BRITISH TRADE SLUMP.

Waipa Post, Volume XIX, Issue 1074, 7 April 1921, Page 6

BRITISH TRADE SLUMP.

GERMAN COMPETITION.

Mr Charles Sangster, managing director of Ariel Works, Limited, Bournbrook (England), speaking at a meeting held in Birmingham, said the general slump in trade had arisen from a great many causes, and he could not forecast the future, but he could honestly say that it was due to German competition and German underselling. “Now we will take the penknife as an instance,” said Mr Sangster. “A friend of mine the other day, who was over in Germany buying goods, was offered a parcel of penknives, beautifully finished, all complete, mother of pearl both sides, beautifully marked ‘Clifton, Sheffield’—there is no mistake about the Sheffield—and he was asked what he thought would be fair price for those knives wholesale, a knife such as we would have to pay in our shops from 7/6 to 10/6, according to the shop. He said, ‘Wholesale, 3/6 to 4/6.’ They said, ‘We will do you 100,000 gross at 1/ each.” But the German is getting 12£ shillings in his own money.

“Now, I will give you an instance of bicycles in our own particular trade. All the best 'firms are working just a few hours per week, having little or nothing to do; don’t know how on earth to make ends meet, and their wages and their purchases to come 1 any where near the small sales they can effect and as, you well know, the cheapest price retail of a bicycle to-day is somewhere about 10 to 12 guineas average, call it 10 guineas. A little syndicate went to Germany a month or two ago, and they bought one consignment of 14,000 German bicycles, an exact imitation of a wellknown British bicycle, and they paid for those 14,000 bicycles £28,000, minus tyres and saddles, or £2 each. Those bicycles were landed three weeks ago at the Royal Albert Docks on the River Thames. Now, as far as all our workpeople are concerned, and the future prospects of it, we are today paying very much more than £2 for a bicycle in wages, let alone materials and expenses, and we cannot possibly compete "with this. But the German gets £25 in his own money for a bicycle without tyres and saddles. You would be getting a 50 per cent, dividend if we could do this. “The other instance I propose to give you is a motor-car. A friend of mine was offered recently in London a brand new Benz car. It is a very fine make of German car; there is no better. They made a very fine aeroplane engine, which killed a great many of our people. He was offered this car —a beautiful limousine car—for £4OO. The body alone of this car to-day could not be produced in this country, let alone sold (especially at the price kept up by the Coachbuiders’ Trade Union) to-day for £600.”