BUY BRITISH GOODS

Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1688, 19 November 1925, Page 6

BUY BRITISH GOODS

AiVOTHER CAMPAIGN FOE POPVLABITY. IMPORTANCE OF TRADING WITHIN THE EMPIRE. The campaign to promote the sale of British goods in preference to imported articles that has been proposed by the Federation of British Industries is a natural corollary of the (Government' scheme to set aside £1,000,000 per annum for the improvement of mean 3 of preparing for marketing and marketing products of the British Empire outside these islands. Apparently the Federation of British Industries takes the view that what the Government thinks would benefit producers in the Empire overseas may retisonably be expected to prove advantageous to producers at home. Although there will be general sympathy with any practical proposal for assisting home industries at the present time, there are one or two points that will need careful attention before the project is adopted. ■Clearly, it is better to realise what obstacles are likely to be encounter- , ed and to make provision in advance for overcoming them than to allow them to become manifest ati a later stage. The fundamental! difficulty is the definition ©f "British made." Apart from those who are interested in the sale of foreign articles, there is general agreement with the principle that when a million and a quarter of our own citizens are unemployed it is better to .produce goods in this country than to import those on which no British labour has been expended except in the processes of transport andi distribution; but the difficulty is to discriminate between goods that are entirely made in Britain, those partly made in Britain, those merely assembled here 1 , and those imported. This is not in the least degree a fanciful objection; it presents a very real and practical problem and in any gathering of business men it will be found that there is wide divergence of opinion as to what constitutes "British made." SOME TEST QUESTIONS. ' Are piece goods manufactured in Lancashire from American raw cotton British made? Are boots manufactured in Northampton from foreign leather British made? Is cutlery imported in blank and stamped in Sheffield entitled to be regarded as British made ? Is a motor car built of assembled imported parts British?

Consideration of the points raised, by these direct questions will show how difficult it must b© to decide what constituted "British made," even when all the facts are known. How much more difficult, then, must it be for the uninformed member of the public to distinguish when shopping ■between goods that are British and those that, ar e > not. If it be urged that the retailer can give his customers guidance, it must be recalled that the law of the landi s such that no action can be taken against any retailer who sells as British goods which, in fact, are the product of some other country, unless the guarantee that he gives at the time of purchase is written on the invoice. The experience of the shopping weeks that were popular some fifteen years ago showed that a great many imported goods were sold as British not only by tradesmen who deliberately desired :to mislead; 'their customers—no doubt they were in a very small minority—but by others who were quite innocent of any desire to mislead., but were themselves unaware of the origin of the goods they handled. It will be urged, as on previous occasions, that the definition of a British article is one made in Britain from raw material, no matter what the origin of that material, but that raises the question:—What is raw material? Leather, for instance, is the raw material of the bootmaker, but is the finished product of the tanner. Yarn is the raw material of the clothmaker, but the finished product of the spinner; and so on pi'actically throughout the whole realm of industry. GUARANTEE OF A TRADE ; MARK.

Perhaps the best way to put the matter to the test is for the Federation of British Industries to adopt a mark or origin for British-made goods and apply to the Board of Trade, under section 62 of the Trade Marks Act of 1905, for power to register iv. and for authority to administer it. If they were successful in their application, the whole position would become ' simplified. Purchasers could buy goods under the guarantee of the mark, and any person who misused it could be punished. But there is little doubt that if attempts are made to get the Board of Trade's sanction to the registration of such a trade mark, opposition will be revealed of a character far more serious than might be imagined, and that the wholeproblem will be found to bristle with practical difficulties as between trade ai;' 1 trade.

Hitherto all attempts to substitute some form of voluntary preference f'i a customs tariff have failed. It

Is not difficult to restrict the importation of foreign goods at the ports of e: try, but when foreign goods have passed through the Customs and have been distributed about the country, the time for limiting their sales has passed. It is unlikely that any voluntary efforts to create either a prejudice against froeign goods or a favourable atmosphere for British goods will be found in practice to take the place of a tariff on imports. But it by no means follows that cause there are great difficulties in the way of a universal scheme there is no merit in the Federation's proposal. Any firm can advertise that the goods it sells under a particular brand or mark are British made and can explain exactly how and where they are made. Or any trade association can register a mark of origin for the general use of its members under regulations approved by the Board of Trade. Such work should prove useful and has the merit of being entirely practicable, but it is essential to the success of any "made in Britain" campaign that there should be a definite guarantee, and it is difficult to see how this can be given in the case of general merchandise except under a registered mark.—The Times Trade and Engineering Supplement.