NEW ZEALAND HEMP.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 956, 27 June 1890, Page 9

NEW ZEALAND HEMP.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND MAIL. Sir,—-I am just iu receipt of the accompanying letter from a London firm, which speaks for itself, I may mention that I am personally quite unknown to the firm, who, as you will see, write to me under the impression that the New Zealand Trade Review (published by mo) is the organ of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce. This is, of course, a misapprehension on their part. I think the letter is one to which, in the interests of the industry, you may well give publicity. —I am, &c., S. Carroll. Wellington, 20th June, 1890. “ 4, Fenchurch street, “ London, 2nd May, 1890. “ The Secretary, Chamber of Commerce, “ Wellington, N.Z. “Dear Sir,—We notice in the Trade Review, No. 18, of 22nd March, the organ, we presume, of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, an interesting article on the subject of New Zealand hemp, and are glad to observe that serious attention has at length been drawn to the depression in the trade, and the reasons given for the sudden collapse in prices. “ We hs,ve taken considerable interest in the production of New Zealand hemp as an article of export likely to prove of great value to the Colony, and have ourselves imported considerable- quantities into London, which would have been very largely increased had our experience been at all satisfactory. “ Our transactions with Wellington were conducted by cable through an old established firm there. Iu order to keep ourselves quite safe in regard to quality, we ordered ‘ good ’ quality from Wellington, butsold ‘ fair ’quality only inLondon, selling ‘ to arrive ’ in all cases—in fact, we had orders from London buyers before cabling, so that we took, as we believe, every precaution against risk. “On arrival, however, of the hemp here it was considered by the buyer and our brokers as not even up to the standard of * fair,’ and referred to arbitration in the ordinary business way. The result of the arbitration was a decision against us, varying on diffei’ent parcels from 10s to L 4 per ton, resulting in a loss to us of over L2OO. We have, consequently, decided to import no more New Zealand hemp ourselves, and to warn all our friends against doing so, till further steps are taken in the Colony to protect buyers in this country from similar experience to our own. “As somewhat extensive importers of produce of various kinds, from different parts of the world, we find the tendency constantly growing to transact such business by cable on cost, freight, and insurance terms, which, when conducted on proper lines, we believe to be the safest for all parties. To ensure this object, however, it is absolutely essential that the quality shipped should be fully equal to the quality bought, and that buyers and shippers in the Colony, by submitting to the awards of qualified arbitrators in London, should accept their duo responsibility to supply the actual quality that they have sold. When this is done and confidence restored, and an even standard of quality adhered to, there is no reason why the trade should not assume large proportions, and be profitable to all concerned.

“ The grert importance of this subject is our excuse for troubling you at such length, and also for our request that this letter may be published in your local papers that the matter may be thoroughly ventilated. “ We are, dear sirs, “Yours faithfully, “James Morrison and Co.”