WAR AND TRADE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17263, 2 September 1916, Page 5

WAR AND TRADE.

DUTY OF PATRIOTISM. HOW NEW ZEALAND 19 AFFECTED. A TRADE COMMISSIONER’S REPORT. Interesting and important comments upon New Zealand trade during tlic war period are contained in a report prepared for tho Imperial Government by Mr W. G. Wickham, late British Trad*) Commissioner in this country. Copies of tho report have been received by Mr R. W. Dalton, tho present Trade Commissioner. The document makes a- general survey of' the conditions prevailing in 1915, and discusses tbo disabilities inflicted upon British manufacturers by tho war, in comparison with their foreign, competitors. Mr Wickham draws attention to the profits derived by New 'Zealand from the war. “So far as New Zealand is concerned, tho year 19le has been, speaking generally, one of overwhelming prosperity,” lie writes. “The cost of production of tiro staple exports of the Dominion has not been materially increased by tho war, while all the more important products have been maintained at price levels which have in many cases multiplied profits many fold. This fact is obvious from tho most superficial study of the export statistics, tho quantities of meat, wool, and dairy produce being about normal, wbilo tlie values are grater by as much as 20 or even 30 per cent-. . . There has been little or no sign of private retrenchment, all .the luxury trades, as well as those in necessities, being fully normal.. . . Tho most 'important direction in which public retrenchment has been evidenced is runway development, particularly in connection with the urgently required terminal facilities at the chief ports. ’ Tho organisation of the industrial forces of tho United Kingdom lor He manufacture- of munitions, and the prohibition of export in< some lines, hare handicapped Britisn firms m maintaining their New Zeal am. trade, and Mr Wickham emphasises tho tact that foreign countries arc taking advantage of the opportunity thus afforded to them. “ The war has elective] v stimulated trade with AmciU-* and Japan.” ho says. •‘lronvtho former, travellers in search of business and offering new agencies have come to New Zealand in unusual numbers Almost all orders for electrical machinery from public bodies and Government have during tho year gone to America. A large part of the trade m motor-cycles, hitherto an entirely Bluish preserve, has gone across tbe Pacific, while orders for motor-cars which would have gone to the Tinted Kingdom or other parts of Europe have similarly been' shared by makers on the American continent. Japan also was early in the field. Importers have been inundated with samples and offers of business in all classes of textiles, fancy goods, glass, china, earthenware, Rather goods, etc., particularly in goods previously .supplied from Germany.” The Trado Commissioner has no doubt that tho position of the British manufacturer in the Now Zealand market is being prejudiced by tho activity of tho foreigners at a time when tho workshops and factories of the United Kingdom are concentrating their efforts jn the winning of the war. ‘ The. facts must bo faced, and, ns far as possible, made known,” he writes. “Some importers have transferred their custom to foreign countries' in a- purely commercial spirit, buying their requirements from tho most obvious and cheapest available source. Others, again, have done so from sheer necessity, and with the utmost reluctance. In either case they have made the acquaintance of now suppliers, and have at least temporarily severed old connections and established new ones. The leeway which will have to bo made ■up after tho war before British manufacturers can got back even their normal pre-war share of tho trade of the Dominion will bo serious, and it behoves them to do all in their power now to minimise this.” The British manufacturers, in the opinion of Air Wickham, cap assist themselves materially by letting the peoplo of New Zealand know tho actual facts of tho situation, and so appealing to the patriotic sentiment that tho Dominion has shown on many occasions: Firms now occupied entirely with tho production of munitions, and so precluded from exporting,. should make known tho fact to their Now Zealand customers, not only to importers, but also to consumers. “Those manufacturers whoso goods aro still available, but whoso prices aro seriously enhanced, should take care to give ample explanation of tho reasons,” adds Mr Wickham. “Unreasonable buyers and trade rivals between them have done ample mischief, already in explaining advances in prices as ‘ extortionate,’ ‘ trading on the patriotism ot the Dominion,’ etc., and it is a matter of importance that manufacturers should givo the actual facts in ub much detail/as possible,- e.g., the actual advance in price of raw material, .number of staff enlisted, increased freights, war taxation, and so on. . . Few peoplo not directly connected with military supplies realise in the least tbo multiplicity and variety of things required for the Army and Navy.” Tbo importance of the point raised by Mr Wickham is emphasised by. information which is finding its way into commercial publications in the United Kingdom. It is a fact that many British manufacturers, who under norma! conditions would- be exporting goods to New Zealand and other parts iif tho Empire, have sacrificed their oversea trade for the time being in order to accept orders from Ihe War Council at. a fixed percentage above tho cost of production. The profits on those war orders are cut- very fine, the firms would be much better off in a financial sense if they served their ordinary .customers. But thoy_ willingly play their part in the mobilisation ot tiie industrial forces of the nation for war. The case might be cited or a big toy factory, which -is df.voting all its plant to the production of* parts ot shells. Meanwhile foreign manufacturers are bidding not merely for the toy trade that nsec, to belong to Germany, but the sharo enjoyed by the Bnitecl Kingdom. The British firm owning that toy factory is not compelled to manufacture munitions; it has simply enlisted itself for national service, and. must count upon the patriotism of its customers for tho maintenance of HS trade connections.