HOW OUR TRADE GOES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10901, 4 November 1898, Page 3

HOW OUR TRADE GOES.

WHY AMERICAN FIRMS SECURE BRITISH CONTRACTS.

Under the above heading there was lately published in the London Daily Mail a letter from a' correspondent, who stated that the Glasgow Corporation had accepted the tender of a Philadelphia firm for the supply of 1000 tons of iron pipes for its water works, the figure being Is 4d per ((in lower than that quoted by a Glasgow firm of contractors.

Why, he asked, should a difference of a total of £66 in £5000 lead the Glasgow Corporation to be so unpatriotic as to send that money to America instead of keeping it to sustain the British artisan in employment?

With reference to this statement our Glasgow corresppndent points out that it only shows a partial knowledge of the real facts of the case. It is true that, on the surface, the American firm under-bid the local contractors to the extent named, but it is not true that the corporation accepted their tender in the way stated. The whole question of this contract received the most careful attention of the corporation only the other day, and was the cause of a "full-dress discussion" in the council chamber. It having been moved that the local tender be accepted, it was stated in support of the proposal that while the l'hiladelphian offer was the lowest, there fell to be iidded to it 3s per ton, or £150 in all, as the cost of testing. This being taken into account, the Glasgow contract was actually £62 12s 8d less than the American one, and, accordingly, the former, besides being the best contract, was really the lowest offer.

As a result of the discussion, it was agreed to so divide tlio contract as to give the order for 7in to 12in piping to the Glasgow firm, and that for 3in to 6in piping to the American contractors. In effect, this meant that three-sevenths of the contract was sent to America, the Glasgow firm to supply tho remainder.

Surprise has been oxpressed that an American firm could compete so keenly with one on tlio spot. It was stated that this was due to the fact that they could get from their workmen 25 per cent, more labour than was given by the workers in Glasgow, and that because of the number of nationalities among the workers in America it was impossible to get combination among the men. There is no doubt that these contracts have caused a good deal of comment in iron trade circles, because of the unique fact that offers were invited on two separate occasions.; When the advertisement was first, published the offer from Philadelphia for 12ft length pipes was £4965 7s 6d. that from Glasgow for 9ft lengths being £5611 Os fid, or a difference in favour'of the American firm of £675. That being so, it was decided to readvcrtise. The same firms again tendered, the Americans reducing their first offer by £73 6s 7d, and the Glasgow firm theirs by £682 12s 2d. This big drop was accounted for solely on the ground that the figures of the first offers were published. If the American firm's second offer had been, as might have reasonably beon expected, the same as the first, the Glasgow firm would have cut it out. It was significantly added in the course of the discussion that the officials had for some time thought the corporation was being overcharged for water-pipes, owing to the want of competitionand certainly the facts adduced were strong evidence in support of such an idea. At a meeting of the Water Committee of the Glasgow Corporation, a letter was read from Messrs. R. McLaren and Co., Glasgow, declining to accept the contract for water-pipes on the conditions agreed to at the last town council meeting. Messrs. McLaren state that they gave an overhead price for the whole of the contract, and that if only a portion of the contract was given to them they would have to charge 13s a ton extra. The committee appear to have two courses open to them— to advertise the contact again, or to give the whole of it to the American firm. Sir James Manvick, town clerk, has been requested to report on the matter.

Glasgow, however, is not the only corporation that lias accepted the offer of an American firm. At the last meeting of the Hastings Town Council it was decided, on the recommendation of tho Water Committee, to give an order for over £10,000 worth of water pipes to Messrs. R. D. Wood and Co., of Philadelphia. The pipes are required in connection with tho new water scheme, by which tho town, at a cost exceeding £100,000, ia tapping the Budo Valley. The tender of Messrs. Wood was just over £300 less than that of the lowest British firm, and apparently the Hastings Town Council considered the difference a sufficient reason for giving several thousand pounds worth of work to an American instead of a British firm.