H.—34.

to make any overtures to Canada with the object of fulfilling these aspirations the Canadians would meet us half-way with readiness and cordiality. Canada is already a prosperous country, with a population of fully five millions and a half. She is ceasing to be a mere producer of raw material, and is becoming a manufacturing country in a substantial way. It seems to be the universal opinion that her very large deposits of iron will be worked in the near future to an extent hitherto undreamed of, and that this will have a marked effect in developing their manufactures. Already these are further advanced than we in New Zealand are given to suppose. For instance, I was surprised to learn that Canadian piece-goods manufactured in Quebec are being sold as far afield as Zanzibar, in East Africa, where they successfully compete with English and United States exports. In their anxiety to learn of the industrial requirements of Australasia, and in their willingness to consider means for increasing trade between our part of the Empire and their own, the Canadians contrast in a marked way with the business-men of the United States. The Congress at Philadelphia was the means of bringing together a considerable body of delegates from most countries in the world. Meetings were held almost daily, at which the commercial resources and problems of various lands and markets were discussed. Side by side with these meetings there was a large exhibition, or, as it is called in America, " exposition," chiefly of American manufactured articles. The collection of these, though interesting and instructive, was not of the first order of importance. The same may be said of the debates. A great many addresses teeming with facts were delivered, and the delegates present must have learned much from them, and, perhaps, even more from discussions and conversations with each other. It is probable, however, that the delegates themselves profited more from these debates than did the American public. The attendance of Americans at the gatherings was seldom at all large, and the business-men of Philadelphia were usually conspicuous by their absence. Nor were the reports printed by the local papers of such a character as to convey to their readers a tithe of the useful information which might have been published. At a later stage, however, I understand that an official report of the proceedings will see light, in which the papers read will be produced verbatim. This, I believe, will have considerable circulation in the United States, and thus the purpose of the conveners of the Congress may be fulfilled. One of the meetings thus referred to was devoted to New Zealand. At this Messrs. Peter Barr and H. J. Todd, representing the New Zealand chambers of commerce, read papers upon the commercial position and transport facilities of the colony, and I delivered an address upon its resources, institutions, and industries. The valuable papers of Messrs. Barr and Todd will be embodied in due course in the official report. My own address was spoken from notes, and the efforts of the stenographer to reproduce what I said were so far from approximate correctness that I was obliged to ask that the address should be entirely omitted from the permanent report. I may here add that in my endeavours to represent the colony, and to diffuse information concerning it, I had the very best support and co-operation of Messrs. Barr and Todd, who were in every way worthy and public-spirited representatives of New Zealand. As the result of inquiries into the working of forestry in the State of Pennsylvania, I shall forward to you certain papers which I trust will be of interest to the Department of Agriculture. The Forestry Commission of Pennsylvania has a high reputation for the successful and economic manner in which it does its work. When speaking in the States upon the possibilities of increasing the trade between New Zealand and the States, I thought it wise on the whole to express my frank opinion that it was a matter which chiefly rested with the Americans themselves. I pointed out, without in any way presuming to criticize their tariff policy, that it nevertheless remained true that for reasons satisfactory to themselves the Americans had deliberately restricted within exceedingly narrow limits any market in the States for our raw products. In consequence we had been led to rely more and more upon the London market for the disposal of what we had to sell. Hence it followed that our main lines of shipping led to London, and, consequently, we bought in London, or in England, as much of our imports as we could conveniently purchase. As long, therefore, as the Americans thought it best to preserve their tariff I did not think it likely that we should buy American-manufactured articles, except in certain instances where it was necessary, or at least manifestly advantageous to do so. Where other things were equal, or nearly equal, we should continue to buy in England. I pointed out how steadily our buying capacity was increasing, how large our resources, and how hopeful our prospects were, and I asked them to consider whether it might not be in their interests in the future to take at least as much trouble to develop trade with Australasia as they were taking to develop it with the Latin races of South America. The centre of the Commercial Congress at Philadelphia was the Commercial Museum of the city. This is described as being " a national institution devoted to the expansion of internationial commerce." It might be more accurately specified as being, in practice, an American institution the object of which is to secure for American exporters as large a share of the world's markets as possible. Its size and importance may be roughly estimated by the extent of the offices which it occupies. These contain about one hundred rooms, and cover in all a space of about 200,000 square feet. This, however, is not considered sufficient, and the Museum is to be shifted presently into larger and more permanent quarters, the cost of which is estimated at about £100,000 sterling. The Museum is maintained by the Municipality of Philadelphia, which gives it an annual grant of about £20,000 sterling. But it is in no way local in its operation, for amongst its clients are included business-men in all parts of the United States, and it also welcomes inquiries from business-men in all parts of the world. It is managed by a Board of Trustees, consisting of a number of leading citizens of the town, including one lady, and the following high officials : The Governor of Pennsylvania, the Mayor or Philadelphia, the President of Select Council, the President of the Board of Education, the Superintendent of Public Schools, the State

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