Proverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 1896. EXTENDING BRITISH TRADE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7541, 23 January 1896, Page 2

Proverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 1896. EXTENDING BRITISH TRADE.

The Hon. Mr Chamberlain, Secretary for the Colonies, has issued a despatch to the various Colonial Governments, requesting to be furnished with particulars of the trade between them and Great Britain, and with details of the class, quality, and make of articles which the colonial importers obtain from foreign manufacturers. Having a very large interest in the firm of Nettlefold and Chamberlain, the well-known screw manufacturers of Birmingham, and being also a thorough business man, the present Secretary for the Colonies regards the importance of extending commercial operations as of greater moment than his predecessors in office, who, not having the same acquaintance with trade matters, attached little value to anything' besides the purely political aspect of the relations between the colonies and the Mother Country. Of late years the exports of the United Kingdom have fallen off considerably, and Mr Chamberlain, being; fully aware of that fact, has no doubt come to the conclusion that British manufactures are being displaced in colonial markets. This is probably the real reason of his sudden solicitude for the interests of colonists, arid the circular issued to the various Governments is more for the purpose of obtaining information for the instruction of British manufacturers than with a view of benefiting colonial traders. There is no question as to the preference of colonists for many articles of foreign manufacture. Three considerations influence buyers everywhere — suitability, quality, and price. So long as the English manufacturers can produce articles which are suited to the requirements of the colonists, of a quality, and at such a cost as will favorably compete with similar goods of foreign make, they will retain their connection with colonial importers. Unless they do this thoy will lose it, for it is necessary that the producers on this side of the globe should be equipped with the best and most recent appliances in order that the work of production may be carried on undor the most favorable conditions. Unfortunately the British manufacture, is very conservative, and has an exaggerated estimate of tho superiority of tho articles he makes for tho Home market. His opinion is that what is good enough for people in England is equally so for those in the colonies, and it apparently never dawns upon him that the same article that is suitable for people in England may not be adapted to the requirements of colonists. The mistake ho makes is in trying to force his colonial customers to fall in with his views instead of accommodating himself to theirs. The contrast in this respect between him and his more enterprising and inventive Americun cousin is so marked, that while ho is deploring the falling off in the demand for his goods, his rival has discovered the enuso, manufactured a better and more suitable article, and displaced him in the colonial market. If British manufacturers choose, they can make articles in every way suitable to colonial requirements, but unless they keep pace with the limes and abandon old fnshioned ideas, their more energetic rivals in America, France, and Germany will displaco them. Mr Chamberlain does not confine himself, however, to the question of extending the business of British manufacturers, for he asks to be informed in what diroction the colonial industries can be assisted, and as to the articles of export for which markots can be found in England. It should be an easy matter to furnish him with full details on this head, but we should have thought he would have been able to procure them from the Agents-General. It is very unsatisfactory to find that, despite the efforts of Mr Frieburg to make the

English timber merchants acquainted with the many valuable New Zealand woods ; of Mr Valentine in the interests of the agricultural and dairy farmers, and of numerous gentlemen who have from time to time visited London in order to make our resources more widely known — that Mr Chamberlain should have to apply direct to the Government of the colony for such information. Ifc seems strange that this should be necessary, in view of the circumstance that it has been the fashion of London correspondents to the New Zealand newspapers to represent Sir Westby Perceval as perpetually buzzing about, likeDr Watt's celebrated insect, in search of new sources from which the colonial workers in the industrial hive can extract the golden honey. The Governments of the colonies will place him in possession of all facts connected with their industries and resources, and it is quite possible that when he has fully considered the details, he may devise some practicable scheme by which the commercial relations of the widely separated dependencies of the Empire may be greatly improved, to the mutual advantage of all interested.