THE D'ABERNON MISSION

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 124, 21 November 1929, Page 12

THE D'ABERNON MISSION

ALREADY BEARING FRUIT

V Lord D'Abernon (who will be remembered in New Zealand as Sir Edward Vincent, when he came here as head of a British Trade Mission): was. recently the head of a British Economic Mission to the Argentine Republic. Attention was specially paid when in Buenos Aires to the import trade of British manufactures. The mission was accorded a most cordial welcome by the Argentine Government and heads o£ commercial houses. The need for such a mission as Lord D'Abernon was very necessary if the Buenos Aires special correspondent of "The Times' was correct. He stated that it is not.enough to go by the export figures or the Board of Trade. They are reasonably accurate, but. they do not, and they cannot, differentiate to any extent worth mentioning between the purchases of concerns' such as the big Anglo-Argentine railways and the general trade of the Republic. LOSING ITS GRIP. , Thia general trade is what everyone interested m increasing the import of .British goods desires to see expanded stated the correspondent. - At the present time fewer and fewer British goodscotton textiles excepted—are-to be found m the shops of Buenos Aires, and, however true it may be to say that the importance of British trade rests on the big business, it should be clearly understood' that Great Britain is day by day losing much of its grip on the general market here. This remark does not apply solely to the two or three lines, such as. automobiles and harvesting plant in which British goods make absolutely no showing whatsoever. For the present there seems as if nothing could be done in tins direction, though one quite sympathises with a new arrival who travelled out from Great Britain with the mission and discovered, to his astonishment, as he Phrased. iW'not a single British car was visible in the streets of Buenos Aires" adding that "this would have to be .remedied. With this sentiment every Briton in Argentina and many Argentines too, would be m complete agreement. J BIG RAILWAY CONTRACT. _ One of the sequels of the D'Abernon Mission was the securing of the first contract for the equipment of the Buenos Aires Central Railroad and Terminal Company s . new underground railway, which is being built in Buenos Aires. This was-obtained by the British firm the iletropohtan-Cammell Carriage Wagon and- Finance Company, Ltd. The order, which is for the construction of 56 mo-tor-cqaehes_ costing: about £250,000, was secured m face of keen competition from American and German manufacturers The electrical equipment of the coaches' was sublet to the General" Electric Company 01. England. When part of the funds for constructing the new underground was raised in Great Britain assurances were given by the company that on tenders for equipment British manufacturers would be :giyen preference if bids were equal TfH\ £25°'000 contract » the fi^t S ,01-these assurances. ARGENTINE INDUSTRY. ■Young as a manufacturing country as Argentina is, it has its own local industries to care for, and these are expanding. They instance 320 cotton mills, 30 dist§■eTles> k°ot an<l shoe factories (employoperatives);" glass worksYoap works, ; shipbuilding at Buenos Airesbreweries: tobacco factories (using Argentine ; leaf) and furniture-making, and extensive tanneries. The tanneries tend to &¥'ts =auswg concern in the United States whose tanners will be the chief by_ the enactment ofaßill of :jop totals .160,000 tons, one haU of which goes to the United States. The pur.poße ot the Bill is to prevent foreign manufacturers obtaining the logs in the raw, and so competing with Argentine jnanufacturers.

:ii BRITISH CREDIT SET UP. . The following i s the draft of the AngloArgentrae Convention concerted with the JJritisn Economic Mission tinder the chairmanship of Lord D'Abernon and the British Ambassador, Sir Malcolm Robertson"—

•li I^ c ,Government o£ Great Britain will do what is-necessary-for accredit to be opened in favour of the Argentine Government up to-the sum of 100,000,000 pesos (natural currency) for two years, counting from the-signature of the present agreement, to be devoted to the asquisition m the United Kingdom of materials for the Argentine State railways and other national departments. ■?• The Argentine Government in turn will..take; the necessary steps to open a credit for an equal amount and period in--favour ofHhe British Government for the acquisition, through the parties which it, may designate, of ceerals and other products of the country. '3. The Argentine Government or its representative:^ London may draw on the credit of Article'l against delivery ot tte-corresppnding shipping documents lor the--payment of the invoices of the materials it acquires. . 4. The Government of Great Britain or its representative in Argentina may draw on the credit of Article 2 against delivery ot. the corresponding shipping documents the sums necessary for the payment of the products of the country which it acquires.

5. The Argentine Government or its representative in, London will acquire by tender" or-- direct purchase from British factories the railway and other materials ™™ w needs in accordance with the bases and conditions which may be established. . . .

'6. The; British Government or its representative -in Argentina will acquire the products it needs by tender or directly from the producers at prices not less tnan the official quotations of the date of the acquisition.

_ When he left Buenos Aires for Rio de Janeiro, Lord D'Abernon announced that the President of the Argentine Republic Senor Ingoyen, had caused the following message.to be cabled to the British Board of Trade:—"We shall never forget the eminent manner in which the mission has fulfilled its high purpose. A consequence of the visit is the establishment of closer .sympathy between the Argentine people and the graet English nation. Please accept my warmest regards." ■ HARCOURT ESTATE SOLD. 'The well-known property of the late 3lr. Ji B. .Harcourt, between Hill street and Hawkestone-street, has been purchased by the Marsden de Luxe Estate, Ltd. This property has been famed for many years for its magnificent specimen trees, including what are reputed to be the finest pohutak'awa trees in . the Wellington province. The sale was effected by Air. Esmond Greig.