THE EMPIRE MARKET

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 72, Issue 234, 2 October 1929, Page 5

THE EMPIRE MARKET

DETAILS OF EACH UNIT Population and Potentialities (By HUGH C. JENKINS). r J"’£LE British Empire presents a political unity unique in the history of the world. Experience has taught that the bestowal of self-government upon each individual unit of Empire is not a cause for dismemberment, but a reason for union. The same Sovereign, the same fundamental legal conceptions, the same ideals to inspire, give a community of spirit to the Empire which no written constitution could provide. The advances made by the United States of America have naturally led the British peoples to see the great value of a big Home market, such as is enjoyed by the American manufacturer. In the first place it has enabled the American industry to be so organised that the economics of mass production can be reaped to the full. Secondly, transportation problems are less complex and business is made more simple to conduct. It is this impact of American industry which is the impelling force to-day in bringing the British Empire to draw together in closer economic communion.

Before this intensive economic Imperialism can be realised however, it will be necessary for a lot of hard thinking to be done to devise ways and means to bring about the desired end. The details concerning the component parts of the Empire must become familiar knowledge. When this data is properly digested and fully considered then a possible policy will doubtless be evolved.

HTHE purpose of this article is to set I forth in. bare outline the major facts concerning the British Empire’s main units. Much more information will, of course, be needed but the following figures are fundamental to an understanding of Empire Trade as it is to-day. The British Empire.

The British Empire has a total population of 437,240,000. The value of its total imports amount to £2,305,682,000, which represents £5.3 per capita. The value of inter-Empire trade is £951,428,000 which represents £2.17 per head of Empire population or 41 per cent, of the total imports. The value of total exports amount to £1,955,695,000, representing a per capita value of £4.45. The value of inter-Empire exports total £909,843,000, representing a per capita quota of £2.03 and 47 per cent, of the total exports from all parts of the British Empire. It is to be noted that British Empire import trade amounts to 41 per cent, of the whole and that British Empire import trade represents but 47 per cent of the whole.

If the British Empire can be made more, nearly one economic whole, two results should follow. The first is British industry would be able to so organise that it could effect considerable economies; and the second is that the latent untouched resources of the virgin lands of the Empire could be more

conveniently developed. The result of such an improved position would be that the various units of the British Empire would each be in a better position at least to withstand the assaults of foreign competition. The United Kingdom. To sustain her relatively large population of 45,040,000 tho United Kingdom must maintain her export trade of manufactured goods. The poverty of her soil, the lack of minerals, with the exception of coal and iron, and the exhaustion of her forests make the United Kingdom dependent upon the outside world for'her food, the raw materials for her industries and for the customers to consume the good s she makes. The United Kingdom’s business is therefore, to exchange manufactured goods for food and raw materials, because trade in the last analysis is but the exchange of goods, money or credit being only used to facilitate the exchange. Should the United Kingdom find overseas customers less inclined to buy her products then she will be correspondingly less able to buy raw materials and foodstuffs from overseas.

The United Kingdom imports goods value £1,320,715,000 of which Empire countries provide £429,136,000. While, therefore, the total of imports per head of population is £29.3, the Empire’s portion thereof amounts to £9.5. Em-

pire trade, therefore, represents about one-third of Britain’s total import trade so its relative importance can be appreciated. British India. India isn’t a country, it is a continent. Unlike the continent of Australia which is empty of people, India is full. It has a population of nearly 320,000,000. It imports goods to the value of £248,486,000, of which about half, namely £120,941,000 is supplied by the British Empire. Of course, despite India’s great total wealth her per capita wealth is small, the imports amounting to only 16s per capita, but even this small portion in the aggregate amounts to a tremendous sum . nd places India in tho front rank of tho United Kingdom’s best customers, for the United Kindom supplies 75 per cent, of the imports into India. The exports from India represent about 18s. per capita, totalling £281,921,000 of which the British Empire takes £89,523,000, which represents under 33 per cent, of the total. Of India’s Empire exports the United Kingdom takes 06 per cent. For India, therefore, tho British Empire market is the dominant factor in her import and export trade. Canada. The Dominion of Canada is the next largest unit of the Empire, it having a population of 9,269,000, which imports £21.7 per capita. Tho imports total £201,191,000, of which ’ tho British Empire’s per ccntage is but 22 per cent., being £43,633,000. Tho United Kingdom supplies 80 per cent, of this total. As is natural in a fast developing pioneering country the exports are comparatively high, they totalling £287,741,000 and averaging £31,3 per capita, of which £13,3 is exported to the British Empire, £11.3 being the United Kingdom’s total. The total value of the exports to the other parts of the Empire is £123,378,000, of which about all, namely, 85 per cent, or £104,683,000, is the United Kingdom’s share. U South Africa. South Africa’s per capita export figure is only £9.1, but it must be remembered that a large proportion of her 7.473,000 population is comprised of natives whose industrial and agricultural productivity is so low that it may bo regarded as negligable. The white population is under 4,000,000. For comparative purposes, therefore, it might be possible by doubling the per capita figures to arrive roughly at the per capita quotas of the white population. The total imports are £67,938,000, of which £43,839,000 are supplied by the Empire and of this £33,911,000 being b£ the United Kingdom. Tho British Empire supplies 65 per cent., of which tho United Kingdom’s per centage is 77 per cent. Eighth-one per cent, of South Africa’s exports go to the Empire. Of the £87,012,000 (£11.6 per capita), £70,841,000 (£9.5 per capita) are received by the Empire; the major portion, 67 per cent, going to the United Kingdom. Australia. Australia, despite the increases in her tariff still imports £157,143,000 an-

