CANADA'S TRADE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 1400, 13 September 1909, Page 4

CANADA'S TRADE.

•COMMON CAUSE" OF FAILURE. (Hv a Canadian Expert in the Daily Mail.) Tie co'iimoii cause of tho comparativ.U low standing of British imports in 10' Canada is the indifference of the JJnt-sh manufacturer. The merits ot the British-made article are rec«>gnised by the Canadian people. It is pre-.-ii. (I t<> the foreign, and we have ■ i- "ii practical evidence of our prefer-..-ice dv admitting British goods at :W 1-H'jmt cent, less than the goods oi iinv ether country. Pit W tho British-made article were .'. Inmlicd times more meritorious, and it the people of Canada were a hundiul limes more eager to buy it, rei!ts would not follow without the lu-i-.'ssary initiative on the part of the Mritish manufacturer. The purchaser vi thee days of strenuous competition will not m> to the seller, and that, >:i sharp contrast to tho methods of the I'litr'd States merchant, is what the ''■ritish manufacturer seems to expect i.c Canadian purchaser to do. I'Vw coi.uneicial travellers for British 'u)ii"s pro to be met in Canada. , There '. hut a icc'iie < f fort on the part of !!»• Biitivl< <u»rclia!it to get in touch ..tli his Canadian customer. His cata- '• s '(nil-tin price lists in pounds, iniliM :s and pence . which nullify their -, -Hue to a largo majority of the people hey reach. In what little advertis- •: t'i" Hi'tisli merchant does in Canada - !•(■!■■' is in many instances the same •ii-'»s-, disregard of modern business M.'lu-ds/ (•real Britain has held her own in Australia and South Africa, as the t;rde returns prove. The British manuichiier lias not held his own in Can- , la ! venture to say that if he had shown the same languid interest 'in \hv African nnd Australasian markets ♦I at 110 lias so long shown in tb^e dor*i:iio!i the outcome in these ' jMaees 1 mil 1 linvo been tho same. \V!i"n I was in Montreal a few weeks :i;d 1 t-ilked with an ail vert ising man»,ol who is associated with one of < ' > i!.-tla's largest firms. "Yh to are advertisements," he said, •(!':it h-sye been running without a 1 ''.".11^0 of copy for twenty-five years. 1 ! n ov. " r one advertisement in a lead- • ■i^; Toionto paper which I can re- • leinbor as a boy. It is still there vithont a solitary change, with its .-.■leiont cut and ancinnt wording" Thdugh I have made the closest injuries among business men, I have yet to learn of a British manufacturer who, i'.ivin^ nut forth the necessary initia1 -v 111 Canada, has failed to secure his •.)■■!<- oi Canadian patronage. Mr. (iri.-^g, the British Trade Com-mi.s-ionor. who made intelligent study of trade conditions in our land, gave four rciu>ons for CSreat Britain's unfavourable .showing in dominion trade. _ 1. Lack of commercial agents in Canada. 'J. Geographical position of the dominion. 3. Inability of the British manufacturer to adapt goods to Canadian requirements. -t. Indifference of British merchants to the Canadian market. In my opinion the fourth factor should be mentioned first. If the British manufacturer woke up and studied our market he would rapidly repeat the success he has so constantly won in the other parts of the Empire.