The Daily News. TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 1901. A PLEA FOR NEW ZEALAND.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXIII, Issue 48, 12 March 1901, Page 2

The Daily News. TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 1901. A PLEA FOR NEW ZEALAND.

Under tha above heading a letter appears in the London Daily Mail, a capv of whieh has beaa seat to a prominent business man in New Plymouth by a business man at Homo who, in commenting on the letter in tha Mail, puts the case from the Horn* standpoint in a very forcible manner. The letter and comment has been handed to us, and £3 the mitter is of considerable interest here, and moreover the letter is dated from Taranaki, we give it as fellows:—

To tha Editor of the "Daily Mail." Knowing the love of fair play among Englishmen, here is a little matter that should be known. Toss and tons of Australian and New Zealand butter are landed in England. But how does the English buyer get it? Under what make or brand ? Colonials who visit England neither see nor hear anything about Australian or New Zealand butter, so we get neither the credit nor profit. Is Danish so much sought after that other batter is sold as such ? Are Danes such good customers in your markets? We Colonials spend |more, give you better interest for your money, with good security, and we have opened the way for your sons, who may become producers. Lastly, our sons have shown that they are willing to die for Queen and eountry. Tmnaki, N.Z. New Zealanbee, The writer of this omits a very important point which I believe is not appreciated by many Colonials, as I have heard the same complaint before, viz , that Australian and New Zealand produce is not sold as such, but as some j other country's produce, and consequently our colonial friends lament that credit is not given where it is due. Now it is a well known fact that people (with the exception ef the very poor classes who buy the reallyjinferior kind of meat such as Eiver Plate muttun or beef) will not go to a shop and buy what is sold as New Zealand mutton or Australian, and when we say this of meat tha same applies to butter, cheese and apples. What is the result? The shopkeeper, butcher, or fruiterer, marks his meat Scotch, Welsh, or Southdown, charges Is a pound fer ifc; the butterman sells his butter as Danish, Dot sit, or whatever the fancy of the customer directs; the fruiterer likewise endeavours to please his clients by calling the apple or whatever it is, by the pet fancy of the buyor. Of course this is all very wrong and {camera), hot it is, I am tfiaid, human nature. Of course it should not bs, but when we a blind headstrong public to deal with, you must humour there, othftrwiae, toy deir hoy, good byo to tho enormous trade in Colonial butter, cheese, meat, and everything else. But I bow ceme to the paint which I mentioned at the beginning of this letter, and which the New Zealand writer evorlookwd, viz., that where butter from tha Colonics is about to be sold as Danish, and where your mutton is sold aad cannot be identified from British growths, you reap the benefit rs much, if not more, than the English shopkeeper, viz., in increased demand and in a better price returned. Meat if hung up in shaps and labelled as Australian or New Zealand, would in 99 cases out of 100 be left to go bad, and ditto with other things. Now you cannot underunderatind this' I fancy I hear you say, bat it is a fact. The writer fer instance would not wittingly buy Nsw Zealand meat for anything, we go to a good butchers, and buy guaranteed En glish er Sootch meat, I won't swear we get it, mind, but I will say it is always good and we always pay a fair price for it. and doir.g so enjoy it as good old ! English. Who gains over this Uaws- i ac ion ? Why the producer must, in the long run, as much as aiayoue. I was in Suffolk some tiino ago, and spaakisg of J sggs, an old couatrynaat! said they sever 1 bought Frenak eggs ua th«y wtrv uader '

the impression they were bad, in Fact, if they camo across a bad egg from tbe fihop t.hoy at enco said, Ah ! that's n French avg. Nov? -w a mtittor of fad ! tb*re if no finur egg in the world tkan a Fr.iEch < gg, but you see what I mean, we Engliph or British folks are so euuceited, we don't think anything of things that are not reared or gtown at home, but my dear boy wa cannot produce anything like the quantity required for our population, and as every uue .is so particular that nil they o -t, drink; wear, and iiae, must be absolutely British, why there you are don't-cber-know. The writer of tli9 cutting finishes up with a lot of talk about the Colonials, that is all very true, and especially about the fighters for Queen nml country, but that should not be usvd in an argument of this sort, as it is quite aput from the question, No, you must be content with the good the go Is give, you get the substantial part of the aft'nir anyhow, viz., the increased vtlue, and if the man in the street don't appreciate you, at any rate people who know, such as the wholesale man, and the mtn who study colonial matters and produce, value you at your proper worth, and the great British public in time will do so alas, but they won't

ha\ eit push,id down their throats until the time a> rives, when they will say, "well of course we knew it all the trhile."—P.S.—As a matter of fact people do Eot ask for a particular nationality of butter, neither do cheesemongers mark butter up as DanishCanadian, French, Russian, German, etc., the "common or garden " shoppers ask for |lb best fresh, or £lb b;st s-jlt, they know nothing beyond that as a rule ; they may ask for Dorset once in a way, but as a rule it is either "fresh' or "ialt" thoy ask for, Of coursa we quit 9 understand the Taranaki wri'et'fl desire that his colony's goods should stand forth to the world as pucb, but at the same time it is as well to look ta the substantial benefit wbieb he at the same time enjoys as a' result of a'uot too generous advertisement of the origin of his produce.