TAKING GERMAN TRADE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2691, 10 February 1916, Page 6

TAKING GERMAN TRADE

-#—-—. ■ ACTIVITY IN BRITAIN BOARD OF TRADE'S CAMPAIGN i WBr started, affairs in industrial England have gone ; til roll j'li many changes.._ The cutting off of sugi puos of a variety of goods previously imported! from enemy countries created an extraordinary position, which has been very successfully met—in many ® as . e The poard ;of Trade' has played a great part W the efforts which were then made, and are now being made, to ensure tihat at til© conclusion of the war a large proportion of. the articles which had, been Imported should bo manufactured in 1 England. \ . lhe facilities for trade; in British-made ' /goods offered to. manufacturers and ■...i wholesale buvers by tho-Board of Trade were.<(says the Auckland ."Herald") referred to by Mr. R. W. Dalton, who arrived in Auckland from England by tho SSiagara, and is in Wellington, tojday,' to take lip the position of His Majesty's Trade Commissioner in New 'Zealand. Mr. Dalton stated that the /British Industrial Fair held last year fcwas part of the trade campaign organUsed by th© Board of Trade. Another twas to be' hold this year, ;mic! it was anticipated! that tho exhibition would'become an annual fixture. : ' Bio idea was," Mr. Dalton continued, "that during' the war we should hold a- fair in London on the lines, of the tteipsic Fair. The Leipsic Fair att-ract-led as manv as 50,000 buyers from all hurts of the world, and the intention rtvas that we should endeavour to organise a similar, fair iu Londou, for articles Which, could be best dfealt witih by an exhibition. It was proposed to include P the exhibition articles of a fancy description, and particularly articles which' fed Idtherto beeu manufactured in Germany.. It was felt that if the buyers CouM be induced to visit London they would do business. At last year's exV hibition we found! that this hope was ■realised in an extraordinary degree. fPeople were led to purchase goods, of a abetter quality and at a higher price, Which they formerly had purchased in Germany at lower prices They, realised . :that the difference in quality niore than balanced the difference in price. Although the manufacturers were ■ generally extremely busy, wo found them ready .' to enter into the campaign in the best j'spirit,. and to dispose ot their output /among various buyers rather than sell to any one- customer. Valuable Industrial Exhibits, "When the war first broke out," continued Mr. Dalton, "the Board of • Trade decided that tho destruction of ■ German commerce was almost as Important as the destruction of her armies, and we fixed on the plan of .: .bringing under the notice of the manu- i facturers the trade Germany bad dona nnd how they might attempt to take | it. In the first instance we issued , about 120 reports dealing with a. par- ] j ticular class of goods in which Ger- | many had excelled. Tho next tiling | ivas to establish sample, bureaux in ] which wo exhibited the actual articles , w;ith the prices wliicli had been paid j for them by wholesale buyers. Tile manufacturers were then invited to come and seo the samples ; also, the wholesale buyers, who were hungry for . the goods. The two were thus : brought J together, and it> was found that a largo amount of business was done in the ex- , hibition itself.. Tho board had a sep- J orate exhibition for each article of German manufacture, which we collected ! ourselves.. 'We then approached tho wholesale buyers, who .were only too anxious to meet the manufacturers ind arrange for the making of the class ' of goods desired. The result was that a ,very large amount of . business was 1 transacted between them.' It is hoped ■ that an exhibition of British goods will ' bo carriqd on from year to year. Fulfilling Colonial Orders, ■ ; "In!connection with this exhibition, and in regard to the general'position," said Mr. Dalton, "I would like porticu- ' . larly to point out that it is very diffioult indeed for our manufacturers to ■meet the demands which are made on. them for goods. Most of them are engaged more than their normal time in •] fulfillingi Government orders. The} I .-have to scatter their business between ] .their other customers, and the amount i (they have for distribution is very ■much smallef than it was. be- : 'fere tho war. So that if buyers i in New Zealand feel that they are being i starved of articles which they formerly « .received in considerable quantities, it is I because the manufacturers in England ] find .it absolutely impossible to even : nearly satisfy the demand., The manu- ' facturers are .not dilatory. It is a mat- i ter of very grave concern that they can- < not meet their customers' wishes. No- : body can conceivo what 'the., difficulties' •of manufacturing are at the present < time, without making a tour of the i industrial districts. Apart from tho ( enormous demands of the Government,' -1 the difficulties of getting kime of the I jaw material, of getting the necessary .( labour, nnd iu obtaining delivery of any. ,' i land of labour-saving machinery y aro ] enormous." • i Future Trade Prospects.' : ; •Aisked what are the prospects of the: •'< British manufacturers successfully cori-;, ', tending with German competition, after < •the war, Mr. Dalton replied. that in 1 some lines Germany could manufacture I bo cheaply that she miVht be'able to * get some of her trade back.". Whether i or not, even with these lines, Germany < would succeed depended almost solely upon the n.ttitmlc of the buvers in the British Dominions. "Wo hope, however, " added tho Trade Commissioner, "that tlie buvers will realise from thnir experience of British coods during tho Trar. that their superior quality more than compensates for the difference in price. It is qnito possible that Ger- !' many will not b» able to manufacture L «l»y of these articles at anything like 1 the price she rlid in the past, but there 1' ii not the slightest doubt that she e *vill use her greatest endeavours to re- r cover the trade that slio bad." ® Mr. Dalton said in conclusion that ho v hoped to continue the good work done J fiv his predecessor in New Zealand, Mr. W. G.' Wickham, with whom he lrad 0 conferred .at, Vancouver. 5 __________ c — a