TRADE WITH ENGLAND.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume VI, Issue 265, 25 October 1916, Page 2

TRADE WITH ENGLAND.

A PLEA FOR PATRIOTISM

address by trade commissioner.

/it ye.'terday’s Napier Chamber of Commerce meeting H.M. Trad? Commissioner (Mr. R. M. Dalton) was introdui e'd by the chairman, and proceeded to address those present.

In the course of his remarks, Mr. Dalton said he was in New Zealand for a term of three years, and at the close of that period he would tour the United Kingdom and give them the information obtained. He had noticed an extraordinary business patriotism in New Zealand, where merchants often went out of their way to purchase English goods when they- could easily be got from foreign countries. The Home manufacturers, were giving up practically everything at the present time for the Government. The output for general trade was regulated by the

Minister of Munitions, who also controlled where the goods should go. Many industries had been adjusted for the supply of war material. He wanted it clearly to be known that big profits were not being made. During two years of war the Government had learned the exact cost of vnr material, whkh was now obtained Ft bed-rock prices. These firms were not making i the profits that they would make under ordinary trade conditions. They- were supplying to the Government at a percentage on cost, whi e outside buyers wore asking for goods at any cost, and ; yet these manufacturers were preferj ring to let these profits go and supply 'ri,~ _i_

; munitions. Iho foreign competitor deJ sired to capture the Bfritish trade, yet ! the Home manufacturer was supplying ) anything required by the YVar Office ! first. They hoped that they would not i lose New Zealand trade liecause they i were considering the War Office first, jAs a matter of fact he believed the j British Empire would be able to com- ; pete with far greater force after the

) war than it had ever been able to do ; before. While supplying all that was : required for the war, as we 1 as our i Allies, and there was to-day a 90 per ; cent export trade in comparison with < the level before the war. With 5,000,000 , mon at the war England’s production 1 was far greater than ever before, and i it was absurd for writers in magazines j to suggest that she would not lie able j to supply as much as she did before. The huge turnover had led to the inI trod’.iction of new and up-to-date machinery, which would place the ■ manufacturer in a far better position than ever before. Their output would be far greater than ever before. They would have to secure overseas orders to keep this machinery going. A few years after the war the Home manufacturers would he ah e to produce much more cheaply than before, and as cheap as any foreign competitor. If this is so, this was not the time for any good business man to enter into long contracts with any foreign manufacturer. Industrial England had been revolutionised. Some firms were accepting the offers of foreign firms, overlooking the fact that English manufacturers would be able to supply the articles cheaper after the war. This was not general. It was extremely bad business, because the Home manufacturer was not yet ab.e to tell us what he could do. He considered these facts should be sufficient inducement to New Zealand merchants to remain loyal and put off the making of longperiod contracts.

Tn answer to Mr. Harris, Mr. Dalton said it was quickly realised at Borne that trouble would be experienced in producing dyes. Satisfactory blues and blacks had been discovered, and there was every reason to be ieve that the researches would he successful. Outside guns and ammunition it was surprising that anything was satisfactory. A good many men had been let gb who. in normal times, would be considered , indispensable. The manufacturer at 1 present only had about 60 per cent, of its old efficiency, and it was surprising that the results were so good. Mr. C. H. Edwards, in moving a I vote of thanks to Mr. Dalton, said it • would be their bounden duty at the end ) of the war to purchase British made articles. (Applause).