OVERSEAS TRADE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2692, 11 February 1916, Page 7

OVERSEAS TRADE

—— —» POSITION OP THE BRITISH • FIRMS RESULTS OF THE WAR. Ml 1 . B. W. Dalton, who was appoint" w to succeed Mr. W. G. Wickham as \ His Majesty's Trade Commissioner in j wew Zealand, arrived. at Wellington j yesterday and spent a busy day at his i office in Grey Street. Speaking to a j -- reporter yesterday Mr. Dalton referred v lo the broad effects of the war on Bri- 3 tish industries and the manner in which r the exports overseas had in consequence r been affected. .. To state, in round figures alone, the j number' of factories controlled by the j British Government, remarked Mr. Da-lton, would convey some idea of how 1 , the manufacturer nt Home is tied to i the Government. "While it is popular- | lj; supposed," lie said, "that muni- v tione of lvar ■ mean ammunition- and 1. Rims, as a matter of fact the articles 1 which are really required could practically be every class of manufacture 1 in Britain." , And private orders must of necessity f receive only secondary consideration? c "Exactly," replied Mr. Dalton, "and t I would like to emphasise these difficul- , ties which the Home manufacturers are t experiencing in fulfilling overseas or- ' tiers. In reality most of the factories 6 are employed for more thaji the normal hours in Government work so that the 1 orders from private customers must suf- ! fer. It is not only those engaged in producing metal work who are unable at 1 the moment to cope with private trade, J but in most of the general lines of pro- 1 duct-ion the same circumstances prevail. ? It is known to me as a fact that many 1 manufacturers in England are supply- c illg material to the Government at a i less profit to themselves than they j could secure from private customers. It ' is only "their admirable patriotism t which prevents them executing orders t which, buyers ask them to take. That ' is a fact which, should appeal to the J public of New Zealand', and which should ' call for sympathy, as it would naturally y be a serious blow to manufacturers if ' after displaying -this patriotic spirit they were to find that the general ' trade which they enjoyed in peace time i 'ihad suffered." ] Sir. Dalton has, since the outbreak < if war, Bpent a period of fifteen months ! 'isiting the various industrial centres i 31 England 011 behalf of the War Of- 1 ice and tlie Board of Trade. I "One cannot go to any industrial 1 jentre in England," he remarked, 1 "without realising the extraordinary • difficulties under which our manufacturers are at present producing—and < producing cheerfully. These handicaps ' Delude shortage of labour, difficulty in ' >btaining the necessary fuel and raw 1 Inaterial, the high prices of all kinds ] of transit, and the running of works : on short capacity on account of the : shortage of fuel and labour. These difficulties have increased the manufacturers' costs to an extraordinary degree. That may be said to apply to 'almost every line of production, and when the manufacturer says lie has a difficulty in executing orders he is merely stating the bare fact. Trade is .also regulated by what is known as the Priority Committee and the Ministry of Munitions, which decide what order? shall be fulfilled."