TRADING PROSPECTS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 116, 14 May 1912, Page 7

TRADING PROSPECTS.

OUTLOOK GOOD. THE DEMAND FOR NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE, . Trading prospects arid the/possi- ( sility of extending • the Remand for Slew Zealand produce ctaimed-.the: at,Mr Harold.-Beaucliainp^dur;-, ng Kife tour abroad/ ■from .which1 he returned on Haturday. ~ A / for one thing, lie;told a New, Zealand Times reporter, he. was particularly impressed with the potentialities that exist in connection, with bhe development of trade with Canada. New Zealahders should carefully watch the markets on the westam side of North America and do Sail possible to cultivate them. Already New Zealand was feeling the benefit of the reciprocal tariff existing between Canada'and this country, and be fancied it would be only a short time before the Commonwealth would be falling into line with us in this respect. WOqL FOR AMERICA. : Wool was greatly required by the United States, but at present New Zealand growers were tremendously handicapped by the almost prohibitive duty of eleven cents per pound which had to b© paid on all descriptions. Congress had decided to make substantial concessions in duty on this staple, but - assent was withheld by ■ President Taft pending receipt of the report of the special commission appointed to consider th© whole question of tariff revision, Immediately the United States lowered'the duty on wool to an appreciable extent, said Mr Beauchamp, a great expansion in trade with New Zealand would follow. At present it was notorious that a vast amount of "shoddy" was used in materials worn By Americans, and all kinds of clothing, in consequence of the high tariff, were extravagantly dear. While in Quebec an American told him that he had to pay seventy-five dollars,. about £15, for a decent suit of clothes m New York. The same clothes could be purchased in London for about £6. BIG DEMAND IN BRITAIN. The United! Kingdom was unquestionably New Zealand's great market, and ,was capable of consuming without difficulty all the -produce that s coulcl be sent from here. The strong prejudice formerly existing against frozen meat- among certain classes at Home had now practically disappeared. This was only to be expected, seeing that for some years past New Zealand had been sending approximately 5,000,000 carcases of mutton and lamb, in addition to large quantities of beef, Home annually. Very higl: prices were obtained for butter lasi season, and he thought, producen could look forward tb a good markei next season also. In all direction; he found that New Zealand buttei arid cheese were being spoken of mosi highly. He had no fear at all 6 .tjbe threatened competition;of othe countries, £uch' as Siberia and som< parts' of South African as New Zea land's total butter oxport for a yea only represented about three week of London requirements. Thus it wa

3lear that the supply from here would continue to be in demand. The only New Zealand products that were not realising remunerative prices v/ere kauri gum and hemp. The substantial fall in the price of the latter was due to the fact that Manila, under American domination, is now produced by machinery instead of by hand, thus increasing the outiput and lessening the cost of production. The discovery of a substitute for kauri gum in the manufacture of high-class varnishes was responsible for the fall in price of that product. FINE MARKET CLOSE AT HAND. There was a strong probability of a. big demand for New Zealand produce from Australia, where a drought was threatening; Should- the drought last for any considerable time a very, fine market would undoubtedly be opened. In such circumstances it would be interesting to see how Australians would like paying the very high duties that had i been placed on produce of all descriptions under the last tariff. In normal times Australia produced every-thing-that could be grown in New Zealand, and if was only in times of drought that she had to call on .the Dominion for supplies. When this Occurred1 it mattered1 not to New ZealanSers what the duties were, for they had to be paid by the Australian consumer. This was one of the arguments used by those who were opposed to New Zealand; federating with the Commonwealth.