Patriotic Erbibition Supplement to new zealand free Lance.

Free Lance, Volume XV, Issue 817, 25 February 1916, Page 12

Patriotic Erbibition Supplement to new zealand free Lance.

MOW is the time to stiffen up the anti-German sentiment into something practical. We make all sorts of resolves in times of excitement, and let them quietly go by the "board later on. if the temptation to slip back into old ways is too strong. This time our public men have had such an eye-opener in. regard to Hun methods, that they will see to it that the "Made in Germany" and the almost equally familiar "Made in Austria" label are only exhibited in New Zealand in future by way of horrible example, not as a sample of a thing cheaper and therefore more- desirable than the British article. The British Commercial and Industrial Patriotic Exhbition, opened last Saturday in the Town Hall, is a capital patriotic effort of our commercial men. The Wellington Central Chamber of Commerce got a little ahead of its older rival in joining forces with the Wellington Provincial Industrial Association in organising the exhibition, and both deserve praise for doing the correct thing at the psychological moment. First, the general public has to be educated to a clear perception that "Made in Britain" stands for moderate price, as well as real solid reliability. This, once thoroughly absorbed, will give permanence to the present feeling that we do not wish to see a hated enemy article in our houses, or our business places. Perhaps, we are not prepared to go the whole hog, and run to the logical extreme of "scrapping" all the German stuff our Government, our municipality, and our noble selves have bought in times past, but we are cultivating the anti-Hun sentiment effectively with such exhibitions, and we may trust the National Government to put the sentiment into permanent legislative form next session. Then it will be harder to go back on our good resolves. The Inaugural Korero. The exhibition had a good send-off, the opening ceremony being graced by the two heads of the National Government as -well as the Mayor and the new-ly-arrived representative of the British Board of Trade, Mr. R. W. Dalton. So much can be said about the commercial aspect of the war that the inaugural speeches were sustained with wonderful vitality for a solid hour—a solid hour of very solid talk. Mayor Luke did the congratulating very nicely, and his elder brother must have felt charmed

with the family eloquence, seeing that C. M. Luke himself had to accept a half-share of the nice things in his capacity of President of the Central Chamber of Commerce. Mayor J- P. Luke, however, did not shine as a diplomatist, for he looked straight down an aisle where some American goods were proudly done up in, red, white and blue, and told the audience that they were not going to deal any more with nations which would not uphold the rights and happiness of the people, and that "he who is not for us. is against us." Britishers, he added, are roused at last!

The Prime Minister brought a budget of figures, but mercifully let off only a fraction of them to prove the unparalleled prosperity of this happy country, and the extensive stupidity of us all at a time when Germany was pushing its bounty-aided trade to the remotest parts of the British Empire, building up resources with which to challenge us for the commercial supremacy of the world.. Grievous as the war is, said Mr. Massey, it will not be in vain if it produces a' feeling of patriotism that induces us to have dealings with our own people, and not with the enemy. All the same Premier

The Badium Polishes, Ltd., are manufacturers of boot polishes and cream, floor polish, metal polish, and harness polish

TN TRADE AS WELL AS IN WAR STICK TO YOUR COUNTRY AND HER ALLIES 8 ® • ' ax

PATRIOTS ALL.—The Committee who organised the Patriotic Exhibition, together withi the Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, and the Mayor.

Massey should hurry up and make tileposition quite secure by strong legislative enactment, or we shall be dropping into evil ways under extreme temptation a few years after the war is over and our sacrifices are forgotten. "We are all of one mind." said th©= Prime Minister, "that never again will we allow Germany to regain the commercial position she gained in British countries prior to the war. He could see us in the future doing our business with our kinsmen and our Allies only. The Prime Minister did not stoi> to think that to-day we are fighting with, old enemies, and that had former -wars ended with such arrangements as we now advocate, we should still be at daggers drawn with our neighbours, the Russians and the French. This by the way, to show that patriotic speeches are not going to settle these big international questions in one breath The problems ahead of our statesmen will give them enough to think about for many days and sleepless nights. Meanwhile, the good work of creating a helpful public opinion goes on through the medium of such excellent exhibitions as the present. Sir Joseph Ward fell into the same easy way of propounding a solution to the trade problem of after the war, but he was cautious enough to point out that everything depends on the fiscal policy of the Homeland. New Zealand, he declared, is prepared to do its share in keeping the trade within the Empire, and with a proper fiscal system in, Great Britain, the commercial position of the world could be dominated by Britishers. The presence of the Board of Trade representative justified Sir Joseph in reminding New "Zealanders (who probably had not thought of the matter before.) that it is owing to their former Premier's efforts at an Imperial Conference that we have a representative of the Board of Trade here and similar energetic, well-informed men in other parts of the Empire. Until Sir Joseph raised the matter in London, there were British representatives in no end of foreign countries, advocating the use of British- articles, but none in the colonies where there is a natural preference fur British goods. No Hun Rubbish Shot Here. How quickly the "Made-in-Germany" tag has faded out of sight! The promoters of the exhibition intended to show German goods so that the con-

