RECIPROCITY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2156, 3 April 1908, Page 2

RECIPROCITY.

CANADA AND NEW ZEALAND.

CANADIAN COMMISSIONER’S VIEWS.

Press Association. CHRISTCHURCH, April 2. Tho promotion of reciprocal trado relations between this country and Canada is the mission of Mr. J. b. Larko, Canadian Commissioner who i 3 nt present touring New Zealand, and who arrived in Christchurch from tho West. Coast last night. Mr Lnrko has his headquarters at Sydney. Th s territory covers Queensland New South Wales, and New Zealand. Hu has been in New Zealand on previous occasions in furtherance ot his work, and the present is one of his periodical tours. Mr. Larke has already visited Auckland and Wellington, and-dis-cussed, trade matters with the business peoplo there, and ho took in West Coast of tho South Island partly for tho purpose of seeing something of tho.timber resources of that part of the country, and partly to enjoy tho fine scenery characteristic ot tne coast. The timber business, so ho informed a “Press” reporter -who waited upon him last night, was carried on very differently to tiie methods adopted in Canada, but was eminently suited to the local conditions, and the sawmill proprietors knew what they were about. He did not think' that there would be any export of timber from New Zealand to Canada, for. the reasop that the latter country required only hard woods, and none were grown here. The North Island kauri was now available in such small quantities that it would hardly be regarded as an export article. Mr. Larke is very much impressed with the rapid and solid progress of New Zealand since his last visit, and considers the possibilities of trade between the two Dominions very encouraging. So far the main exports from New Zealand to Canada had been oats, wool, hides, and skins, and last year the trado was double of what it was the previous year. Kauri gum reaches Canada in large quantities through London, and, at one time, flax was imported largely, but it had fallen off considerably of late. A big trado could be also opened up m frozen mutton and butter to the West Coast of Canada if tho service could be improved by fitting the steamers with freezing chambers. Further, he looked forward to tho time when the fruit trade could be developed, for he had seen some remarkable developments in fruit-growing in this country. From Canada the principal articles of trade imported into New Zealand are paper, manufactured articles, especially agricultural machinery and implements, cotton goods, rubber goods, and chairs. What hampered trade extension was the lack of freezing and cool storage facilities in th© steamers trading to Vancouver anil carrying goods to the West Coast of Canada, the absence of a direct sendee with the east coast, and the high railway rates on the carriage of goods between the two coasts. Those matters, he said, he discussed with the Chambers of Commerce at Auckland and Wellington, and he felt sure that the Governments of both countries would be willing to do what was necessary to remove those hampering factors if they- felt that they were responding to the wishes of the bulk of the people in so doing. Mr j* Larke will remain in Christchurch for a few days.