The Daily News. TUESDAY, MARCH 14. MADE IN GERMANY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 261, 14 March 1911, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, MARCH 14. MADE IN GERMANY.

An eminent German last year, discussing the vexed question of physical conflict between Germany and Britain, said that such a war would be sheer international lunacy. His grounds were that the two people were blood relatives, each very necessary to the other as buyer and customer. The enormous extent of the trade between the two great countries is very remarkable, especially as Germany taxes most British goods about thirty per cent ad valorem, and Britain, of course, admits German goods free. It is curious that in 1909, despite tariff imposition, Britain sent into Germany fortyseven million pounds' worth of goods, seven million pounds' worth in excess of the goods and raw material sent by Germany to free-trade Britain. Nothing is so indicative of the tremendous and growing trade enterprise of the German people as their jealousy of the British trade. German commercial folk are apparently super-sensitive and exaggerate any advance in British advance as to an attack ;on their country. Thus Germany is quite sore about the "All-British Shopping Week" to be held in London, believing it is a blow at German trade. It is rather curious that Germany, which has by every possible means .protected her industries against foreign aggression, should suggest retaliation against Britain for merely frying to increase British desire for British goods. Germany, it has been pointed out, in pique at the idea of an "All-British Shopping Week." may retaliate by excluding British manufactures. Germany seems to have done all that is possible by heavy tariffs to exclude British goods, but the vitality of British trade is maintained in spite of hostile tariffs, mainly because the things Britons manufacture arc the best things of their class the world produces. The exclusion of British goods from Germany would punish Germany more severely than it would punish Britain, because Germany wants British goods more than Britain wants German goods or material. Although Germany might retaliate by excluding British goods, it is unlikely that under Britain's unalterable policy of free-trade, the latter country would exclude manufactures "made in Germany." Britain itself, however, is not the Empire, and the dominions, which are extremely large buyers of German goods, would certainly levy heavier taxes on these goods by way of assisting Home industries. Germany in this trade conflict has a weak case. It holds, in fact, that British buyers should be loyal to German goods and disloyal to its own. It says that if Britons persist in buying British goofls, it may decide to buy no British goods itself, a course that is very like the surgical operation of "cutting off the nose to spite the face." Any effort Ger many made to utterly/exclude British goods would injure German trade in all British countries. ThAfierman people are an exceedingly wi®twake peßjjjle, and sufficiently at rthe moment. The people. bitterly resent anything the price of commoditjepi&tt shutting the goods would ,Qf the German worker', baeh showing a marked cratic methods ahdhi to the increasing remains the poiAj; that .sold in Germany and "jHHn England" is more popular than tnc/ I German article of a similar kind, and that the article sold in Britain or elsewhere and branded "Made in Germany" is generally accepted for its cheapness, and not for its high quality. Britain perhaps stupidly refuses to come into H ie with some other countries by sacrificing quality, and it is merely because of the national antipathy to poor goods that British manufactures are of higher quality than the manufactures of any other country. Germany in many lines of manufacture is pre-eminent, but her trade with Britain, apart from that in raw material, is in goods which Britain makes much better herself but not so cheaply. We are daily reminded of the passion of the British people for good goods by the fact that few of the British articles of eyery-day use sold in this country are perfect. British people will not buy "thirds" at "firsts" prices, and so the colonies are made the dumping grounds not only for the rejects from England, but the poor stuff the Continent could not possibly sell in London. London's very harmless intention to spur English folk into a greater enthusiasm about their own unapproachable manufactures has forced Germany to make threats likely to vastly help British manufactures. It is hardly likely, especially as the great British papers are making much of Germany's soreness, that Londoners during the "All-British Week" will go out of their way to salve Germany's wounds by buying her articles. We have frequently remarked that the average person of any nationality is not greatly influenced in his buying by feelings of loyalty to country. He is influenced by "pocket." The exclusion of foreign goods, even for a week in London, the greatest emporium of the world, would necessarily give a tremendous impetus to British trade, especially if there were absolute unanimity among sellers to exhibit only Home-made articles.' There is nothing that Germany supplies to England that Britain cannot make herself or import from her own dominions, and although there seems to be no real chanec of Germany quarrelling with a very substantial slice of lier bread and butter, if she does so it cannot vitally affect British trade. The loss of a very fine customer would set British commercial minds at work, and new markets would assuredly be found. Great traders I do not mind whether tliey sell their goods in Berlin or Pckin. and Germany beinn a great trader wants British goods much more than it wants to punish London for dariii? lo hold an "All-'Hrilish Slioppin" Week." i