THE H.B. TRIBUNE FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 1934 TRADE WITH SCOTLAND.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 96, 6 April 1934, Page 4

THE H.B. TRIBUNE FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 1934 TRADE WITH SCOTLAND.

An important movement has been inaugurated to develop a greater degree of reciprocity in trade between the Dominions and Scotland, and it is one in which New Zealand has good cause to be particularly interested. The negotiations have been initiated by the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and the Clyde Trust. The latter body is recognised as being one of the most enterprising in the Empire, and any undertaking to which it puts its hand has more than the usual chance of success. Many have felt for a long time that it is not sufficient merely to increase the volume of trade as between two countries but that the balance should be fair to both.

Mr. Harold M. Ford, commercial manager of the Clyde Trust, made the arresting statement that during the past three years the shipping trade between Glasgow and Australia had been trebled, while trade with New Zealand had been doubled. Yet he was compelled to add that last year, although there had been an Increase of 15 vessels in the Clyde from Australia, 78 per cent, of the total sailed out of port under ballast. In the case of New Zealand 92 per cent, of the ships left the harbour empty. That is an unsatisfactory situation from the point of view of the Clyde, and immediate steps are to be taken to meet it.

The initial policy to be pursued is to attempt to make direct contact with the 30,000 odd visitors who go to the Old Country annually from Australia and New Zealand. Those of them who have business interests or who have definite business to transact are mostly in the habit of making London the centre of their activities. Although they may meet representatives from the North, it is felt that the great industrial centres of the West of Scotland are not being given a sufficient opportunity to place their commodities directly under the notice of the prospective buyers from overseas. Similarly, most of the selling by overseas visitors is done on the London market. This also precludes Scotland to some extent from what she regards as a fair share of the trade that is offered. Representatives from the Clyde Trust and the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce have already visited London, where they interviewed various Dominion representatives. As a result, they have expressed themselves as being satisI liv.l I hat l lie I lominiob,: a re fully .iwnte of the serious ntiliii'i* ol the i sitnntion as it exists, which eomi pels Scottish shippers to risk 1 their large refrigerated liners for

the sake of a practically one-way traffic in trade.

From the point of view of the Old Country it is clearly recognised that when the Clyde and other large shipping centres are prosperous, the good times are reflected throughout the country; and from the point of view of the Dominions we have good reason to know that when the Old Country is prosperous, the good times are reflected all over the Empire. There can be no better means than that which is afforded by mutual trade, of bringing into being that improvement of general conditions which all desire to see. Direct shipments to and from a port of the size and importance of Glasgow would represent the expansion of trade which our Dominion requires. In our search for other markets, which may be rendered urgently necessary next year when a proportion of the Ottawa agreement comes to an end, it would be more than a pity to overlook the possibilities of the Clyde.