; Intelligence are the most' important of'these. ; But what-is most, needed at the moment is to divide off from , tie-functions of'the board'a : 'Ministry- of vKaiiways aiid a Ministry of Labour, •■•leaving the Board of Trade purely as a-Ministry of Commerce, .run "as a. business .department. The next- necessary step, is the ■ appointment of British Trade Commissioners in every part of tlie world, to act as Commercial Uonsuls. •• The'Uonsuls of other nations generally serve' this purpose, but', the British' Consular Service is far behind't'ho times. . It is'gbyerhed, by the .Foreign'-Office; and is, full of :~red tape - and diplomatic deviousness. • Only .a few of ; 'tlie British Cbnsuls really.assist, the trader. As. often as'not the Consul is a foreigner and out : of touchviith.'.British needs.; The American system :is -.infinitely mora efficient. Their Consular, agencies are everywhere well. . equipped with competent, agents; All foreign firms fsending goods to tlie U.S.A.; must declare the wholesale prices oF the : exporting country,'' and file an invoice/accordingly. - This' enables the , agents to . safeguard American trade against liuscrupulous traders. Further, S an immcnse .tnass of.tho most valuable information is collected and placed at the disposal of all American traders.

A Commission of Imperial Trade. /We' liaye-.already "seeii that "the Briis almost an economic worldjjih: itself. . What it aiow • most requires" is a good commercial consular .service, and competent ;Trada Commis-' sionete planted in every' cojmtT'y in' the. worlds Australia is tluis; {represented in America and one orifefa ottier. counWhy should slieSiot.have repre-/ sentatjves in every cotifftry "with "which': she Ms considerable trailing' relations? • There-: is room for a big extension of theso% Imperial Consulates. ■■ .. There, should also be a standing' Imperial Commissign.of Commerce, which should part of the Empire and coordinate its commercial and industrial activities. There is . endless' opportunity for the dovetailing of the JEmpiresKresources by the continuous work of development that "could be undertaken~by a commission of . this character/i It is to be hoped that in the Imperial Council and the closer federation;','vwhich will follow this war that : somejsuch action, will be taken., If this -is done, no rival trading country : could ! 3igain threaten the economfc and political existence of the Empire. . 'flies 'British Board of Trade has been very activaduriiig the last year. Australia must keep her eyes open and do her sh'are;Vto fulfil the dream of Imperial statesmen. There has' also. been form;cd iii-jGrcat Britaui* an Institute of Industry; an.d Commerce, which has gathered t<i it tho best commercial brains in the country. This body and a reformed Board of Trado could work wonders in a.<few years. ' ■

1 International Exhibitions. It;took British countries a very long . time/'tb wake up to the importance of participation in International ExliibitionsMof Trade. Of the .Dominions, Canada was the first to learn 1 the gehtlo art .of, advertisement. ' For years past in England tho public, knewi far more abolip.Canada than about Australia.. Recently, however, tho Commonwealth has/advertised itself with considerable success.'- Its representation in the . Panama Exposition is a very good sign. ■" But.jve need far more than that. .Wo . require a permanent Commission of Exhibitions, whose task it shall: be to advertise Australia all over the' world. Sucfc'a body would seize every opportunity, largo and small, that presented itself .'ifor acquainting other countries/' first .with the materials which Australia call furnish,- secondly with thaopento men of skill anil capi- .. tal. The world hardly vet realises Vihe'.coining importance of .this country. Now.:.that our soldiers have given, us suclrja magnificent advertisement, we should follow our new .reputation into every?/corner of the globo. Another valuable work of this Commission would be the introduction of Australian inventions. ;and new processes into foreign countries where'the field -is open to theniV

The Interstate Commission. deeply interested in the Commercial development _of Australia lioped'nnuch from the activities of the .Interstate Commission set up in 1912. The'results have, however, been very disappointing. This is not the fault of tho Commission, but is due, in • my opinion, to the fact that Parliament .over-weglrted them with..; an immensely detailed inquiry into the tariff. The case for increases in tho tariff hardly seems to have warranted the expenditure of such a ureat deal of time. A largo-portion of tho report will never be read, 011 account of its volume and detail.' Tho Commission could bb much moro;useful if it devoted'itself to investigating the best ways in which to develop the internal resources and' industries of the Commonwealth. lie war lias oreated for us so many problems'at. this time that the Commission would have its hands full for years if it attempted nothing- moie. It pould

easily work in with the other schemes suggested in this article.

