COMPETITION IN THE CABLE INDUSTRY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3419, 26 September 1919, Page 25

COMPETITION IN THE CABLE INDUSTRY.

At a recent conference of manufacturers in Great Britain, Mr Nevill-3 Chamberlain, who moved a resolution urging the Government to make a. declaration of its economic policy, gave some striking instances of unfair foreign competition, including that of the Japanese, in tho cable industry. Mr Chamberlain pointed out (the Electrician reports) that cable makers in this country employ some 33,000 hands. Before the war they exported their cables, which had a high reputation, to all parts of the world, among other places to Japan. They were unable to do that during the war, and as a result tho Japanese themselves built great factories, and, taking advantage of our inability to ship our goods, they had already made considerable inroads upon our trade in India and in the colonies, and to-day they were threatening our trade at home. It was not even fair competition. He had seen labels from Japanese cables which imitated the British labels which were marked "C.M.A.," the well-known mark of the Cable Makers' Association, and they were inscribed with words almost identical with the words upon the British labels, only they put a littlo "not," which might very easilv bo overlooked by a careless buyer. He wanted to know how it was possible for cable makers to go on paying 36s a week to their women and from 56s to 60s a week to their men for a 47 hour week if they had to face unrestricted competition with Japanese cables manufactured by men who were working for 6d a day of 12 working hours.