BRAINS VERSUS BLUSTER

NZ Truth, Issue 568, 6 May 1916, Page 4

BRAINS VERSUS BLUSTER

EMPIRE TRADE AND THE EHEMY

An immense amount of fuss is being made, by various bodies m various parts of the British Empire, as to the imperative necessity of carrying on what some persons call a "ruthless trade war with our enemies" after the present war. What kind of war is this to be? Is it to be a war of brains — or of blustor? It is> of course, not at all .'difficult Mf manipulate tariffs ; ..but, if the capitalists and their fuglemen really do believe that such tariffs as they propose will destroy the competition of tho enemy countries against us eftqr tho war, then they are blinding themselves, most curiously, to the teachings of history with regard to such mutters. ••■ . • If, however, commercial men really do think that alterations of tariffs and dues as they propose will suffice to prevent the average man or woman from purchasing an article froßx Germany or Austria that is choaper than an artiuJe of tho same quality produced m some part of the British Empire, than the fact that they do think so is very remarkable. In the ?Gfta*.o£ % superior article, even a ■

tariff that would raise the price of the "enemy" article to that of the British article would not be sufficient to prevent the enemy article from being purchased. The most effective way of preventing the ontry of the products of "enemy" countries would be totally to prohibit them; but evon then it is probablo that the " enemy" would be astuto enough to label the goods falsely and ship them to neutral countries, thence transhipping them to parts of the British Empire. ♦ • • The fact is that tho best way to keep out enemy products is for our manufacturers to produce better articles themselves. Cheapness is not everything; quality, and wisdom m studying the wants of consumers aud traders are as important as prices. Furthermore, m spite of the high wages paid m America, for instance, England has actually found herself undersold by Americans engaged m the production of articles that hud, hitherto, been looked upon as impossible to be produced m successful competition with British manufacturers. Belgium! too, m spite

of its small population, has been a formidable competitor with Britain m certain industries, and has beaten British manufacturers, -i not, as we were customarily told, by means of "pauper labor," but by means of superior utilisation of brain-power. .■*■■■•• ■ ■*. Just as the rulers of Britain have muddled this Great War, so their relatives, the British ironmasters and manufacturers and commercial men, muddled British trade. Britain was,. at one time, the, greatest producer of iron and steel m the world. She is so no longer: In 1872, the United Kingdom's production o£ iron and steel was 14,371,000 tons ; but, by 1901, it had fallen to 12,275,000, while the production of iron and steel m the United States of America had increased from 6,500,000 m 1872 to 28,887,000 m 1901. Thus we see that while Britain had actually fallen behind m production to the extent of 2,000,000 tons, the production m the United States had increased by 22,000,--000. During the same period, German production of iron and steel had increased by 12,000,000. Nearly as bad was the condition of things with regard to the production of pig iron. Why was it that Britain found herself being gradually beaten by "the foreigner" m the production of chemicals, cotton fabrics, dyes, giass, hardware and cutlery, implements and tools, boots and shoes, linen, and iron and steel? Simply because the capitalists of Britain were suffering from fatty degeneration of the brain. - '. •' ■■.•'■■■' •". '*''■ -'•.'■•, • The truth is that paradoxical as it is, it is possible to sell at a profit while selling at a loss. There is the loss on the aver-' age cost of a part of the product, but a profit on the total product, a much larger profit than would be made if the product were too small to permit of "dumping." This is clearly illustrated m the /following story told by, a British manufacturer m the London "Times," of how he manufactured for one neighborhood and "dumped" m another — and thereby greatly increased his profits : — A few years ago; finding that bricks were very expensive for use - on my estate, I opened a brickyard and worked It myself. I erected a plant that was, perhaps, rather larger than was necessary. I found that 60,000 bricks a week was about the number- that were required m the neighborhood. These I made at a cost, inclusive of everything, of about 225. a thousand, and sold • them at a profit of about one shilling a thousand, or; £-3 a week. My manager, however,, lately pointed ; out to roe that I could make 40,000 ' ( a (week .more at a c6st of only £ 20, * which if duld bting 1 down the aver- ; Vage cost per thousand to about 17s 3d; and that by sending them out--1 side, my neighborhood, I could Hell ' them to a railway company at a , price which. . after deducting: earrlasre. would give me, 17s at my yard— a clear loss of 3d a thousand, or 10s -a week. My net profit is now £16 16b a week, instead of only £3. There is plenty of margin here to enable me to accept a con- . slderable further loss on the 40,000 1 bricks, and I ahall certainly continue to dump them wherever I can. Germans have • ' dumped" because it paid them to dump, just as it paid tlie English brickmaker above, and as it once paid British manuf acturers to dump their goods into Germany. Certain English manufacturers complain a good- deal about "dumping", from Germany and the United States m the year 1900. The simple explanation of this dumping was that there was an industrial crisis m Germany, and the German manufacturers dumped, m their efforts to 'save themselves from ruin. The United States dumped into Britain the goods that they had suddenly been prevented from soiling m Germany owing to that very crisis that caused the German manufacturers to dump. As a matter of fact, "dumped" raw material was of great assistance to England, and, to many industries, a god-send. • • • The way to beat the enemy m trade is to improve the scientific education of the British manufacturer; to take care to study the wishes of customers; to standardise wherever possible and advantageous (as the Americana do with their Baldwin engines, and with a great variety o| other things) ; to utilise by-products of industry ; and to eneourago brain-power wherever it manifests itself — without talking so much trumpery j trash about the alleged iniquity-; of the working classes. Of course, the workers want us big n share as possible of the general product; but if (like the painter of pictures "mixed his colors with brains") the capitalist of Britain gabbles less untl sweats his brainpan more, Britain may again become the workshop of the world; and the spectacle of human liberty being threatened by the growth of a great military State (rendered , powerful because of the trade that lazy unci iguorant British capitalists allowed that State to seize) will no more affront uml affright liberty-loving inaukind. \