AS OTHERS SEE US

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8358, 19 February 1913, Page 11

AS OTHERS SEE US

jJISW ZEALAND’S TRADE WITH GREAT BRITAIN AN INTENSELY HEAL RECORD. "The animal report to the Board of; T rado on the trade of the Dominion of w Zealand, by his Majesty's Trade) ummissiouer for the Dominion of New -..aland (Mr W. G. Wickham), is’ as unlike the old-fashioned oiliciai report as it well can be. Instead of being an inextricable maze of -useless statistics compiled by someone who has made his o.iice instead of his house his castle, and :io is entirely out of touch with the doers of the deeds of which he attempts do report, this document is an intensely rcal. live, record of the actual commerce of New Zealand, evidently written by one who is master of his subjectIi this report is a sample of the work being done all over the Empire by the Trade Commissioners _ who were appointed as a result of Sir Joseph Ward's' representations at the 1907 Imperial Conference, then the thanks of the whole Empire, and of this Dominion in particular, are due to the author of the scheme, THE USE OF STATISTICS. Mr Wickham's report covers much ground; separate sections of the report being devoted to general conditions, legislation. public works, local industries, and import statistics. The section dealing with general conditions is perhaps of even more interest ■ than any of the others. In it the Commissioner points out that statistics of - population and exports are of more vital interest to the foreign manufacturer than those of imports, which hardly serve to do more than indicate the buying power of the country at a particular time, and he gives very cogent reasons for his opinions, as. indeed, he does throughout this very modem and thought-compelling report. The British manufacturer who) reads this report (and it is to be hoped that all manufacturers doing or likely to do business with New Zealand will read it) will know more about the general conditions of the country, and the special conditions which create special needs, than many persons who have lived here all their lives. As a result of geographical conditions, it is pointed out that “in small towns in the Dominion the stores and shops are on a scale such as would not be found in England with loss than about ten times tho population.” THE ABUSE OP STATISTICS; A good deal of fault is justifiably, found with the method of classification: adopted by the New Zealand statist’caß authorities, and owing to this “the official figures, of trade published by the Dominion Government are apt to give an incorrect impression as to the proportion of tho United Kingdom’s share ■ in the total trade.” which is “far from overwhelming, and there is a great deal of room for improvement.’-’ Attention is drawn to the very prevalent misconception that preferential duties apply to ail) imports where there is serious competition, with. foreign countries. The Commissioner has in consequence compiled figures which are unobtainable from any other source, official or otherwise, which show that less than one-third of the total imports are subject-to preferential rates of duty. The figures which are summarised an follow are worth noting: Value of total imports, British and foreign, £ 1910 17,051,5§3 1911 19,545,879 Value of goods imported under prefer- 1 ential rates —total, British and foreign. 1910 ...... 5,555,786 1911 6,299,600 Of these latter figures the following are the totals imported from the British Empire: . 1910 1. ' 4.552.913 1911 5,170.665The actual profit made by British manufacturers on that unascertainamui portion of the above mentioned five million, which would not have gone to other) parts of the Empire if it had not,been fur the preferential stimulus, certainly aoes not amount to so considerable a nonofit to Great Britain as we commonly suppose ourselves to be giving to tho Mother Country. The chief complaint against our statistical method seams to >o that “classification of imports by countries of shipment and not by countries of origin is unfortunately the rule. It seems hardly necessary to elaborate the disadvantage of this method of classification from the point of view of the United Kingdom when the lines which need the closest watching are those ,in which it is difficult to gain an accurate idea of the real strength of foreign competition.” It is very well to have such a remediable defect pointed out, and we hope that it will shortly be remedied. HUME TRUTHS POE BEITISH MANUFACTURERS. The report by no means confines iteeli ,to pointing out defects at this end, and gome very plain home truths are thrust before the notice of the British manufacturer. In this connection the following extracts from the report are interesting: "To aUow their goods to be sent to the other end of the world, not only without their name, or that of the country of manufacture, but without even their trade mark, is to ignore the value of goodwill in business. ’’ “British trade as contrasted with that of other countries has been built no by specialisation. There is no other country in which every stage of manufacture and every process of -marketing has been to such an extent subdivided among specialists. Higher efficiency is probably maintained by this system, which has the added advantage that it leaves room for the small man by the side of the big man at, each stage. But efficiency in one stage is often attained at the cost of ignorance of the. other stages, and hence the old complaint that the British manufacturer did not know his market.” “Instances can be -given without end to show how German and American goods are brought out via British ports in British ships at lower freight rates than similar British goods from those same British ports.” “Much harm is being done by this policy.” “A vory considerable impetus has been given to British manufacturers by the levy of higher tariff rates on non-British goods. At the same time a diametrically opposite policy is being carried out by an important section of the British community; the same goods which the Dominion is trying to keep out by higher duties in the interests of the United Kingdom are being pushed in by our shipowners through lower freights, and the deliberate policy of the Dominion is being frustrated.” The perennial question of freights once again, raised by the Commissioner’s report is a very real grievance, and one which should not be allowed to drop. Chanjbere of Commerce should continue their previous agitation against this injustice until some move is made by the British Government to compel British shipowners to change their present shortsighted and unpatriotic policy. LOCAL DIFFICULTIES, The report also devotes a. good deal of space to difficulties and disabilities of agents at this end. It is pointed out that the American understands better than the Britiish manufacturer "the value of the big selling commission for introducing goods.” After the quality of tho article has been attended to “the one person to consider is the seller, and how to enlist his active co-operation by saving him trouble (method of get-up, packing, etc.) and giving him a good return.” The Commissioner admits that tho friction which often occurs between principal and agent is generally attributable to faults on both sides, but as he is addressing himself to British manufacturers confines himself to those on ■ the manufacturer’s side. Ho then pro-

