COLONIAL INSTITUTE'S WORK

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2420, 27 March 1915, Page 25

COLONIAL INSTITUTE'S WORK

——- BUYERS AND MAKERS BROUGHT TOGETHER The fact that several hundreds of thousands of pounds' worth' of actual business has been added to the volume of British .trade by the work of the Trade , and' Industry Committee of the Royal Colonial Institute'may come as a surprise to many; but it,:is none tho less'true,, writes the• secretary of/the committee, Mr. Harold T. Poole?. Lewing. unproductive generalities alone the. institute has asked of each of/-, two" classes—the buyer and the manufacturer, "What do you require?" /and: replies to this question have furnished; material:-for a campaign which has already; produced far-reaching practical results. -.- ... "'/ .r.:

'At.the outset of the war the commit-, tee found-itself at the most unexpected and most valuable opportunity; for vthe fuller -exercise of its functions. The stimulation -of inter-Imperial commerce is the peculiar duty of thev and with the sudden cessation of German and Austrian trade the committee was the first public body 'to recognise' . the opportunity that presented itself for the capture of enemies' markets. _ The complete mechanism of the institute, with its valuable oversea -ramifications, placed the committee in a position for instant action. All that was left to be decided, then, was the method to be pursued. The members of the committee were united in their view of the case-as it touched them. Statistics and vague general information were overwhelmingly available, and numerous bodies poured out a flood of reprinted reports of consular and other Government officials, but the committee desired rather to give concrete and practical assistance to the individual manufacturer, merchant, and buyer. _ Accordingly the mechanism was eat in motion and inquiries were mad& from British manufacturers and from buyers throughout the Empire. To this invitation there was an instantaneous and manifold roply. Direct inquiries to the institute, and direct inquiries through the honorary corresponding secretaries came in, and continue to come by every post. How these are dealt with will perhaps be best shown by an example: A buyer from one of the great Dc minions had been supplied with large quantities of rubber tires for cycles and- motor-cars by a German firm. Upon the outbreak of war he endeavoured to: place his order, which was a very large a,nd continuous contract, with an English maker. Tlie regular manufacturers were already fully occupied with business by the war and could not undertake the contract. Upon being appealed to, the committee approached other rubber firms, who had hitherto not taken up the manufacture of tires, with the result that a firm was found t-o fill the order,andthe.contraot is being handled

to the mutual satisfaction of buyer' and maker.. This is a typical instanc® of a very largo number of cases. For the buyer the committee finds a British manufacturer,: where formerly:: a German firm supplied the 'goods; aid for tlio manufacturer, a buyer or <jlasß of buyers to justify the extension of: his business or-the taking up of new> lines. ' . ,i

I Manufacturers and traders have wasted much time through relying for information on one or other of numerous hastily-constituted committees aid bureaux, and through the issue of ma-chine-made information by those bodies. An inquirer would send in -a' query, for instance, in respect to soma' particular aspect of an industry and ro--ceive a stereotyped: reply, a promise-of! information doomed,to imfulfilment, and! together with a batch of printed mat*.' ter" containing a recliauffee of out-of-. date-statistics. This is a difficulty thai/ can "only be avoided, in one way, namei. iy, .'by making each query the subject: of "special investigation on its merits This necessitates a considerable expenditure of time by competent psrsowi,, aiid the Trade and Industry Committor felt it their duty to see that every inquiry; of any'scope received individual investigation, with, the. result thai there is, a wide distinction between th« work' they have been able to do and that; of' the 'ordinary body issuing trade information. For the purpose of these inquiries "the "already existing organisation' 'of ;the institute afforded them ee>/. special advantages. To exemplify th * ■ distinction, an inquiry as - to openingfc for, say,, glassware into Australia, would elicit in the ordinary course ; si 1 statistical summary of the glass im-, ported, 'divided according to the cotnitries from whioh it came and possibly; also divided according to the amount ■imported by each State. To. this tha committee would be able to add the names of importers of glassware in each: State, and put the manufacturer in direct communication with buyers or, agents on the spot. ' - / ; Another point in which tho numerous oversea sources of information hava been of immense_ value' is in the a».quirement of precise information as /to peculiar local needs; It is an accusal •tion frequently brought against the; BritisTi manufacturer, that he is not adaptable and will not make his gbodsi to _ the requirements of his markets. This statement is not to be accepted, at a true generalisation. The relu<ytanca' to change the nature of his goods is more the outcome of a sturdy refnsal to bow to the whims of the moment et the' sacrifice 'of quality thaa of any strain; of dilatoriness in. his methods; buiu there is enough truth left in it to make! it worth attention. The manafactuferi must draw the distinction: is the ati teration required a change in the mar, terial structure, by which quality will; suffer, or is it a change not affecting: the. intrinsio' quality and based -upon; matters of local requirement? Of the' latter there are a great many and 'it is amongst other matters,; that the committee endeavours to piifr before manufacturers. •

It is proper to oxpress here the oom-. mittee's high appreciation of the exhaustive and efficient manner in whicht the honorary corresponding secretaries.' in all parts of the world have entered 1 into tho campaign, and owing ly to their efforts the committee has in its possession a, very valuable collection of information both of the names of buyers with the type of goods required, and also in regard to special requirements in many lines occasioned, by local conditions.

From this brief survey it will be seen that the committee- is exercising its functions in a very.; vigorous exerting a practical and already appreciable influence upon the trade of th& Empire. This it has done by a sedulous,? care for the interests of the individual! inquirer, the general advance being thai sum of the particular cases. In addition to : his work the commit- ' tee were, early in the field in urgingj upon the Board of Trade the neoessitjj' of undertaking an active trado cam:-; :paign, which, as is widely known,'is :now, being successfully conducted. Itf has also been the constant aim of tho committee to induce the Government to give somo support to the manufacturer '(• in'tho campaign, to guarantee in soma' .measure the. capital necessary to estab- 1 -lish 'new industries which may her<j-y •after be in danger: of destruction, fop , various reasons,: Jrom German indusf ; tries resuming operations under morji' conditions and in many cases! with large stocks to be realised at aaj\; prices they will fetch. A step in this! direction lias been already taken in the! inauguration of a scheme to second the( efforts of the chemical industries.- • 1