BRITAIN DOES HER BEST

Chronicle (Levin), 11 April 1947, Page 5

BRITAIN DOES HER BEST

(Special 'Ooi'respondent.')

Supply ef Geods t« fevr Zealand

iRoeeivmd Thui'sday, YiO p;m. UQNDGN, Atpldl lU. ®ritain"& f uel efi-sis wiith dfcs >eifts nvltioii rendered •industry lafi'gely -idHfe for t-h-i'ee tweelcs, 'is 'resuiting nh a 'deta>y -.of anything -u-p tto '1-2 weeics In the'-tle-•iivery 'Of -expoi'ts to 'Neiv Zealand. Tne DoHi'mion, however, is Teeei'Vigg ratner niare than a fafoirrable sh'are «of tiie ■limited quanbity of iBritisli goods 'avan■able for export. 'Tliis is tlue To The .gootlvvill 'felt 'far New Nealand mot onry uy t'he British Goveraniem but a'lso 4b> individual manufacturers an,d exporters. Generalty spea'kiug, New "Zealaiitl is re ceiving a uieasure of jpriofity in ,tue supply of mateiiials requ'ired for ner .prii/uai'y industry 'but for goods Jior civilian use -she is . obliged .to take ner ,place ,in the iong .eustotner queue. 'l'ne supply -of eotton goods, how.ev.er, is so short tliat promises .of deiivery are hazy. These aue some .of the main facts dis- . closed by the enquiry >into the .supply .position as >it .affiects New Zeala'nd. Ti .was diseussed by Mr. Nash .during his recent stav in London, .with Sir Staffora 'Cripps, Fresident of the B.oa-rd oi Trade, who received a long dist of tne •Dominion 's urgent requi-renients. That list is now being scrutinised by Boara ■of Trade officials with -Sir Stafford •Gripps'' promise in the ibackgrou-nd chaL 'Britain will do her best to aid New Zealand, beaning in liiind -the ipresent •drffieult position.

Aniong the cliief items on ithe list presented by Mr, NaSh were, it is •understood, -gteel, alkalis (for Gnstance caustie -soda, soda asli, and sodium suililiide), tex'tii'les, 'pain-t and qllastic materials. Though niost of -tliese matenais •are also urgently needed for use ra Britain herself, and there is a worta shortage of all, it is appreeiated' ra 'London that some are T-s urgently required for New Zealand 's primary ini dustry and that tl\e how of primary produce to Britain may be affeeted utiless the Dominion "reeeives an adequate supply. It is expeeted that the Boara of Trade .will take stqps to provide tne Dominion with at least a .proportion ox these materials. Nevertheless, now that tlie war is over, the board is no longer vvilling to .maintain its .pow.ers oi' .exjport direction over the whole range oi. goods. Today traders get export alloeations and are permitted to send .goods .vvhere tliey like. They are, however, encouraged to foster their iong term niarkets among which New .Zealanu figunes .prominently. New Zealand does .get some special ■allocations of civLlian; goods as, for sexample,, vvool textiles. . Since 1945 sne -reeei.v.ed iat ieast 75(qtt00 yards of eloin and 200,000 lbs.'-of , vvool >yiwmevery touuv nionths. The delay in delivery of supplies due ito the fudl restrictions] varies in dift'erent industries. So far, Lt is reporteu, ihard.vvare, though in sonre eases scanee, has not .been affieetefl. 'Governnieni oi'ders for such things as -hydro-elecirte equipment for KarapU&, teleplroni apparatus • and "railway*1 waggons, may univte in New Zealand from two iu three unontlis be'hind sehediile. The supply of cottoii .goods Iias been the niost seriously aii'ec-ted of all. This is due to factors additional to the t'uei crisis, the chief whereof is -the shortage oi' la'bour in the spinning mills. During che war many workers in these miiis were directed to niunition and otner essential faetoa'ies. They found tne general conditions so mueh better there that thev now do not want to retum to the niiTls. In 1912 the number of employees in eotton- mills averaged )0U,OUO. This has now fallen ;to about 230,000 and 'there are fevv applications .i'or work. ' Several Midiand .mills lind themse'lves witli sta'ffs one-third smaller chan before the war. The shor.tage of spun eotton naturaily mft'ects the weaving industry and the net resu'lt has; been tliat, though the British Gover'nment intended to operate an export .schenie i'or eotton .goods this vear, it iias not so far disclosedFthe .Metails oi', its plan. ' > " A New Zealand .businessman -who came to Britain to investigate the .position found that, instead oi' a promise oi' oi'ders being fullilled in about nine months, deli-very cannot now be ip.ro.mis■ed before 18 nionths at least -and per-, haps longer. Ile, thereiore, is making' arrangements to seeure. 100,000 yards of eotton and silk from France, onequarter of his ..aimual requirements, and iic will return horne v.ia America wliere he will endeavour to seeure further sup.plies. Generally speaking, -ho.wever, .it iis. emphasised iin London that New iZea.land does seeure a .pi'ojiortionately •higliur ieveJ -of supplies from Britain than other .eountries -do. ''USome New Zealand businessnien .are -disappoi-nted ibeGause of The unadequaey *of raw •material supplies from jthi-s oountr.y and; suggest Tliat -Biiitain is i-nsufficiently awaie ,of -tlte Dominion 's diffieulties, ' -said a Kew JZealand House offieial. "illhis is deiinitel-y inot the case. There :is a tremendous ;good.will in tlijis country for New .Zealand botli in the Gov-; eraniQnt and industrial .eireles and we .always get -a very .gencrous -shane of'| tlie limited quantity af goods Tliat are^ ;available for (export. It is Tremendous-, fly 'diffieult far Britain fto export so.me; .of The Things .New Zealand vwants ;but even so They .do itlieir ;best for The Dominion within The lnarrow li-mits of their 'tatai export jaHooations. i