ceeds to draw their attention to the .'smallness and overcrowded condition of ithe market, the slowness and difficulty of travelling and many other local difficulties which the commercial traveller lia England has not got to contend with. As the report says Englishmen “must not look on travelling hero as parallel to running up to Loudon from Birmingham for the inside of a day.” THE “INQUIRY” WINDOW. After dealing exhaustively with the .question of bad packing this part of the report concludes by urging manufacturers to copy the American practice of writing long chatty friendly letters to their agents and greeting them cordially on their visits to the other bide of tho world instead of allowing them the Ihonour of a conversation with their office ■'boy through tho dispiriting medium of an “inquiry” window. Some parts of the report are very pleasant reading to New Zealanders, though of course there might have been another side to some of the pictures had the Commissioner been addressing himself to New Zealand merchants instead of British manufacturers. For instance, it is pleasing to read that “buyers and importers and Government alike are led in New Zealand to prefer British made goods partly from loyalty, and also because it is accepted that British made means well made, solid and reliable. There is undoubtedly far more of this sentiment hero than there is in England itself. People here take far more trouble to find out whether such and such goodscan be procured from the United Kingdom before having recourse to foreign icountries.” And also the following:—“There: seem no adequate grounds for thinking that (tho Dominion is at present in sight of jthe termination of tho spell of prosperity.” WHERE NEW ZEALAND LEADS THE WAY. The report concludes with a reference 'to the well equipped locomotive works lof Messrs A. and G. Price at tho Thames, and the fact that despite the admission •of agricultural implements free of duty into the Dominion the local manufacturer has built up a sound industry in this lino. This is most noticeable in ploughs. The Americans “cannot make the strong forged plough which is required here, land local designers and makers are in the proud position of having seen unsuccessful imitations of their established tmakes in the catalogues of three leading ‘manufacturing countries.” The Commis(sioner shrewdly observes that, despite the much talked of adaptability of our American cousins and their readiness to make .their goods to suit any customer’s reiquiroments, ono is led to suspect that they normally find markets suited to t-their goods rather than suit their goods to markets entirely unlike their own. 2Jd PEE COI% We hope that this straightforward and well informed report, which is published ,at 2jd per copy, will not be relegated ito the top shelf, but circulated widely nmongst local Chanlhers of Commerce. Bud that it may bo followed at intervals by others of equal viilue, which cannot fail to bo a stimulus to the trade between Great Britain and New Zealand. The Commissioner himself (Mr \V. G. Wickham) is an excellent example of the ‘very modem civil servant; an Oxford |man with a number of years’ experience ( of gr&at commercial Louses in India and 'Mitmiah before 'being taken into the Board of Trade as an expert and appointed to' the fascinating task of studying itho manufactures and manufactories ot Great Britain, no man could bo better qualified than he to act as an intermediary and on occasion as a mediator Between the great manufacturers ot the Old Country and tho importers ot tfiis Dominion. ___________