APPEAL FOR BRITISH TRADE

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 83, 5 October 1914, Page 2

APPEAL FOR BRITISH TRADE

THE CASE FOR HARDWARE. The British Trade Commissioner (Mis Wickham) has sent 'an appSil to ail Chambers of Commerce in New Zealand asking their co-operation in a matter ot some importance to British trade. "Statement's are constantly being made by merchants who, in the past, have dealt largely in German and Austrian goods to the effect that these goods are products obtainable only from these countries and not from England," Mr. Wickham. states. "Recent cases in' point are enamelled hollow-ware, carpenters' tools, pencils, stationery, gas and electrical goods, and certain specified drugs. Now, sir .many of your members know these statements to be untrue, for the . good reason that they have been handling the British makes for years ; but not many realise that it is their duty both to the public and to the British manufacturer hot to allow these statements to lie unrefuted. Furthermore, they have an excellent opportunity for pointing out to the public that they at least lmve been selling good quality British goods before the war. There has been little justification for much of this trade with Germany in the past; there is still less justification for directly instructing the public to transfer their custom to America. "I need hardly say that the services of my office and of the Board of Trade are at the disposal of all who want ac» curate information on such points. There are, and always have been, m most lines manufacturers in the United Kingdom ready to make competitively what is being procured from the Continent, and the activities of the Board of Trade, now in the limelight of press notices, have been for years directed to putting, such manufacturers in touch with markets."