I nually, which works out' at £26.2 per I head of population. Of this import total the Empire contributes 58 per cent, with £90,604,000. Of this sum tho United Kingdom contributes 76 per cent, with £69,048,000. So every Australian consumes £15.1 worth of Empire goods, of which £11.6 comes from the United Kingdom. He also senas to the United Kingdom the same amount per capita, namely, £11.6 and to tho British Empire £14.3, so the Australian consumes more Empire goods than he produces for Empire consumption. His per capita export total, however, slightly exceeds import total, the latter being £26.8 and the former £26.2. Australia’s total exports amount to £162,030,000; exports to the British Empire £85,960,000 and to the United Kingdom £69,147,000. The last figure represents 81 per cent, of Australia’s Empire exports. Australia’s heavy external debt make it imperative that our near neighbour should develop the export trade to tho full. At the present time it would bo a happier place if there were a greater margin in favour of her exports over her imports. At any rate Australia has a very direct and pressing need for stimulating the , consumption of the goods she exports; and as the Empire now takes 44 per cent, of tho exports, of which the United Kingdom’s portion is 69 per cent., she should have no doubt as to where her best customers are to be found. Irish Free State. That portion of Ireland which now comprises the Irish Free State contains a population of 2,977,000. It may well be regarded as one of England’s dairy farms, for it exports £44,477,000, of which the Empire receives £43,405,000 and practically the whole of this goes to the United Kingdom. Its imports total £62,960,000, of which the Empire supplies 86 per cent., namely, £53,947,000, and as is only natural, the United Kingdom supplies 95 per cent, of the Empire’s quota. New Zealand. New Zealand’s contribution to Empire trade is really very meritorious. Several factors combine to make our showing look good. The internal trade in the goods we produce is not large compared with the quantities produced, , and as it pays New Zealand best to exploit the natural advantages of soil fertility, equitable climate, and adequate rainfall and produce pastoral products for export; importing manufactured goods instead of making them under all the disadvantages inherent in an isolated country containing only a small population. It is not surprising, therefore, that our imports and export trade is high for the population. Including Maoris, the present population of New Zealand is 1,464,166. Its credit is high, the gross indebtedness of the general government being £264,191,983, or £179 12s 10d per head of population, and tho local body indebtedness totals £51,812,971. The capital value of land and improvements totals £631,454,676; the North Island’s quota being £423,861,225 and the South Island £207,593,- ' 451. To take the figures for the year ‘ 1925 (to maintain regularity with the figures quoted for the other parts of the Empire) we find that tho total imports were £52,456,000 or £38.8 per capita, of which the British Empire i supplied £38,262,00, being 28.5 per capita; the United Kingdom’s quota

r being £25,573,000, which represents 73 t per cent, of the Empire’s supply. Tho r exports were valued at £55,262,000, being £41.1 per capita, the exports to other parts of tho British Empire being £47,593,000, which represents £35.3 per capita. 86 per cent of these exports went to tho United Kingdom; this quota representing a total of | £44,073,000, which is 93 per cent, of the Empire’s acceptance of our exports. I The Empire as a Whole. It will be .ieen that there is one consistent feature running through the ; economy of all of the Dominions. It is the acceptance by the United Kingdom ■ of the major portion of the exports of tho Dominions. The prosperity of the I overseas Dominions, therefore, is bound ■ up in the prosperity of the United I Kingdom. The United Kingdom can- , not absorb more of the products of the Dominion either as food or as raw ; materials for industry, unless she is consistently prosperous and increasing- ■ ly so. But there is one vital factor in regard to the United Kingdom’s position which must always be borne in mind and that is: Great Britain’s industrialism has been fashioned to supply a world market and she cannot afford to lose any part of that world market. The same position is presented by the wool trade of Australia and New Zealand. We could not afford to debar foreign | buyers operating at our wool sales, because our wool growing industry is too big to bo limited in any way. Likewise, the United Kingdom could not sustain its population were it to limit ix!s market for the sale of its products. This does not mean that no effort should be made to foster Empire trade; it is indeed a reason for so doing. Empire trade should and is carried on with less friction, and less misunderstanding and less complication than any other. ’here are no changes in currency, there are no foreign ships needed, and there are no translations required from one language to another. Finally, as Mr Coates remarks, while it is desirable to deal with all the world, there is that tie of kinship which, if it does not transcend monetary considerations, does at least when 1 things are equal or nearly s o, inspire us to deal with our own people in preference to those whose allegiance, sentiment and personal interest arc centred elsewhere than in countries peopled by the Anglo-Saxon race and who are within the family of the British Empire. ,