TRADE AFTER THE WAR.

King Country Chronicle, Volume X, Issue 909, 23 September 1916, Page 2

TRADE AFTER THE WAR.

By the Hon. Sir Thomas Mackenzie. One of the most important questions that must engßge the attention of the statesmen of the Empire is that of trade, and it is obvious that it cannot be taken up too soon in view of the probable efforts of our enemies to grasp British trade immediately the war is over. We are told on good authority that in American docks interned German Bhipa are already crammed full of goods manufactured by hyphenated Germanß there, to be dispatched to neutral and British markets bo soon as peace is declared. It may quite reasonably be asked by the people of this country: In what respect does the policy of British trade after the war concern New Zealand? The reply is: Wc are co-partners in the British Empire, and as co-partners we are deeply concerned in the conditions wbich may be established within and without the Empire as affecting trade with our Allies and with neutrals, and especially in the attitude taken up with respect to our enemies. If the economic struggle after the war, which is undoubtedly contemplated, takes place then markets for New Zealand produce may be seriously affected unleßS We at once Bet our house in order and provide for eventualities. We realise now, to our bitter cost, that Germany has in the past by her trade methods followed practices that can only be regarded as criminal, and present German utterances, both in Church and State, leave no doubt s to her ultimate intentions. What is Bishop Kafta, of Kiel, reported as having said? He has thanked God for allowing vessels to be torpedoed, and has said, "Thank God, England's security is gono for ever. May a hundred more Zeppelins be visited upon her." One need not refer to other curses that have been levelled agsinst us, or to the vows which have been taken for our absolute destruction. If this cannot be attained by the Huns through slaughter they hope to do it by trade, contending that they have geniu3 for organisation and business capacity, and that the British have not. GERMANY AND BRITISH TRADE. Now with regard to the territories of which Germany has taken possession by force of arms, Mr Edgar Cramond, in the National Review for June, says: "It has been established beyond controversy that Germany has

pursued a deliberate policy of destruction and spoliation in the territories which she has occupied." In like manner she has seized the keys of many industries, and, in addition, has obtained a grasp of raw materials, especially those produced in the British Empire, which has placed her in the position of being the only manufacturer of some goods of which those raw materials form a part, and then we have had to go, cap in hand, to procure from her, at her own price, articles manufactured from raw materials of which, in some instances, the British Empire holds the monopoly. Her preparations made in part during the present war, aim at grasping tirade immediately the war is over. Not content with the raw materials Bhe has already secured she is setting herself to monopolise 80 far as Bhe can the wool supply of the world, having already purchased no less than two-thirds of the w 00l clip of the Argentine, and no doubt she has grasped much of the wool purchased by neutral countries from British possessions. She has made great efforts to control shipping. Her cunningly thought-out method of establishing in many British countries, at a low price, the Telefunken system of wireless telegaphy enabled *them immediately on the outbreak of war to utilise the services of Germans employed in the wireless stations in British territory, whose services she stipulated as essential when stations were erected, to warn her ships to take shelter in neutral ports; and the ships which have so taken shelter have, with the exception of those which took refage in Portuguese ports, and some which sought Italian ports, remained intact during these months of war. She also used these German operators to guide her warships to destroy our troopships. Meantime she pursues a system, diabolically thought out, of destruction of shipping, not only enemy but neutral, and hopes when the war is over and her mercantile fleet is released to control to a great extent tne freightage of the world. Have the people realised this? Germany before the war possessed about 5,000,0000 tons of merchant ehipping, and there is no doubt that her policy of destroying shipping, both Allied and neutral, regardleßß of the loss of human life, has an ulterior motive, i.e., that at the close of the war Germany's proportion of the world's mercantile fleet will be greatly increased by the decrease of the ships ofl other countries. In addition W this,

Germany is busily employed in securing the assistance of British and neutral firms to prepare her way for trade immediately peace is declared. We hear many rumours regarding the influence Bhe possesses in quarterß in which it is inconceivable that such influence should be found. THE GERMAN ECONOMIC MENACE. The German economic menace is infinitely more serious in its insidious methods and possible consequences for the peace of the world and the freedom of our Empire than in thiß war, horrible as it is. This is not the first time in the history of Britain that drastic steps have been found necessary to meet the important organisation of the German economic system. In the spacious days of Queen Elizabeth our dependence on Teutonic foreigners and the insufferable arrogance of the Germans in England led to the outcry of "England for the English." That was an appeal, and an appeal not without effect, for it led to the banishment from London of Geman merchants whose ancestors had for centuries been settled in London, enjoying not merely the liberties of the city but even special privileges. Shall it be said that we are less alive than was Queen Elizabeth to the necessities of the situation and the safety of our realm? May we, too, not adopt the motto, "The British Empire for the British people," and for our friends, and damnation to our

enemies? Were our minds eisily disturbed or our confidence readily shaken we would feel extremely uneasy regarding the future. Are we not told that the obvious necessities of the situation will not be faced; that wealthy peace-at-any-pricß-loving manufacturers will control the helm of the Ship of State; that the patriots of our country will be outwitted, and that we will again be allowed to slip back into the free, easy and disorganised state that marked our condition before the outbreak of war? Ido not believe it. Never were lbs people of this fair country and their brothers abroad more in earnest than at the present time, nor more capable. They are thoroughly aroußed to the dangers of the position; they value prompt and practical action; and they will turn a deaf and indignant ear to such deliverances as that of Sir William Lever, who said: —"The cry for special tariffs against Germany iB a cowardly cry. Our policy after the war must be one of friendly relations with all nationß, not excluding Germany, with equal treatment and equal rights for all." If euch a thing were to take place, and the cordial hand were held out to those who planned our ruin, then Britain as an empire is, in my opinion, doomed. To be concluded.