smner would k±iow the stuff even without the label. The exhibition manager got to work among the shopkeepers and warehousemen of the city to make representative collections of Hun goods. But, confessed Mr. C. M. Luke, the president, who added his speech to the list on the opening afternoon, not a single trader could they Una v>ho would admit to haying a bit of Hun rubbish on the premises. Some of it can, however, be bought without the label, though it says something for the strength of public opinion nowadays that not even sacrifice prices will induce people to have an undoubted sample of German ingenuity in their homes. The British Commissioner. Mr. Dalton, made his appearance on the platform, and gave the impression that heis an enthusiast. His message to New Zealanders is to be as loyal in their commercial relations with the Homeland as they are to the fighting forces. The English manufacturer is as much a part of the .fighting machine as the Tommy. Mr. Dalton has just been doing duty in connection with the English factories turning out war material, so that he knows what he is talking about. His testimony to the English manufacturers, who prefer to lose their foreign trade right and left rather than hinder the munitions supply, should be duly absorbed by those impatient souls who rush off to another country for their goods when they find the British unable to guarantee prompt delivery. English business men, according to Mr. Dalton, can make higher profits out of trade with private people, but they loyally place the best of their resources at the disposal of the War Office and the Admiralty, and do wonders with •staffs depleted of skilled workers by the demands of Kitchener's Army. Our new Trade Commissioner is as eloquent as -he is well dressed. fiow the Show Looks. ■At last the speakers mercifully allow■ed us to look at what they had been ■extolling. The whole extensive floor of the Town Hall is portioned out into Bmall stalls, with just enough space for a moderate crowd to squeeze past, and no more. This serves to show that the exhibition caught on to such an extent that the organisers had to be economical of their space, if they were to give opportunities to all the enterprising traders who wished to be among the first in Wellington to show their out--and-out loyalty in trade. Though •labelled "British," the exhibition includes within its scope some of our Allies' productions. Italian motor tyres, for instance, are prominent, and the enterprising Yankee could not, of course, be kept out of his opportunity. Empire trade and local in manufacturing all share in the limelight. We have learnt to do without the German lager beer, but a British brew■ery makes the sacrifice easier by exhibiting a similar beverage, which it labels in the familiar German way, because we would not recognise at first the peculiar qualities which are associated with this German name. A famous woollen . manufacturing firm, British through and through. despite a name which sounds unpleasing to our British ears, finds a splendid chance here to demonstrate its bona fides. The offensive name, we discover, is not German at all. Which shows us that in these affairs •we must be cautious and not jump to • conclusions. Nothing but official proof • of bona fides will be accepted later on, when anti-Hun organisation is perfected, otherwise we shall discover the •crafty and absolutely unscrupulous •enemy donning' a good Scotch "Mac" •sort of title, if that proves the simplest way of gulling our tolerant, confiding public. How completely the musical instru ment firms have forgotten that German pianos were once "the real thing" for the cultivated ear! They make admirable displays in the exhibition without offending our patriotic susceptibilities. Their customers, who used to demand • German goods, now expect good British instruments, and find ./hat a large number of English makers flourished among . a diserminating public at Home, and are now coming into the colonial market under good auspices. Another feature of the show i& the - development of proprietary lines of prepared foods in New Zealand. We are - essentially a food-producing country, . and these preparations should flourish here. Our condensed milk factories, and the packers of cereal foods appear to have just as much enterprise in turning out attractive goods as their English and American rivals. Good •Southland oats sell all the quicker in New Zealand for having a first-class three-coloured cartoon to cover them. It is carrying the war into the enemy's camp indeed to find a very oldestablished English firm displaying samples of English Eau de Cologne. This is another instance of the old Home firm coming into its own field on fair terma The only stall for electroplate in the exhibition is that of a Sheffield firm, which must have had a hard job, in the bad old pre-war days,

to progress against the-shoddy German stuff sold at a lower price, and worn out, too, much quicker than the solid English article. In the gallery, the Technical School pupils show how they are trained effectively in hand and eye for their useful part in New Zealand's industries. The range of metal turnery is particularly fine. AVe can train good engineers in New Zealand—then we usually let them drift off to better and higher-paid opportunities elsewhere. Will the war settle this problem, too? The freehand and modelling exhibits show high skill, and the adaptation of natural forms to conventional design is demonstrated, showing budding talent which our textile factories may some day turn to good account. Turkish Trophies. Then, just to remind us that our brave boys are still fighting while we are sight-seeing, the Defence Depart ment has sent along a collection of Turkish trophies. One is a two-bar-relled Nordenfeldt machine gun from Gallipoli. It looks effective, like the Turkish trench mortar alongside it. But another specimen of trench mortar taken from the enemy is a very amateurish contraption. The base is the butt of a rifle. This fits into the lower half of what seems once to have been the steel casing of a shell. A touch hole is drilled into the base, and there you have a three-inch cannon something (ike those schoolboys endanger their lives with on the sth of November. The machine gun manufactured at Petone railway workshops is, for some occult reason, in the exhibition instead of on active service. Tt looks an efficient weapon, but bright polish and good machining do not, of course, prove its leli abilityThe daily programme till Saturday includes addresses on patriotic trading by prominent citizens, including ladies of the active Anti-German League. Quite an attractive programme of physical displays and music was arranged by the Exhibition Committee, and the Wellington populace must be grateful for getting so much sterling instruction and amusement for nothing. The exhibitors' space-fees pay expenses, and the promoters were thus able to finance the whole undertaking without running to the Government for assistance, a good point which Sir Joseph Ward, as Minister of Finance, did not forget to stress on the opening day. doubtless with an eye to its effect on other people. As a sign of commercial vim and vigour, _ and the straight tip that Wellingtonians are determined to fight the

Hun and his friends after the war as well as to-day, the exhibition deserves all the success it has undoubtedly achieved.