LOST EXPORT TRADE

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 61, 12 March 1936, Page 12

LOST EXPORT TRADE

COTTON PIECE GOODS

Mr. J. Helliwell, a Lancashire expert, who has been, appointed weaving manager for the Davies Co-operative Co., Ltd., Melbourne, avers that last year he saw-samples of Russian fabrics he would have been proud to have made. "And the Soviet is out for trade," he added. In Manchester he had seen finished cotton goods from Japan sold for less than English manufacturers paid for raw material. This subject of Japanese competition with Lancashire goods was dealt with by Mr. Percy Fish, chairman of J. H. and H. Roberts, Ltd., of Manchester. In his speech to. shareholders at- the annual, meeting recently held in Manchester Mr. Fish said:—You may recollect that in my speech to the shareholders last year I referred to goods being: received here from Japan in the gre» state, and after passing through the dyeing and finishing processes being exported with a declaration to. the effect that they were British-made. I pointed out that although this was within the law it. was morally . wrong, and that the ' certificate should be tightened up and made to read that the goods were spun, woven, and finished in the British Empire. You will no doubt be pleased to hear that during this year a regulation has been put into force which only permits cotton and artificial silk piece goods to enter certain British, colonial markets free from quotas providing : the shipping documents are accompanied "with a Chamber of Commerce certificate declaring that they are spun, woven, and finished in the British Empire. This is a step in.the right direction, but it does not help. this company, as the j condition does-not apply in the case of goods exported to Australia and NeW Zealand, in which, markets we are specially interested. If there is any value'in the slogan "British-made" then surely it should apply to all our self-governing Dominions, including Australia and New Zealand, to say the least. I fail to.see why any shipping house should b*- allowed to declare goods as British-made when only a part of the operation is performed on this side, and thus gain an advantage over other* who toe the line legally and morally. Referring.in particular to New Zealand, -Mr. Fish touched on -political changes in the Dominion. He. noticed that the New Zealand trade returns for 1935-36 were very promising, and the outlook must be considered bright. "But this does not mean that ,the textile trade of Lancashire will share in that prosperity. On the other hand, unless there are drastic alterations1 in legislation, we cannot hope to produce other than specialties which can compare with the values offered by Japan in. these markets."