MR. H. BEAUCHAMP'S VIEWS____« —

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2420, 27 March 1915, Page 13

MR. H. BEAUCHAMP'S VIEWS____« —

PREJUDICE AGAINST GERMAN GOODS. In an interview with a Dominion representative, Sir. Harold Beauchamp, chairman of directors of the Bank of New Zealand, expressed in general terms the desirability ■" of supporting Britishmanufacturers,' to -, the exclusion of foreign-made goods. - Mr. Beauchamp said:— : "Undoubtedly : the , strongest prejudice exists to-day against German goods m. every, shape and form,, but will it continue after tb<i expiration of the present war? lam inclined' to doubt, it', 'because of, the, principle that has dominated merchants and traders, of all classes,'from time immemorial, viz., to ; buy in the cheapest and . sell iu the dearest, market. ~ It; is ; all very well to talk about'the crimson thread of kinship, • but when, that crimson thread comes into direct conflict with £ s. d., it is '-almost invariably broken. .In speaking in this strain, I do. not wish to be misunderstood. • Personally, I am desirous that the most active steps should-'be taken to displace .German goods by those of British manufacture; , and, having regard to the prejudice to which I have referred, now is our opportunity to do so.

"In the representative of the English Board of Trade—Mr. W. G. Wicknam —we have a most active and zealous officer, and ho misses no chance of creating a market for British goods. We are, however, at present, seriously handicapped by the fact that many lines —notably drugs arid druggists' sundries, patent medicines, ayes, gas mantles, and electrical goods—heretofore imported from Germany, are not procurable in Great Britain. Active efforts are being made in the last-men-tioned country, to produce the so goods, but,. I fear, it will.be some time before our people will be sufficiently educated to enable them- to produce goods equal in quality to those supplied by our great rivals.

"Now, as loyal and patriotic Britons, the duty devolves on us to do all in our power to assist-manufacturers in the Old Country. How can this be done? There is only one way, I think '—by each Oversea Dominion substantially, differentiating through tho Customs _in favour of British goods 'carried in British bottoms. Some exception might be raised to this proposal on the ground that it is calculated to increase the cost to the consumer. My reply to that contention is that, for the sake of Empire, we, individually and collectively, must be prepared to make sacrifices. By the generous and impartial manner in which we have treated/Germans—manufacturers and shipowners—in the past, we have assisted them to build up that huge and efficient fighting machine which to-dny is threatening-our national existence. I earnestly hope we shall not be guilty of such egregious folly in future."