NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12298, 18 November 1925, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND

MART FOR BRITISH GOODS “TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT” SPIRIT FATAL EXPORTERS" MISTAKE A first visit to 'New Zealand by one from 'til© Homeland is a refreshing experience (writes Frederick J. Higglnbottom, Christchurch, in the -London "Daily Chronicle"). In no part of the Empire will ho meet with more fervent or more sincere demonstrations of attachment to the Old Country, or a more thoroughly English atmosphere. A population of 1,350,000. of which all but 5 per cent, is British born : that is the proud boast of the New Zealander. H© shows his pride bv always writing of Great Britain as ‘'Home," and the printer helps him by printing it with a eaoital H. More than that, the New Zealander would be the most faithful customer that the British manufacturer has in all the Dominions—if the British exporter would let him. The slogan "Buv British Goods!” may be heard (or read) in the North Island and the South. It decorates a little store near th© wayside railway depot: it is seen in the smartest shops of Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, in such legends as "Best English Leather,” "New English Jewellery,” and '‘Sheffieldmade Tools.” This is gratifying to the visitor from Home, of course. But when he becomes more intimate with the internal economy of the Dominion he learns some disquieting things. AMERICAN MOTOR-CARS He sees, for Instance, and most prominently, an > overwhelming preoonaerance of American motor-cars about. He naturally asks, why there are not more British cars. ''For a very good reason/* he is told. "Your makers do not supply us with the kind of car we want. The Americans do! and they supply ns at prices below those charged for British cars of similar design and power.” And there are other drawbacks to the British car and the Brtish method of doing business. When the makers of a well-known and modern American car began to exploit New Zealand they gent a t long questionnaire to their agent, inviting the enumeration of the special requirement© of Now Zealand users, tne type of roads to be travelled, and other details Upon receiving this they built a car to meet the conditions, and they are now doing good business. The agent of a certain British firm reported this, and recommended similar action. , He was told that the firm could not alter their plant for each market, and that the quality of their cars ought to be Their best recommendation. thing. It is the custom in New Zealand for the agent to be allowed up to £2 per car for advertising it. American firms pay cheerfully; British firms, as a rule/ pay nothing; "we put it into the quality of the car/* they say, ignoring the fact that quality must bo advertised to be made known. There must be half a dozen drawbacks in construction as well. Take the gauge. That of the American cars is 4ft Gin, and, as American cars predominate, the width of the ruts on thousands of miles of New Zealand roads is 4ft 6in accordingly. BRITISH CABS* DRAWBACK Now. the British car has a tread of 4ft Bin. and it might be thought worth the while of the makers to alter this gauge to accommodate New Zealand customers. But they will not; and New Zealand road ruts are destructive to th© axles of British cars in consequence. Then the American car of equal power to the British is a better hill-climber; it is geared to suit the hills—which are terribly steep and rough in the hill country. The clearance beneath the axle or the crank case, also, is a defect in most British care. At least 7in is necessary in this country* because of the depth of the ruts on eandy or muddy roads, but a British car has rarely more than €in. Over and above these disadvantages the price charged in New Zealand is in excess, of the Home price to an extent that is not nearly represented by the cost of freight. And there is no duty on British cars. In these circumstances it is very difficult for the patriotio New Zealander to indulge a predilection for British cars, strongly as he desires to do so. It is much the same story with machinery. A newspaper proprietor I met ordered a new press from a firm in England: but it was not delivered until 12 months after'the contract date. An American firm had offered to supply a similar machine, and to bind itself to deliver to date. The purchaser went to England instead, and suffered. MACHINERY FROM THE STATES A municipality (Wellington City) wanted a steam roadroller with an extra-wide tread, and they offered to ray well for it. Tho agent of an English firm cabled the requirements, but the reply came that they could not make a single machine of an out-size; in other words, they would not. The order was immediately placed in America. So with butter making, saw milling and other machinery; much of it oomes from the United States. A machine of precision at the Christchurch College laboratory had beep supplied by the agent in Manchester of an American maker! In justice to the motor manufacturing trade, it must be said that a few firms are beginning to realise the situation, and to supply the article most suited to New Zealand roads; but there is abundant room still for improvement, especially in the matter of the local price The New Zealanders do not want a cheap car, but one of endurance, with a pliable c'hasis and great climbing power. They would prefer to buy the chassis alone, • for they have excellent body makers 'here. It is surely to the interest of British makers to adapt their plant to the production of the kind of car most suited to the special conditions of New Zealand.