Te Aroha And Ohinemuri News Published Monday, Wednesday, and Friday Evenings. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 1915 EXPORTS FROM GERMANY

Te Aroha News, Volume XXXIII, Issue 15629, 2 June 1915, Page 2

Te Aroha And Ohinemuri News Published Monday, Wednesday, and Friday Evenings. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 1915 EXPORTS FROM GERMANY

Any particulars concerning the details and extent of the trade between New Zealand and Germany in past years are of interest at a time when warnings relative to future trading with the enemy country are being continually given. In 1913 the total imports into this Dominion were valued at £22,288,202, foreign coun' tries sending us goods to the value of The imports from Germany amounted to ,£687,935 or a littie over three per cent, of the total. The principal items in the list of German goods brought into New Zealand were : Motor-vehicle

mateiirl, £65,362, musical instruments fancy goods and toys manures £45,380, grass and clover seeds, bottles £30,07*9, and cream of tartar £ 20,100. Other substantial importations were made in the shape of bicycles, china, drugs, dyes, hardware, glassware, and stationery. Some of the goods hitherto sopplied by Germany cannot easily be supplied by other countries, but these form a very small proportion indeed of the trade. That it is high time the position was squarely faced is evident from the figures for 1903 and 1913. During the decade the imports from Germany increased from 297 to £ 687,935 a rate of growth far higher thin that at which the total of our imports has grown.

Spealring in Auckland la t week, Mr W. G. Wickham, the British Trade Commissioner in New Zealand, said that when war broke oit and supplies of German goods were shut off, many people at once jumped at the conclusion that the United Kingdom would be able to supp’y at the same prices everything p-eviously obtained from Germany. The reason for this supposition was that, not having looked very deeply into the economics of manufacture, they took it for granted that the sole explanation of the previous state of things was the conservatism, ignorance and obstinacy of the British manufacturer. “ The war was expected to wake him up, and a certain amount of disappointment has -been expressed at this result not being apparent.” Continuing, Mr Wickham stated that in some lines manufacturers are dealing satisfactorily with the question. In some there were insuperable difficulties, natural or economic, and in others again the dislocation caused by the war in diverting skilled labour makes it utterly impossible to start making new lines, or even go into the question of Sways and means of doing so. Referring to the subject of quality, Mr Wickham doubted whether England would undertake the supply of low quality goods, so long purchased from Germany. It therefore behoved the public to buy better quality, not only because it is British, but became it represents better value, more work, more skill and more wages. “ Considering that the general standard of living here is high and wealth, compared with many countries, evenly.distributed, there is room for much improvement in the quality of goods imported, especially in hardware and soft goods, and I consider that the mere fact of consumers paying more attention to quality in purchasing will tend to bring trade within the Empire,” concluded Mr Wickham.