AMERICAN PROBLEMS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2405, 10 March 1915, Page 7

AMERICAN PROBLEMS

: t TRADE AND SOCIAL

A VISITOR'S IMPRESSIONS

MARKETS FOR N.Z. PRODUCE

After a bnsinesß trip to San Francisco Sand Vancouver, Mr. J. G. Harkness, manager, and secretary of the National Dairy Association, returned to Wellington yesterday, and in the course of an interview "with a Doimnox reporter we-de some interesting comments .on "trade and other conditions . on the Pacific Slope. Mr.: Harkness's. remarks »on the, eubjeot... of tariff revision, in Canada, and its consequent effect .on, iNew. Zealand dairy produce entering 'Vancouver, were telegraphed from Auckland. At the same time, Mr. Harkness w of opinion,that Vancouver,will be a ,mood customer for New Zealand butter •for Bome years to come. "Our butter," ■■he stated, "has made a name for itself in Vancouver: it is appreciated, and all the Kofels and chibs that he visited, so far as he could' Judge, Tvere using it. The people had come to know its quality, •land invariably' asked for it—whether they always got it was another question. Unfortunately the increased tariff put ! on by'the Canadian Government would 'be a serious handicap to ( trade at the present prices." \ ' From investigations he made Mr. Harkness is of . opinion that San Francisco will not become a great consumer ■of New : Zealand dairy produce. . California is a . big State,. possessed of great possibilities,, and when the farmers who are now settled on the. land adopt improved methods of agriculture,; and fanning becomes more general, as it "will in the near future, .they will bo ablo to produce sufficient dairy produce for their own requirements. He was present ■at one or two meetings of the Produce 'Exchange, which mestß in San. Ftan-. cisoo daily at 9 a.m. to fix prices of the various lines of produoe, and the wholesale price for, butter at that time ■was 27 conts, equal to ISid. It was worth in Vancouver probably 33 to 34 tents Tvholesalo.

As'.to the ; Exchaiige, from iwhat he saw in his visits he thought it .wasdoing'very good.work," and in. fixing the prices as they did he liad no doubt they steadied business. At the same time it afforded them opportunities, of "bearing" the market if they chose to ido so. / One tob rather inclined'to the idea, that they did not want outside competition: ' So far as he knew there was no New Zealand butter going there at the present time. They were import-' ing some from Australia, bnt they were getting it at a oheaper rate than they could get-New Zealand butter for. - On the'other: hand he came in contact with wholesale produce men in San Francisco who "were convinced that there would bo a steady market for our best brands for some years to come. It must be evident; to .everybody, however, that if they can produce large quantities themselves they will, bo enabled to sell at much lower prices than' for New Zealand butter, and consequently we could not 'compete with them. ' East Coast Markets. .' The East Coast of America, in the j opinion of;Mr;'-Harkness,. will be the best "market iri/ America for New Zealand dairy produoe, namely, such towns . as New York,-Chicago, Boston, PhiladelpTiia," and: it was probable' that ft great impetus to that tme wouldbe given when general trade conditions improved, and we oould get : direct shipments .'of ' our products to those cities at a reasonable rate of freight: So far aa one could judge at present, business 'projects in tne United States were not good. Whilst csrtain manufacturers were benefiting immensely 'from the production of necessary'goods required by some European countries, and were making big fortunes out of. their contracts, the general run of manufacturers were very Sack, and in the first place, if they had the business to do; they had'not got 'ships to cany away the products. In the past they had relied to a'large extent on German shipping: Unemployment on the West Coast of America was veiy pronounced. There were many thousands of men out of work in- San Franoisco, Portland, ■Seattle,.and Vancouver. :

i A Changed Vanosuver. < It was twoyears and a half since ha tad visited Vancouver,.and he was very pleased to: renew.acquaintance with it, tint foulid that business was practically dead.. The lumber trade waj.almost at •a standstill, and thousands were out of • work there. The war, they affirmed, t lhad struck them seriously, . but he thought the slump, was no doubt <ftie to over-speoulation in the past. It had been admitted that 50,000 persons had left the city in the past twelve months. i"While two".years;ago you could not rent a house, .about every third house was vacant <now. ■ Of. course the . lumber ' slump would be only temporary, and would revive' When, the war came to an end. ■ .

Asked as to. the feelings of the Amoricancitizens towards : the war, Mr. Harkness said, that he. was only on the Western Paoifio Slope, aid was not in a position to say what was the general feeding. He could.only speak of what he'saw andi heard. Taking San Francisco as an illustration, 1 he German element was very Wong in that city, and .it was reported that they .practically controlled many of' the newspapers, and the feeling was rather, in favour of Germany. On 'the' other hand; there were men who were not of German nationality, ; but whose principles seemed to be dominated by the. "almighty dollar" consequently they- tcok -up an attitude of neutrality and it was immaterial to snch men whether Germany or the' Allies won in the struggle now taking plaice. But those Americans who had sprung "from good English stock were mvariably : anti-German and favoured_ the Allies. But the difficulty itf Amerioa was the complexity of the population. : Tho Tower of Jewels, The one absorbing topic in 'Frisco was the Exhibition. With commendable pride the citizens had spent a Vast sum to provide for. the buildings, and about 630 acres had been converted into a .town within itself. The Tower of Jewels, covering about one acre at its base, and 435 feet in height, was the main attraction. It was covered with 100,000 cut glass jewels, and these glittered in the sunshine_in a marvellously beautiful manner, while at night, when lit up, the tower was a thing of wondrous beauty. There'were two things a stranger in the city must never be guilty of: First, to speak of the city as Frisco," and second, to refer to the earthquake. In polite society an offender would be classed l as a "boor and excluded from the inner oircle; while the other portion of : society might bludgeon one on the head. San Francisco was probably destined to become the most important city on the Pacific Slope. The Americans deserve every praise for their belief in it, and their enterprise in reconstructing the city after the disastrous earthquake and fire. From tho ashes of almost total destruction they have rebuilt the waste places, and it stands to-day as a beautiful monument of the courageous determination of. the people to face manfully heavy financial loss. "^'v., A Creat; Human Problem. America has great human problems to solve, according to Mr. Harkness. There was a great,, nation, and the: question was: How in the years to come id it propose to solve the wastage of human life? .Its rapid growth ana expansion -jvas .the result not-of normal

increase,' but the influence of foreign elements, which in the near future would seek to dominate the future of the race, Into that conglomeration of races was thrown the pegroes and the half-castes. Would the' future, ho asked, produce men of a, manhood equal to the Americans of the past? Had the United States the power within itself to produce the highest type? As regards the home life, which nad distinct advantages in the upbuilding of a nation, in San Francisco, this had become a lost, art. In every street in the residential quarter thoie were hundreds of department houses. It was questionable whether "this method of Jiving would attain the desired object of improving ..the notion