AMERICAN PROBLEMS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 234, 12 March 1915, Page 7

AMERICAN PROBLEMS.

TRADE AND SOCIAL. A VISITOR'S I.MLTJiSSIONS. MARKETS FOR NEW ' vALAKD PRODUCE. After a business trip to San F.ranciseo and Vancouver, Mr, ,1. 0. Darkness, manager an -secretary of the National Dairy Association, in the course of an interview with a Dominion reporter, made some interesting comments <>» trade and other conditions on the Pacific Slope. Mr llarknoss's remarks on the subject of tarili' revision in .Canada, and its consequent ell'ect on New Zealand dairy produce entering Vancouver, were telegraphed from Auckland. At the same time, Mr. Darkness is of opinion that Vancouver will bo a good customer for Now Zealand butter for some years to come. "Our butter." lie stated,' "has made a name for itself in Vancouver; it is appreciated, and all tin' hotels and clubs that he visited, so far as he could judge, wore using it. The people had come to know its qualify, and invariably asked for it—whether thev always got it was another question. Unfortunately the' increased tariff put on by the Canadian Government would bo a serious handicap to trade at tho present prices." From investigations be made Mr. ITarkness is of opinion that San Francisco will not become a great consumer of Now Zealand dairy produce. Califori':ii is a big State, possessed of groat possibilities, and when the farmers who are now settled on the land adopt improved methods of agriculture, and farming becomes more general, as it will in the near future, they will be able to produce sufficient dairv produce for their own requirements. lie was present at one or two meetings of the Produce Exchange, which meets in San Francisco dailv at !> a.m. to fix prices of the various'lines of produce, and the wholesale price for butter at that time was 27 cents, equal to 131(1. It was worth in Vancouver probably 33 to 34 cents wholesale.

As to tho Produce Exchange, from what be saw in his visits he thought it was doing \cry good work, and in fixing the prices as thev did lie had no doubt thev steadied business. At tho same time it afforded them opportunities of "bearing" the market if they cliol se to do so. One was rather inclined to the idea that they did not want outside competition. So far as he knew there was no New Zealand butter going there at the. present time. They were importing some from Australia, but they were getfing it at a cheaper rate than they could get New Zealand butter for. On the other hand, lie came in contact with wholesale produce men in San Francisco who were convinced that there would bo a steady market for our best brandfor some years to come. Tt must be evident to everybody, however, that if thev •an produce large quantities themselves (hoy will be enabled to sell at muc'i lower prices than for New Zealand but tor, and consequently we could not cuaincte with them.

EAST COAST MARKETS. Tho East Coast of America, in the opinion of Mr. Harkness, will be the best market in America for New Zealand dairy produce, namely, such towns as New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, etc., and it was probable that a groat impetus to that trade would be given when general trade, conditions improved, and we could got direct shipments of our products to those cities at a reasonable rate of freight. So far as one could judge, at present, business prospects in the United States wore not good. Whilst certain manufacturers wore benefitting immensely from the manuf'ieture of necessary goods required by some European countries, and wore making big fortunes out of their contracts, the general run of manufacturers were very slack, and in the first place, if they had the business to do, they had not got the ships to carry away the products. In tho past they had relied to a large extent on German shipping. Unemployment on the West Coast of America was very pronounced. There wore many thousands of men out of work in San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver.

A CHANGED VANCOUVER. It was two years and a half since he had visited Vancouver, and he was very pleased to renew acquaintance with it, Imt found that business was practically dead. The lumber trade was almost at a standstill, and thousands were, out of work there. Tho war, they affirmed, had struck them seriously, but he thought the slump was no doubt due to over-speculation in the past. It bad boon admitted that 50.000 persons had left the city in the past twelve months. While two years ago you could not rent a house, about -every third house was vacant now. Of course the lumber slump would be only temporary, and would revive wdien the war came to an end.

Asked as to the feelings of the American citizens towards the war, Mr. Harkness said that he was only on the Western Pacific Slope, and was not .in a position to say what was the general feeling. He could only spoak of what! lie saw and heard. Taking San Francisco as an illustration, the German (dement was very strong in that city, and it was reported that they practically controlled many of the newspapers, and the feeling was rather in favor of Germany. On the. other bund, there were men who were not of German nationality, but wdiose principles seemed to be dominated by the "almighty dollar," consequently they took up an attitude of neutrality, and it was immaterial to such men whether Germany or the Allies won in the struggle now taking place. But those Americans who had sprung from good English stock were invariably anti-German and favored the Allies.' But the difficulty in America was the complexity of tho population.

THE TOWER OF JEWELS. \ t Tlio one absorbing topic in 'Frisco was ( (lie Exhibition. "VCltli commendable f pride the citizens had spent a vast sum to provide for the buildings, and about (ISO acres had been converted into a town within itself. The Tom of Jewels, covering about one acre at its base, and ■i:i") feet in height, was fuio main attraction. It was covered with 100.000 cut glass jewels, and these glittered in the sunshine in a, marvellously beautiful manner, while at r ; glit, when lit up, the tower was a thin;: of wondrous beauty. 'There were !\vo things a stranger in the city must never be guilty of: First, to speak of the crty'na "Frisco," and second, to rsfcr to the earthquake. Tn polite society an offender would he classed as a boor anil excluded from the inner circle, while the other portion of society might bludgeon one on the head. San Francisco was probably destined to become the most important city on the 1 Pacific Slope. The Americans deserve every praise for their belief in it. Audi (heir enterprise in reconstructing the cif v after the disastrous oarlh<|imke and (ire. From, the ashes of almost total destruction they have rebuilt the waste places, and it stands fo-day as a beautiful monument of the courageous determination of the people 1o face manfully heavy financial loss. A f'tM'./'.T TiI'MAX I'ROBT.IOr. Aiucncn. '""< great human problems to] [ solve, according, to Air. Uurknoss. There j I was a great nation, a«nd the question |

was: How in tin: years to come did it propose to solve tin l waslago of imnuui life'.' it:! rapid growth and expansion was the result not of normal increase, !mt the influence of foreign elements. whHi in tin: near future would Beck to dominate I lie future of the race. Into that conglomeration of races were

"!'(iv,:i the negroes and the half-castes. Would the future, he asked, produce men f a manhood equal to the Americans :>£ lie past? Had the United States tin' power itself to produce the highest type? As regards the home life, which had distinct advantages in the upbuilding of a nation, in San Francisco this had become almost art. In every street in the residential quarter there were hundreds of apartment houses. It was questionable whether this method of living would attain the desired object of improving the nation.