EMOIRE TRADE.

Waikato Times, Volume 102, Issue 17008, 22 January 1927, Page 8

EMOIRE TRADE.

AVENUES OPEN

SRIPERJAL WARE EVERYWHERE. Mr Lon. McKenzie, of Wellington, who is in England, in writing in an article in a leading English .journal, says:— "I suppose there will come a time when Englishmen will realise whal they really own and the great avenue of trade that awaits them within their own Empire. The national crisis or war brought the youth of these great countries to the assistance of Ihe Mother Country' when such aid was badly needed. Having played their part, they returned, but fully understand that it is only the actual fighting that ended, and the great post-war conditions are yet to be solved. These ambassadors, led by national leaders, have educated their public to the position of the trade conditions, with the result there is an Imperial trade wave everywhere, and the great commercial ball of England has been placed at the manufacturers’ feet waiting to be kicked. Whether it will be lucked or siclc-stepped still remains to be seen. You will not find a person in these outlying parts of Empire that does not think our Empire self-sup-porting, for it is capable of producing every hit of raw material needed for Ihe factory, every ounce of food needed for its sustenance, with brains for the production and conversion. There arc markets to absorb the raw material and the manufactured article, but the essential lacking is organisation. Trade Parliament. “The question is how can that be set in motion? Perhaps the easiest method would be a Trade Parliament, held quarterly, at which gathering delegates from overseas could meet the man at home and come into close touch with him, and thus learn something of the class of goods available for production and the class of goods produced. Through such channels alterations could he made to suit the, requirements of each country, and above all, both sides would see the class of men they are dealing with and instil in eacli other the confidence so necessary for future success. Through such a Parliament would commercial England learn something about the customers keenly anxious to trade with the Mother Country; it would learn something of the individual spending power; in fact, it would see what great countries like America already know 7 and how their army of salesmen ply their wares. Do Englishmen truly realise that each of these young nations more than tries to help them through high preferential tariffs? The very latest move from far-away New Zealand has been to increase the duly on all foreign motor cars an extra 10 per cent in Britain’s favour. The duty now stands: British, iO per cent duly; all other makes, 35 per cent duty. The fixed duty on car bodies is also wiped out, and the duty is now on a sliding scale according to the value of the car and its country of origin. This lias been foreseen by the car-makers of America, and they jealously safeguard the huge trade they have already established. To counter such a move they have introduced works of great dimensions at each colonial economic centre, the latest being in Wellington, New Zealand.”