Wake up, New Zealand!

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume XXIII, Issue 3873, 2 June 1917, Page 1

Wake up, New Zealand!

(From a Home correspondent). !

War is an evil, but like all other evils it is not an unmitigat- t ed one. If this present war, as it assuredly will, helps forward the development of the Empire's in-

ternal resources it will be an occasion of strength to the Empire and a forger of yet another bond between Britain and the British Dominions beyond the seas. The sudden demand from the North of England for Australian and New Zealand dairy produce has suggested the thought. Those familiar with the grocery and provision trades have long realised how dependent that part of the United Kingdom has been on supplies from Denmark and from Holland. We would not imply that our people in the North have been less patriotic in the past than they might have been, but now that through force of circumstances they have been compelled to fall back upon, let !us say, New Zealand butter to replace the Danish article, we cannot help hoping that all things being equal they will continue to give preference to the Colonial product.

A glance back at the situation reveals the fact that butter from Denmark has continuously commanded a higher price than that obtained for New Zealand butter. There may be of course a reason for this that we are not aware of, but judging the position from the consumer's standpoint as well as from that of the expert, there can be no doubt that New Zealand does ship to this country butter in every respect equal to the best Danish product: It is to

be recognised that what suits one j palate will not suit another, and what finds favour in the south may not be liked in the north, but these variations are matters of detail, well "understood by the expert dairyman, which have only to be pointed out to our.kin in New Zealand to be easily provided for. This leads us to' the observation that'the foreign producers have through their various commissioners made it their business to find out exactly what is required by the different markets (as, for example, that' Bradford prefers a very much paler butter than does London), and they have endeavoured to produce their gooods accordingly.

This, then, is the first requisite, to cater for the likes and prejudices of the different classes of consumers.

The second is to take a leaf out of the foreigners' book, and push the trade in a thoroughly intelligent, persistent and businesslike way. The colonies with possibly one exception, South Australia, have lamentably failed in this matter. This is essential and never more important than now, and it is our excuse, in the Empire's interests as well as in those of the trade and the consumer, not to speak of those of the Dominions, for calling attention to it as forcibly as we can.

At grocers' exhibitions all over i the Kingdom in the past there 1 have been excellent displays of! colonial produce from South Australia and of produce from foreign countries. We have looked in vain for the stacks of fresh, sweet butter, and other products of farm and * field, from New Zealand which should have been there, which could have been there at ridiculously small expense, had New Zealand only been alive to the situation. This is but a sample of the opportunities which have been missed. Meanwhile the " man in the street," and more certainly the woman in the shop, have been left in ignorance of the produce of their brethren beyond the seas,« and small wonder is it therefore that it has not been liked, sought after and demanded! It is high time that there was a change. Shakespeare has said " there is a tide in the affairs of men which taken at the flood leads on to fortune." The tide is now at the full flood for the Governments of our Dominions and colonies. We have welcomed their sons to fight for the Motherland, we are prepared to welcome the fruits of their industries and to give them preference. If that tide is taken advantage of now, the position of colonial produce will be revolutionised. And the grocer and provision merchant willbenefit also. It is true he is not in business primarily to help the farmers, even if they be his own kin, beyond the seas. But he will be a poorer business man than we know him to be if he is not able to take

his share of the advantage which patriotism just now provides, 1 That advantage consists in the determination of every Britisher to use an Empire product rather than one of foreign origin. Shall it be said that the public is ready to give preference to imperial products, that the distributor is ready to handle them (he may need a gentle reminder, it is true); but that the producers persist in remaining in futile supineness ? We can only say, '• Colonial Governments please note —nay rather, mark well and get to work!"