"BRITISH MAKE"

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2420, 27 March 1915, Page 23

"BRITISH MAKE"

A PRACTICAL STEP TO ASSIST ' HOME TRADERS. Tho extraordinary elasticity of the phrase "British made" in covering a multitude of German goods is worthy attention at the present moment. Tho fact is that though we are all anxious to support British'trade, it is in practice very difficult for the average shopper to differentiate intelligently. There has neVei' been aiiy general agreement as to the. meaning of tho wordß "British made." Few iirihs can say truthfully that their goods a.re litide solely from'raw material of .British origin, wrought, upon by British labours in a British factory carried, on by .British principals, with British even if wo give the word British the significance of British Empire. The trend of modern industry tins rather been ill* the direction of cosmopolitanishij and to insist on a rigid interpretation of the Word British is ; to wreck tfcll-meaht tftort on the rock of impracticability. . . Manufacturers generally concede that an article does not lose its British s'taj tus T)ecause'the taw Material, or part of itj is lion-British. It is clear that it nuist be so, if we take into consideration the geographical distribution of natural products Used in industryj though we tihbuld, as, the cotton spinners have reStrain eV6ry hefve, to develop "the resources of the Empire. * There Can 1)61)6 aild fast rUleg Jaid ddWh as ..t5 what a Britißh-retidq commodity except this; that'.the article is mads, ill .British territery ffohi „taW or partly maiiUfactlifed h|aterial which' is British as far as practicable; " It is not a question of "passing off" the goods 6f; One ihaiHifactllter otherj but of trading on. tig6ft.: : ;tJnleßß.,.tEe. buyer ihsistfi.drij'h'aving tlie eolintryiof origin written till; the invrjicei he.Will probably fifi'd himself Without- a remedy if lie ultimately .discovers that the shopiriaii has deceived him, the shophian being—it is only fail' 'to say—Most ijjiobablj' hiiiißelf derived in tlic first' instance.'. , ' ,A Dlmcuit QUDStion. v , Tile question is extremely difficult and vci*y largely technical^—indeed, the hioi'e deeply olie delves into it tile iiibre these difficulties bficdliie apparent. At the momcht oui' mahufactUrers are eagerly. ,lookihg : , roitiid for alterhative Boiirce.?.:of :su'jipli(is. of raw fiiaterial alid he\lf'tHiqJinfa'Otiil'e'^v:materiai that tlley aiSfilistomed to obtain from the enemy, but undoubtedly olio of the first tasks after the war should be to take steps to enable those who prddtico goods that m'<? Bi'itishj or as nearly as possible British, .to get the benefit of the, "goodwill'' ! that attaches to the manufacturers of this country. That would be a practical step towards assisting British trado against Gorman competition. •