BRITISH TRADE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17233, 12 April 1930, Page 10

BRITISH TRADE

WHAT IS THE TtyCJTH? ? h: 1 J .1 /A t ADDRESS BY MR. L. A. PAISH IXDU,STRIAE RECOVERY ‘‘ I have been really astonished at the misapprehensions which exist in New Zealand about affairs in the Old Country.” declared Mr. L. A. Paish, His Majesty's Trade Commissioner, speaking at the Wellington Town Hall. He was not, lie said, accusing the New Zealand people of anything very dreadful, because there was also a great deal of misconception at Home about the affairs of New Zealand. Many people in England-thought that the trip from Sydney to Wellington was like that from Newhaven to Dieppe. They had no idea of the great distances out here. But he protested against the New Zealand people considering Hie people of the Home country as decadent' and down and out ; that, as one man had put it, they were somewhat lazy, and were being surpassed by younger'ami more virile nations in the competition for the world’s Hade. In Britain the people lmd no. misapprehension about the position Britain held in world trade, and were rather proud of the progress the Old Land was making, although in regard to export trade she hail not yet got back to her pre-war position. GROUND LOST DURING WAR He thought it would have been a very great achievement indeed if Biv tain itail done so. Before the war Britain was the greatest manufacturing and exporting country in the world; but during the war she had been unable to supply her customers'in her export markets, because she was making munitions and supplies of all kinds for her own armies and for the armies of the Allies as well. Tils people in those export markets, therefore, linil to go elsewhere, with the result, that countries like the United Suites, Japan, and India,'‘which before were not exporting Countries! like England, had come into the field as amongst Britain’s greatest competitors, and the British Dominions all over the world had started secondary industries and, after the war, considered that they must protect them by ever-increasing duties.' He' was not complaining about the duties, but he wanted to point out that they substantially prevented goods coming into the Dominions’ markets. It was not the fault of the British manufacturers that they could not always climb an impossible tariff wall. (Applause.) EXPORTS UP 11 PER CENT. Britain was by no means decadent or down and out. Britain had had a very extensive and satisfactory increase in trade—a constant; increase during the last Jive years; He thought? 192-1 was a fair basic year; and during the last live years, right over this whole range of Britain’s export trade, there had been such an increase that, on total volumes, British exports had increased by 1.1 per cent.’over what they were five years ago. And, if tliby considered that that 11 per cent, increase was spread over £700,000,000 worth of goods, they would ‘ realise that there was no truth whatever in the allegation that -the -Old Country was on the down grade, decadent or down and out. (Applause.) Substall 1 Dally the same increase had taken place in production, which had gone up over 10 per cent. That included coal mining, textiles, engineering, paper-making, and the thousand and one other industries of the Homeland;' and there were only two of those industries that were at all depressed—-coal-mining and textiles. Every industry but those two had shown a satisfactory increase during the past live years, some being over 100 per cent. up. They all knew why Britain was down on coal, and the reason she was down in regard to textiles was because of the increasing production in and competition from India and Japan.

CO MPA BATIVE UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES ' '

“In Britain,” added Mr. Paish, “We have a bad unemployment problem.' ’

A voice: “So have we.” (Laughter.) ' 1 ■“Yes,” said Mr. Paisli, “but I would not like to compare Britain with New Zealand, because unemployment (here is on an entirely different scale and far entirely different reasons. I would like to compare Britain with Germany and the United States, the prosperity of which we hear so much about. I think in Germany they have something like half Ss many people again as we have in Britain; and in tho Old Country we have 1,500,000 unemployed, whereas in Germany they have 3*000,000 unemployed. They have more unemployment in proportion to population than wc have. (Applause.) Then, in America, they have two and a half times the population of Britain, but four times na many unemployed. They have roughly, ti,000,000 unemployed in the United States. Therefore. Britain has no reason to be despondent, and’as British Trade Commissioner, I am not going to be despondent at all. (Applause.) PROSPERITY FOR NEW ZEALAND, TOO Mr. Paish assured his audience that, whatever might have been the case 10 or .13 years ago, British manufacturers were now doing their best'to meet the requirements of the Dominions; and he asked his hearers not to condemn the British goods of tO L day, because of what had happened years ago, but to give the new stuff a chance. Let them look at the 'most modern patterns and models; and, if they were not, good enough, then let the British manufacturers know of it. Great Britain took 70 to 80 per cent, of New Zealand's exports. She was the greatest importing country in the world, and the only importing couhl try in the world that took New Zealand goods quite free of duty. Other count ries imposed taxes rill‘ New Zealand goods, and if the taxes vfcte not high enough to keep New Zealand, goods out, they increased the taxes until they did keep them out. Was it not, therefore, a reasonable proposition that New Zealanders Should Start Imying British goods. (Applause.) If .they did so, it would'bring prosperity to Britain, and if they brought prosperity' to Britain, they ivOiild bring prosperity to New Zealand too. (Applausc.)—Post.