TRADE WITH BRITAIN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22046, 28 February 1935, Page 15

TRADE WITH BRITAIN

Sir,—Mr. R. S. Griffith digs up old figures in an effort to discredit the importance of the British market. _lo him this market may seem of little value, but until he, and those so inclined, find a substitute to this, our only market, let us bo fair and recognise its worth. I challenge his figures and say they do not agree with those submitted by the Board of Trade. But as a change, lot us review up-to-date figures obtainable from the Board of Trade and published in the Times. For the first nine months of 1934 Britain imported from the Empire goods worth £200,348,000, this being an 8 per cent increase on 1931 figures; the Empire took £133,131,000 from Britain, representing a 2 per cent increase. Foreign imports into Britain in the same period had heavily decreased from £440,487,000 in 1931 to £336,433,000 in 1934, while foreign exports have been nearly maintained by £155,917,000 in 1934, against £163,129,000 in 1931. At date Britain is importing now more goods from the Empire than from foreign sources—a truly great effort in the cause of Empire unity. New Zealand's exports to Britain have steadily grown from 80.17 per cent in 1930 to 89.50 per cent in 1934 of the whole, while the share of the United States has declined from 4.71 per cent to 2.88 per cent; and so is the picture with other Empire and foreign countries. There is no record of trade capable of depreciating the importance of Britain as a market. The importance is not confined to trade, and we surely know this. That wo, too, are valuable to Britain is readily acknowledged at Home. So let us not attempt to undo the work of the past 100 years by exhibiting a spirit of indifference and ingratitude; but rather cement the already good work done by us walking the same road of joint endeavour, recognising this as ono of mutual benefit. J. H. Beale.