FRANCE AND GERMANY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14825, 31 October 1911, Page 5

FRANCE AND GERMANY.

AUSTRALASIAN TRADE. THIRTY YEARS OF RIVALRY. The story of French and German activity ia Australasia is largely a story of opportunitics let slip by tho one nation and gripped and built on by the other. It stows {says the Sydney Daily Telegraph) what national purpose may attain to if it is followed with sufficient steadfastness. Franco came firss» with De Bougainville, D'Entrecasteaus, Li? Perousc, and other fine old navigators. Th« most splendid chances lay before her, even though Australia was British. Fifty, 40, even 30 yean ago she was far ahead ol Germany in t.reJ'3 with Australia; so far, indeed, in the beginning, that pursuit might have seemed almost hopeless. In island possesions there was, even 30 years ago, no j question of leadership, simply because- while I Franco had a fair number of islands, Ger-

many had nothing at all. But in th*; last 30 or 40 years France's commercial sinews seem to have slackened as Germany's have tightened. Almost every year since tho long stemchase began, France's lead has growr less, until now, in trade, in island ownership, in shipping, everything, Germany is ar.ea 1. It is true, of course, that France's trade has iii those 30 years increased, and that greatly, but by comparison with her rival she ha 3 fallen behind. All this, however, applies to France as a nation, not necessarily to any men or companies representing her :r Australia. In 1880 France had possessed New Caledonia for nflfcrly 30 years; accord ng to .v old story if was only through ax:, acci- • dent to a "brine, worship that the island did not b. ! -' >r. «: ■'. i'h. By this tir ~ Franco also ■< .s ahiti, .v.d sh? r; o long owned tn-a ' \"i •-■dward Islands, the A «t; - quosas, and a number of small groups 'VArxl seven years later the dual control by ii ranee and Britain "was established in the No v Hebrides. But in 1880 Germany owtk4 t nothing in the Pacific. It was not vat' 1 1 foir years later that she annexed ivaist >• j Wiihelm's Land (German New Guinea), and the Bismarck Archipelago. Her pre, tect>r- | ate over part of the Solomons was not; established until 1S86; she acquired the Marshall Islands only a year earlier, ana the Ladrones, the Pelew Islands, the Carolines, and Samoa only in 1829.

A Long Stern-chase. Th? long stern-chase of the last 3' > year 3 is will shown by the differences .~n tho trade figures of France and Germany with the Commonwealth. Forty or 50 ye:, France'? trade with Australia, .houg.i small, was far greater than that of Germany ; in 1871 Germany's trade was negligable. About 1880 Germany began to sit up and take notice, so to speak, though she still lagged far behind. In 1881 I ;ance trade with Australia was worth over ; £600,000, Germany's about £290,000 - Ten years later she had drawn level, ai d even a little more; both countries wero doing over two millions' worth of Australian trade, but . Germany was about' £400,000 1 ahead. By 1901 she, "had heavily increased har lead; her trade was worth' over 5£ millions, that of Franco under three millions. ill - tueso figures, however, • are under the mirk, for they represent only the trade with Franct , and Germany direct. And in the last 10' years the increase of trade, especially with \ Germany, has been enormous. In 1910 Australia's trade with France, directly or indirectly, was' worth, probably aboin seven millions, the trade with Germany a! out I.'. So .that in 30 years, from being by comparison with France nowwhere, Germany's trade has grown until it is now wort i about six millions more than that of Franc 3.

Germany Forges Ahead. The same thing shows again it you look at the figures for France and Germany's trade with New South Wales alone, though these figures are useful only for a running comparison, because they show rung of the indirect trade. Thirty years ago there i was not very much difference 'between the volumes os the two countries' business with New South "Wales. France sent Australia about £33,000 worth of goods, and Germany about £9000 worth over that; Australia did not export to these countries anything much worth mentioning. But by 1890, wj ile Australia's imports from France had increased more than threefold, t.ho imports from Germany had multiplied 13 or 14 tio.es. In the same year the value of the exports to Germany (over £400,000) was near twice as great as that of the exports to France. And last year, while the_ impoiis from. France were worth only £167,000 what they were 10 years earlier—from Germany Australia took nearly £1,300,000 worth of goods. The Shipping Companies. With the shipping companies the result o£ steadfast national aim stands clearly out. Franco started first, but the Gern -n companies, which did not come into - field until afterwards, are, taken togetuo.*. far in the lead. While Germany carries home m he:- own shin", most of what she buys from -Australia, France does not. For instance, a grett part of tho wool bought in Sydney for German firms goes off in *he holds of tb« G iri.vi ■ h'.*"Dir" cvir.ij; . 'is' vessels. But the;'.; i-> ; -' t "en • vrgo liue jof steamers, a.id most of the woe. bought for France travels honw i l ' 3iitisb vessels. The same thing is true vi tJh-.. grealer p-rt of k he hides exports Jto s'.uJh fix France. I The comparative weaks-*8& of ; Fi-is.eb shipping shows also in hei jxpor* trsov>; for, while of the goods of Gi mian .or'igu: which • Australia buys, about three-quarters , {in value) come direct from Germany, of the French goods Australi i takes, ,or about a quarter come direct from France.