SEEKING TRADE

Hokitika Guardian, 2 June 1930, Page 2

SEEKING TRADE

A VISITOR. FROM FRANCE.

FLOURISHING INDUSTRIES

WELLINGTON. May 30,

"The more formality you have the more isolated you will V/* ” was the opinion expressed by Mr J. E. Powell, Fuchs, who is engaged in a comprehensive tour of the Dominion in the. iimuvsts of a large- group of French manufacturers, when discussing to-day the many formalities to which foreigners a,re subject when entering New Zealand. ‘ Mr* Fuchs considered that some of. the things demanded bv tiie authorities were positively c-liild-sh and corresponded very unfavourably with conditions in France, where only IQs entry tax wus charged in the case of first-class travellers and a smaller, amount for others.

"For instance,” he said "on my nr-, rival in Auckland there *’•■>« first the: question of passports on the boat ami then +liem was tro’V'le with the Cuts-' tom's officials in regard to my samples., Following a medical examination .1 had to take the form of oath subserib-: ing to flip laws ~f the country. I con-' sider that ridiculous, as it is only common. . sense that nnv . foreigner ktmws ft'at lie has to obey the laws of the country where 1, e may be/ Mr F’tchs went on to suy that be eonsicle-rod tlmt £l* h the Goveminent demanded of all foreigners pnterlmt the country, a very foolish restriction. Truly It was refunded later if no business were done, but It was most troublesome for wealthy tourists «iul business men to have to bo TW-horml with the tax. and in many cases buyers and travellers had to nay the money out of their own jpookets owing to the difficulty of colS) , (; h odd sums from their head offices. He considered that it would l|e better to have a fixed tax calculated on the length of time «nent in the pominion. Generally the average business man from overseas had very little time to spare and he could not afford to he bothered with trivial matters. ' "The simplest method will be the I ’.*r 4 - ”he said. "Tt will he the pause bringing more competition from abroad, lowering the price of goods, and bettering the quality.” As compared with Frftnce he thought that New Zealand’s soil was barely scratched, and he attributed much of the prosperity there to the fact that the people did not remain in and about the cities as was the case in New Zealand and Australia. Out of a population of 40 millions there were four millions in Paris, one 'million in Marseilles, and the remainder of the population was evenly distributed over the country. Every scrap of earth was under cultivation, French industries were booming, particularly in the wine and spirit, metallurgical, and clothing trades. They dlf hot have the methods of mass production as in the United States, but rather followed the English style, where the work was done by craftsmen, and, although slower, was superior jn quality. The average working man was paid from 35s to 40s a week in the country,, he said, but it was very hard to compare the respective standards of living.between France and New Zealand. There was no unemployment in France at the present time, and they, had to So as Lir as bringing operatives from other countries to work in their factories, Tin y had an enormous trade in clothing and as all the fashions of the world were set by Paris they could command their own prices.