Technical Education. Technical education has now got a start in all"thp States. In most, however, it is; yet'in its infancy. In New South Wales and Victoria the outlook for Technical Colleges and Trado Schools 'is promising. What is most needed is a large extension of t-lis system. The. connection between the Technical Colleges and tho Universities is weii maintained, but there is still some dancer of overlapping. Ono great reform of which Australia stands much in need is the creation in connection with each University of a. Bureau of Economics and Commerce. It is a standing disgrace to' Australia that there is only one Chair of Economics and Commerce in the whole _ Commonwealth; that is at Sydney University. There is, moreover, not a single Bureau of Commercial Information. Such a Department would best follow' the American plan, acting as. the-collector of every kind of economic and commercial information, placing it at the disposal of all students, manufacturers and commercial men: It /would also hold Exhibitions of Industrial Processes, both Australian and foreign,, of a moro scientific character than tho ■ public exhibitions already. referred ' to. It is , astonishing that, with' all the cry. for Australian industries,' there has hitherto .been established no such Bureau., Tlio country badly, needs, it, for without it accurate and hp-to-dato information will never bo forthcoming, or economic and com-' niercial. studies .sufficiently encouraged.

. A Board of Inventions. It is impossible to further the true interests of Australian industry without t'he encouragement of Australian inventions.- There is a lamentable number- or instances in which young inven-tors,-after" failing to enlist sympathy aiid support in tho Commonwealth, have enriched-themselves l and other countries -byj successfully floating their, invention abroad. ■■ " ... , Australia cannot afford to lose, these great' opportunities of advancing l her, own ■ economic interests; Nor is it right that an invention should be' left to tlio tender mercies of a speculator. Things-. of ■•' sucji high social value are pre-eminently the affair- of the State. A .Board- of Inventions;might be set up, composed 6f: eminent - engineers' and chemists, 'University ! experts and Government representatives to consider and report upon every, invention produced in.the Commonwealth. This will enable new discoveries to be applied, scientifically under...suitableconditions in Australia. Ille, award of special prizes and scholarships would, immensely assist tho movement, which; would be in close contact with the universities and technical .colleges. ,

Business Scholarships. The remoteness of Australia from the great centres of industry make/it par-

ticularly necessary to adopt sonio means to bring herrbusiness men into closer contact with commercial movements in other countries. 1 suggest that it would pay this country in a thousandfold to send a limited number of business men abroad every year to study'industries and commercial methods in other lands. I.ct each State offer a number of business scholarships which would defray the expenses of a sixmonths' tour. Give the Chamber of Manufactures and the Chamber of Commerce tho right to choose two men each, an equal number to be chosen by t|io Government. The universities'and technical colleges should also be allowed to select a few. . Let those business scholars investigate whatever industry or process they wish, and make use of their knowledge, on their return in any way which sems to them desirable.. It would not matter in the least if they applied their knowledge to their own gain, for what wo most- want is increased efficiency in every department of trade. It is- surely, just as logical to send our business men abroad as it is to endow scholarships for our university students. .We should thus set up a constant living stream between Australia and. every other part of the world in which extra knowledge and. efficiency are to bo gained. We are'fatally inclined in the Southern Seas.to be content with what we know. ■ Wo ; forgot that much of pur apparent success is due to the superabundance with which Australia can smother up our mistakes. The tense competition between young business men for these . scholarships would greatly quicken their keenness in. their own profession. ■