The Guardian AND EVENING STAR, With which is incorporated “ The West Coast Times.” FRIDAY, JULY 22nd, 1921.

Hokitika Guardian, 22 July 1921, Page 2

The Guardian AND EVENING STAR, With which is incorporated “ The West Coast Times.” FRIDAY, JULY 22nd, 1921.

NEW ZEALAND’S TRADE. Fjiom the second volume of the “Statistics of New Zealand” can be gathered details of New Zealand trade for the period 1911 to 1920, and render it possible to gleam the ranges which opwaL t*d to make last year svtoh 5 Iw.vy importing yaw. The value of Impart* In liiyO, >t- tvil| be rentehiheVf'tl wil* f l

little over double the vfitue bf imports in 1919- Tlib (explanations already given for this trbrnendous movement have been various. The most popular theory seems to be that overseas manufacturers, faced with a price-slump at Home, fell back upon the unfilled or partially filled orders which were such a feature of war-time trading, and deluged Australasia with goods. Another theory is that in many important lines these antipodean markets were “starved” during the war, and that the hedvj shipments of 1920 were very largely ne-

cossary to make up tire shortage of supplies in earlier years. If it were passible to correlate the official returns of value with authentic details concerning the movements of prices, it" might be ( possible to say with some degree of accuracy which explanation is nearest the truth. Tti the absence of such correlation we can only guess, but the figures seem to show evidence both of underimporting in the war years and overimporting in 1920. To take such a cate crtry as textiles, the 1913 importations of these were valued at £4,676,931, which was not greatly in excess of the value in 1912 and 1911. In 1914 and I Old imports averaged four and a half millions per annum, a slight falling oil compared with 1913, hut in 1916 they rose to six and a half millions,, in 1917 they were over five millions, in 1918 over six and a half millions, in 1919 over seven and a half millions, and in 1920 over fifteen and a. half millions. Steeply as textile prices rose during the war period, this growth in values seems still steeper. In the hardware vroup, however, another story is told. The 1913 value of imports was four and a half millions, the average during the next, six years, from 1914 to 1919, was under four millions, and there were ten millions of imports in 1920, which, allowing for price increases, looks mor« like a normal development. Motor cars and motor cycles ,again, show a movement greater than price can ac- , count? for. The 1913 importations were valued at about a million, the average for the next six years was nearer a million and a half, and the 1920 imports soared to five and a quarter millions. Other categories and items, while they show large movemens, give loss definite guidance as to the trend of trade. Details of customs duties collected dur- , i n g 1920 show that out of a total of seven and a third millions about two I millions was paid on tobacco and alcoholic liquors, two and a third mfllions on apparel and textiles, about half a million on hardware, of various sorts, nearly a quarter of a million on machinery, and a like sum on clocks, jeweli levy and so forth. The export duty on I timber did not greatly swell the revenue, the ton 1 collections for the year being only £B. Out of- a total of sixtvmie and a half millions’ worth of imports over one third, or to be more prei < ise, nearly twenty-two millions’ worth, paid duty. 'Hie proportion borne by duty to the value of imports, however, was considerably less than in the preceding year.