The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1916. THE DOMINION’S TRADE.

Southland Times, Issue 17655, 12 February 1916, Page 5

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1916. THE DOMINION’S TRADE.

The expansion of the dominion’s external trade which has occurred during the last two years is so remarkable that official details as now published in the Gazette are of exceptional interest. By way of showing in the most concise form the increases which have occurred since the war began we may give the figures for 1913, 1911 and 1915 in comparison as follows: *

19 1 3. 4 9 1 1. 4 9 1 5. I t £ Wool . . 8,058,620 9.3 IS. 11l 4 0,387.875 Butter . . 2.06 1,65 1 2.338,576 2,700,625 Cheese . . 4,770,297 2,56 1,1 25 2.730.2 1 1 Beef . . . 317.383 1.029,529 1,626,157 Mutton . 1,630.3:12 2.115,080 2,893.161 La mli . 2,332,372 2.55 1,517 3,00 ) 051 Ollier meat 257,279 29 1.929 271*026 Tallow . . 663,088 69 1.3 IS 780.828 Skins . . 937,02 1 955,528 9 12,698 Hides . . 201.74 1 258,618 506.189 Leather 31,945 40,965 61,791 Sausage skins . 93.25 4 1 39,152 1 92.028 Gold . . 1.159,199 895.367 4.694.553 Kauri gum 5 (9,1 06 197,4 11 279.1 22 Timber . 219,055 122,550 282.882 Flax . . . 721.921 155,214 571,621 Tow . . . 65.128 27,0 1 6 38,4 28 coal . . . 2C5.010 282,1 62 229,72 1 Oats . . . 29.252 465,920 1 22.827 Wheat 4 1.8 16 3,580 J 28 Chaff . . 1.153 7,609 1 5 1,552 Potatoes . 7.443 7.011 135.552 Seeds . . 60.192 73,551 4 2.311 Silver . 10.2,866 62.(18.1 95.582 Specie . . 176,359 7,522 3 18,090 Sundries . 82 1,866 9 12,6 11 1.175.86 1

Totals £22.990,672 £26,26 1.4 I 7 £21.7 I 5,9 I 2 In HUI there wore only five months of war. but the outbreak of war was followed by an immediate and urgent demand for the foodstulis which the dominion produces, ami the eff: rt upon the export trade was instantaneous. The increase in value lor I'JII as compared with 1013 exceeded eight

million pounds. Last year was a complete year of war. The demand for our products was insatiable and prices continued to rise; consequent!' the comparison given above shows an increase of nearly £5,500,000 foi 1915 as compared with the year immediately preceding. The increase for the two .years is not very far short of £9.000,000, and this enormous expansion in value is due almost entirely 7 to abnormal conditions created by the war. Of the whole increase wool was responsible for a quarter, the exports for 1915 being £1,000.000 in excess of those for 1914, and £2,300,000 in excess of those for 1913. The exports of cheese for 1915 increased in value by a round million. The increase in the value of the meat exports for the two -years exceeded £3,000,000. The increase in general must he attributed to the war but in the case of chaff and potatoes the increase in the former from £7009 in 1914 to £154,555 in 1915, and in the case of the latter from £7443 in 1914 to £135,552 in 1915, was duo chiefly' to drought conditions in Australia. The aggregates arc most impressive. They make it abundantly clear, that the man on the land is having an uncommonly good time just now, and they explain, of course, why the money' has accumulated in the hanks at a rate almost unprecedented, so that the dominion now' has the largest sum of ready money in its history. The Colonial Treasurer must he following these figures with Interest, for they' indicate clearly' where w'ar profits are being made that are properly subject to war taxation, and once again w r e must express surprise that the Minister oi Finance has not raised more of the extra revenue he needs by the simple means of putting a small, export duty upon, say, wool and dairy produce, to which we are sure no farmer would object at the present time. Revenue from such a source would be collected without expense by the machinery already' in existence, and it w'onld he nothing more nor less than a slight deduction made by the State from large profits created by' the war, and therefore fairly liable to levy in aid of the w'ar expenditure.

Ae regards imports there was a substantial falling off. , In to the figures we need not enter in close detail. It is a matter of common knowledge that the war caused a widespread feeling of uncertainty, and importers naturally restricted buying until they could form some opinion of the probable effects of the w-ar on local trade. Buying was reduced not only by this temporary loss of confidence hut also by the shipping difficulties which followed upon the withdrawal of a huge total tonnage from the mercantile marine for war purposes. When the Imperial and dominion Governments began to commandeer merchant ships accommodation became inadequate to the demand, freights began to rise and have been rising ever since, and the inevitable'effect of a shortage of space and almost prohibitive freights has been to keep down imports. Wellington is the only large port which shows a considerable increase, and the explanation may be that supplies purchased abroad for the Expeditionary Force have been lauded at Wellington, which is the base for military camps. The following comparison is of interest:

1913. 1914. 1915. £ £ £ Wellington 6.354.746 6,503,056 6,904.346 Auckland 6,610,745 6,548,880 6,404,462 Lvttolton 3.256,075 3,332,734 3,295,268 Dunedin . 2.817,244 2,619,829 2,542,381 Napier . 554.901 618,035 545,205 Invercargill 595,199 584,772 486,816 Timarti . 401,532 415,376 362,079 Wanganui 257,214 294,789 268,274 As to the markets in which the dominion has purchased its requirements the figures in the Gazette show the following were the chief fluctuations: 1943. 1914. 1915. £ £ £ U. Kingdom . 13,312,193 12,006,395 11,141,067 Australia 2.914,848 3,378,371 3,554,535 U. States 2,107,990 2,282,966 2,600,248 Canada . 452,519 479,238 797,816 Fiji . . 846,493 738,751 1,128,959

Germany 687,935 620,400 7,790 Japan . 151.406 187,501 304,322 As between 1915 and 1913 there was a heavy decrease in imports from Britain. The explanation is, of course, that as factory after factory In tlie United Kingdom was given over to the manufacture of munitions, British manufacturers had to notify their New Zealand customers that they were unable to fill orders for ordinary trade, and New Zealand merchants had to look elsewhere for their supplies. Imports from the United States have considerably increased, as have those from Japan. Germany’s trade with New Zealand is extinct. The figures show that goods to the value of £7790 were bought from Germany in 1915, but the comparison is misleading as these goods were purchased before the war and were held up for a time in steamers which fled to neutral ports for safety. The “Wismar,” in which Invercargill and Bluff were specially interested was among the number. No goods are now being bought in Germany, partly because no Briton would knowingly give a German house an order to the value of a threepenny piece, partly because Germany’s manufacturing industries are at a standstill, and partly because even if she is manufacturing she is unable to deliver. The general effect of the restriction of imjvorts has been to increase the excess of exports and to make the dominion’s balance all the larger.