The Daily News WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17. ANGLO-COLONIAL TRADE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 44, 17 March 1909, Page 2

The Daily News WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17. ANGLO-COLONIAL TRADE.

Like a breath of fresh air at the present season, when the trading community is inclined to be pessimistic, comes a book of Imperial thought ami interest, entitled •'The Trade and Industry of Australasia." The book, says the reviewer of a London paper to whom we are indebted for a summary of the contents, might be the work of such colonial patriots as Alfred Deakin or the late Richard Scddon. Instead, it comes from the impartial mind of a London gentleman, commissioned by the .Manufacturers' Association of Great Britain to report upon the industries and trade of Australia and New Zealand. In his preface

Mr. li. 11. Morgan sounds the note that dominates the book: ''There is solid prosperity in both countries. Exports and imports are increasing, local industries are steadily growing, and the high character of the products and the excellent work turned out of the factories are all evidences of the existence of a high standard of labor. Then 1 found practically no unemployed, and a social and intellectual condition prevailing among the working classes which was quite"rcfresliing after a close acquaintance with the evils that exist in our eountrv, largely through congestion and unrestricted competition.'' Again and a"ain Mr. Morgan reiterates this statement, and leads the Australian and New

Zealander to hope that we are now in sight of the end of the very general misunderstanding created in England by our progressive legislation in Australasia during recent years. "Patriotism, we read, " will induce the colonial buyer to endeavour *o obtain British goods whenever possible, and conditions, prices, anil delivery being equal, it is sulViciently strong throughout Australasia to secure business for the Mother Country; but it cannot do more than this." Rut while over-sea trading knows no sentiment in Australasia, Mr. Morgan found that " there is in "Australia a very strong feeling in favor of local production. 'Support Australian industries' is a cry that is heard throughout the Commonwealth. and is a sentiment which materially assists Ute local manufacturer." Here, ill this indifference between the product of the manufacturer of Birmingham and the manufacturer of Germany, and in the growing preference for the

Australian-made article, coupled with the abundance of raw material, a high tariff wall, and a bright labor outlook in Australasia, lies the/ chief interest for the British manufacturer. All visitors to Australia and New Zealand are impressed with the buying capabilities of the people. The reader, and in particular the British manufacturer, is warned in the report against reckoning Australasia's trading powers by its population. "The Australian workman, as a rule, calls for- a higher grade of goods than our own; his wages correspond with the prosperous condition of affairs that prevails. . . . Australians are very extravagant in the matter of wearing apparel, and the English visitor ) at lirst experience, is apt to gain the imprcsj sion that Australian women are over-

dressed. . . . The prosperity of the country is reflected hi the demand which exists in the cities tor the best class of goods." Tims tiie population of Australia and New Zealand, though only live •and a quarter millions, is an abnormal consumer. The trade, he urges British merchants, is worth having. Air. Morgan does not show that the trade between the United Kingdom and Australia is actually declining. Jt is still growing, but it is sull'ering relatively. The foreigner is grabbing (lie increase. The British Commissioner is naturally much concerned at this foreign development. The foreigners are, he finds, beating the Britisher by under-selling, closer contact with the Australian market (chiefly in superior local representation), and by the receipt of preferential treatment from various shipping rings engaged in the Australian trade. Mr. Morgan makes several proposals for retrieving the position of the United Kingdom, and very forcibly urges a response to Australia's beginnings in tariff preference. "Here we have a weakening of the strongest bond which exists between Australia and the Mother Country—the bond of trade." In this declaration Mr. Morgan is, perhaps, over pessimistic. Aftvr discussing various possibilities, lie then proceeds to make the sound, practical suggestion that the surest and simplest way for tlu* British manufacturer to hold the Australasian trade is to take an imperial view of the problem and proceed immediately In manufacture in Australia and New Zealand. H he doubts the present and future Australian demand for goods, the supply of raw material, the settled state | ofMlie labor market, and the danger of

being forestalled by his foreign compel itors, let him read Mr. Morgan's work without delay, branch factories in the Commonwealth will, as a contemporary points out, keep Australia's trade and its profits in British hands for all time. ]t is satisfactory that a number of British linns are already following out this line of policy. Quite a number of important British manufacturers have branch works at Sydney or .Melbourne, and a. few have commenced operations in New Zealand.

ON THE FOURTH PAGE. District News. Supreme Court. Woman's World. Okato Athletic Club. Taranaki Land Board.