Helensville, Thursday, April 22, 1915. TRADING WITH AMERICA

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 22 April 1915, Page 2

Helensville, Thursday, April 22, 1915. TRADING WITH AMERICA

All eyes are oil capturing the trade lost by Germany for all time through its war method's., and the Japs are the first to make a move towards that end, by sending- Commissioners all over the British possessions, and especially to these Dominions, which count to no inconsiderable extent. And much, interest is being shown by America, for British trade generally, which is, or would be, preferable to the jim-crack flimsy goods produced by the Japs, though cheaper. The worst of the working man's principles in buying and selling is that (-we refer particularly to the Britisher) he wants tip-top wages ; he sells his labour at the dearest market, and supports any country that sells goods cheapest. Instance the Chinaman: if, as is the case in Sydney, Melbourne, and elsewhere, he can sell tea 3d a pound cheaper, the female of the house, to which he hawks bis tea, readily buys from John Chinaman. And when we look at the inroads Germany has made with her cheaper productions into British possessions it is simply appalling to thick why it is so, though the problem is "greedily"'' plain. To show, now the chance arises, why we. as an English-speak-ing nation, should support American manufactures, in preference to other foreign product —of course we must always support the Belgians to " a certain extent, and they must come to light again ere long— Stead's " tteview of Reviews " produces some capital .articles on the why and the wherefore ; also goes a long way in trying to convince us that the policy as carried out by America during the war by remaining neutral, is the best which could possibly be devised - for the good of one and all, The articles we refer to are cleverly written in the v Review," and well worth perusing and pondering over. To-day we find space for the following :—

ONE OF OUR BEST CUSTOMERS

When nations go to war neutral traders benefit. That is obvious, and we, of all people, ought not to take exception to that. It was the Napoleonic wars which gave Britain her South American trade and, thanks to her command of the sea, there has been no war yet which did not 'benefit her itfer^ chants. They are now gathering up the trade of Germany, all over the world, but surely we are not of the dog-in-the-manger tribe, and do not want anyone else to take what we cannot take ourselves ! What the United States is doing in South America will hardly affect England-at all, and will certainly not be felt in the slightest by Australia. We, in this country, are great advocates of home industries. We want to produce what we need here ourselves, America has been a great importing country, but it was only after the war started that she realised how dependent she was on Europe. After this object lesson we- may be sure that factories will spring up in the United States, to supply her people with many- of the things they now get "from Germany,

France, and England. The holding up of half her cotton crop, for instance, must result in an attempt being made to manufacture Manchester piece-goods in the States, instead of sending the cotton to England, to be made up there, and sent back again, as is done at present. But we ought not to object to the United States doing what we are always trying to do ourselves The more America tries to meet her'own needs the better it is for us. Germany buys usually about a third of our wool clip. We have got to dispose of that somewhere, and, thanks to the disappearance of the tariff, the United States is obligingly going to take most of it; she must, indeed, ere long, become our I best customer. But trade in this world cannot be entirely one-sided. If she takes our wool, is it surprising that she in return will expect us to trade feely witfi. her ? AMERICA'S VALUE TO THE ALLIES Last month I indicated how absolutely necessary it was that the Allies should keep on the best terms with the United States as, without her, they would be unable to place the millions in the field, which alone can secure victory. Thanks to her factories Russia and France have been able to equip their new forces. Had it not been for- this help, there would have' been a far longer delay, and these men. would not have been at the front when they were -most urgently needed. "^Australasia is sending 50,000 or 60,000 men to Europe ; Canada is sending 100,000. That is. a magnificent demonstration of loyalty, which has thrilled the Empire. John Bull, junior, is putting 150,000 men, perhaps more, in the field. Uncle Sam, neutral —in search of the almighty dollar, if you will — is enabling: Russia, Britain and France to put at least an extra million men into the firing line v Wfyo is doing most to end the war —we or America ? Once we here fully realise how necessary it is for' the Allies to have American help, we will promptly quit sticking those unnecessary pins into Uncle Sam, which are making the delicate task of the Home Government more difficult still: The following list of a few of the main articles which the factories of the' United States are turning out for the Allies, tells its own tale.

1,100,000 rifles 300,000,000 cartridges. 15.000.0001bs of explosives 50,000 revolvers 1,500 machine guns 200 armoured motor cars 900 six-inch guns 40 nine-inch guns 4,000,000 rteel arrows - 50,000,000 ft lumber for railroads - 6,000,000 kegs of horse-shoes 5,000,000 pairs of socks 60,000 tons of steel for shrapnel 5,000,000 yds of cloth for uniforms 1,000,000 aluminium canteens 6,500 motor waggons 8,000 kitchen waggons 1,000,000 blankets 2,000,000 pairs woollen gloves' 3,000,000 pairs boots In addition, great quantities of overcoats, trousers, underwear, barbed wire, steel, knapsacks, cotton duck for tents and stretchers, in fact, huge supplies of everything an army needs. Georgia is practically denuded of its famous mules, nnd more than 150,000 horses nave been secured. To help feed the gigantic armies the Allies have now in the field, the exportable surplus of the greatest wheat crop on record has been poured across the Atlantic. At the end of the year it is estimated that at least £60,000,000 worth of munitions of war and material for the armies had been manufactured, or was in progress of making, in the United States. By this time it is safe to say that that amount has been increased to £100,000,000 !

[Further articles on America and the Belgians next week.]