EXTENSION OF COMMERCE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 53, 26 November 1907, Page 6

EXTENSION OF COMMERCE.

TRADE WITH WEST OF ENGLAND PORTS. MR. J. L. KELLY INTERVIEWED. (nr TELEGRAPH—SrKCIAL CORUESrONDKNT.) Auckland, November 25. Mr. J. L. Kelly, of Wellington, who, was appointed by tlio New Zealand Government cv'.rly iu this year to proceed to England to wiquire into the prospects of an extension trade between tlio Dominion and the V>".st Coast ports of Great Britain, arrived Auckland by the s.s. Cornwall last evening, .'.'iie information gathered; and the conclusions arrived, at, by Mr. Kelly will he fully! >ot out in his official' report, which will be presented to the Government after his return to Wellington. " In the meantime, a •'iricf account of tho. result ,of his enquiries, is furnished to an interviewer last evening, will be of interest. . ' '_"I found," said Mr. Kelly, '.'that in the West of Britain thero is a tremendous; population, mainly engaged in arduous . occupations that demand the consumption of large quantities of meat, butter, and cheese. iJrjstol is sustaining its long-established refutation as a centre for. the distribution of provisions, tho country covered by its merchants reaching as far as Reading, near London. Many of tho merchants have agents in Birmingham, and even in Hull." HANDLING CARGO. "There were excellent facilities in Bristol," ho added, "for the quick handling of cargo, and its importance as an outlet for our produce .impressed me vory greatly." At' Cardiff Mr. Kelly fyiund little or no disposition to offer facilities for trade, with New Zealand. The coal trade is tho one to which most attention, is paid, and 4 great .deal of meat from tho Argentine finds its' way there in tho way of back freights. There" are morchants there who aro desirous of doing trade with New Zealand, but they aro greatly hampered by the lack of an up-to-date docks policy. A -' Speaking of Liverpool, Mr. Kelly said : " It is a most wonderful seaport so far as tho system of docks is concerned." Tho methods, liowovcr, of handling meat and dairy produce were found to bo far inferior to those in voguo at Bristol. "Everything is handled as if it were a lot of bricks." Liverpool was such-a busy port, and had such a volume of general trade, that it seemed indisposed to do anything special the import produce trado. "Is thoro any marked deterioration of cargo through these antiquated mothoda of handling ?" '"Yes. Thero aro often hoavy claims for damages which have to be met by' tho underwriters; Many of the shank bones of tho meat carcases' aro often broken through the rough handling." ' In Manchester, Mr. Kelly said he found a different stn.to of things. Tho mothod of handling cargo, as at Bristol; was up-to-date. There was an excellent cold transit shed, and generally tho system of doing things was of; tho most approved type. On reaching Glasgow, conditions similar to tlioso at Liverpool were found to prevail. "Everything is done in tho old fashioned stylo, and thoro is absolutely no provision for tho proper handling of frozen meat or dairy produce," ho said. NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE. ■ "How does New Zealand produce stand at Homo "It stands in very high favour. Our moat is tho host imported, and more than ono man told:me that our butter is equal,to tho best Danish, although tho .'letter's' reputation enables it to command the highost prices. Now Zealand, butter has a splendid reputation amongst morchants, but the consumers do not know it as such, as it is always sold as English, Irish, or Danish, according to the soason." As to the means i for improving tho trado facilities, Mr. Kelly is firstly of opinion, as might bo expected, that a faster ana more frequent servico should be provided from New Zealand. Instead of one'boat a month thero should, ho thinks, bo at loast two with, if possible, throo during the dairy season. Another improvement lie advocates is tlio reorganisation of the Produce Commissioner's J)epartment. Somo time ago, ho said, tho New Zealand ' "Herald" had advocated the appointment of a number of t commercial agents in tho principal distributing centres, and ho was strongly of opinion that this was the courso that should bo adopted. "Tho general opinion left on my mind," saM Air. Kelly, " is that it would be to tho mutual advantage pf producer and consumer if a largo proportion of tho trado. that is now going to Loftdon was diverted to the West Coast ports. The consumer, would get his meat choaper and in better condition. Thorc are at present some vory large districts in the north-west country absolutely untouched as far as New Zealand produce is concerned." A VISITOR FROM BRISTOL. TRADE PROSPECTS. ' / Some furthor particulars regarding the west coast of England trado were furnishei to tho intorviowcr by Mr. "W.. J. Kent, of Bristol, who also arrived by the Cornwall, and who is visiting tho Dominion as the representative of the Corporation of Bristol for tho purpose of inquiring'into matters'connected with tho extension 'of the direct trade between New Zealand and Bristol, ivlr. Kent, it may be mentioned, is no strnngar to Now Zealand, ho having been in business in Tima.ru for some ton years prior to his. going Home somo four years ago. In connection with his' present mission ho will spend about live months in tho Dominion, during which time, he will visit all the principal districts in order to got the fullest possiulo information regarding tho subject 01, his visit. ' The. advantages possessed by Bristol as'a distributing contro for our produoo were pointed out 'by Mr. Kent. The Corporation of Bristol are the owners of tho largo docks connected with that port, comprising the Bristol city docks, tlio Avonmouth docks, tile Portished docks, and. the Royal Edward dock, tho last-named being now in tho final stages of its construction. Tho capital invested by tho Corporation in its dock is upwards of six' millions sterling. Tho port of Bristol, Mr. Kent claims, offers exceptional advantages for tho distribution of merchandise to all parts of tho Midlands, tho south and west of England, and South Wales. EAGER TO BUY. " Wo aro almost," ho said, " in the centre of England, and within a radius of 100 miles thore is a population of no less than 9,448,000,.a population which:is.eager to bccomo purchasers of New Zealand produce. This vast population can be-reached at any point within twelve hours from delivery over the ships' rail. -Both Birmingham and lion- | don can bo reached in four hours, whilst passongors for London can reach thoir destination within two hours after disembarking .it Avonmouth." . Mr. Kent stated that whilst tho Now Zealand meat, butter, and cheese was in high favour in th cdistricts referred to, thcrs was a great deal more that could be dorio to populariso the products of this Dominion. One great means, of doing this, of course would be a quickor and more frequent service betweon New Zealand ports and Bristol. The dock and port dues at Bristol, ho said, were vory low, and in regard to freights it was possible, ho said to offer New Zealand producors an advantage of from las. to 40s. a ton as against London. During, his stay in Auckland and his subsequent tour through the southern districts. Mr. Kent will take evory opportunity of interviewing merchants and supplying thorn with details of tho charges. In addition to meat and dairy produce, thore is. ho says, a good market in the Midlands for flax, gum, timber, tallow, fruit, bacon, and hams, eggs, etc'. , THE ALL-RED ROUTE. Anothor matter touched upon by Mr. Kent was' tho suitability of Bristol as a terminal point for the All-lied route. .It was, lie said, already tho torminal port for two or three Canadian steamship lines, and as a terminus for mails it would no two hours shorter than Southampton or London, and four hours shorter than Liverpool. Cargo from and for New York and Eastern Canadian ports could bo transhipped with tho utmost cheapness and despatch at Bristol, and thus supoly a want left by tho infrequency of tho direct freights from tho Eastern States. Mr. Kent will romain in Auckland till about tho end.of tho week* . „