BRITAIN.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 February 1916, Page 5

BRITAIN.

ENEMY TRADE, A VALUABLE INVESTIGATION. LESSONS FROM GERMANY. London, Feb. 2. Mr. Runeiman issued the report of the. Commercial Intelligence Committee of the Board of Trade. Sir Algernon Firth is chairman. The inquiry is largely the result of Sir Thomas Mackenzie's representations. The committee, since July, has been investigating trade.with a view to providing a basis for the comprehensive treatment of post-war problems, especially concerning the Dominions and the Allies.

Evidence was particularly directeif to paper, cutlery, leather, glassware, china, earthenware, electrical apparatus. The manufacture of printing stationery, jewellery, and the brush and hardware trades. Striking figures showed that enemy goods in these classes, amounting to .£8,173,000 were included in the imports to Britain in 1,013, while £15,97.5,000 was the estimated value for the five self-governing Dominions. India, in 1913, imported £3,000,000 worth of similar . Aivrtro-German goods,

The committee recommends Government assistance to scientific research in industry. Although British manufacturers and workmen have not always appreciated it, scientific investigation or technical training in German technical institutions have given valuable assistance. The committee believes in an extensive scheme of State aid for industrial research, while the Privy Council committee recently established will be of great value if manufacturers co-operate. Large funds will be needed. The evidence disclosed widespread dissatisfaction with British railways. Germany's State system is advancing her export trade. The German Government subsidised firms, enabling them to carry out big engineering works in the British Dominions, which British firms, if similarly assisted, were equally «Hi> to undertake.

IMPORTANT RECOMMENDATIONS. | ENCOURAGEMENT OF BRITISH MANUFACTURERS. Received Feb. 3, 9.30 p.m London, Feb. 2. The Committee's report adds: German potteries received Devon and Cornwall clays 3s per ton cheaper than if transported to British potteries. Child labor and low wages placed Germany at an advantage. It had been evidenced that German workmen worked longer hours and paid greater attention to their work than did the British. Electrical firms recommended the unification of the Empire's patent laws. Tariff protection tfas a most important question to be investigated, and it was generally feared that after the war Britain would be flooded with AustroGerman goods at any price, accentuating previous competition and involving disaster to British manufacturers who had been encouraged to extend operations with a view to capturing enemy trade. The committee recommends that if Trade Commissions are found satisfactory in the dominions they ought to be extended to foreign countries. The consular service ought to be reorganised in tile direction of increasing its commercial utility. Anstro-German goods imported ought to be marked "Made in Germany," while other foreign goods should be marked "Not British," A tribunal ought to prevent British shipowners and railways giving preference to traders in other countries. Shipping companies ought to be prohibited from charging higher rates from Britain than from the north of Europe. The committee also recommends the establishment of a Ministry of Commerce. Respecting goods of vital importance to national safety, whose manufacture has fallen into hands outside Britain, tariff protection ought to be afforded to Britishers ready to manufacture the same, so as to enable them to maintain the production after the war.

A strong demand exists to respond to the feelings of the Dominions in favor of Imperial trade preference, also with the allies. The committee also considers that a larger proportion of revenue ought to be derived from import duties.

The Right Hon. Sir Albert Spieer, M.P. (ex-president of the London Chamber of Commerce), signs the report, but adds a reservation, pointing out that th;e industriea (investigated exclude money, which was the greatest, He also deprecates an immediate policy of protection, as he considers the war itself is an automatic protection, while the prejudice against Austro-German goods is likely to act as a protection for some years after the war. He hopes the whole question will be considered after the war in the light of an agreed policy arrived at with the dominions and Britain's allies.

CHURCH FOR OVERSEAS FORCES. London, Feb. 1. St. Margaret's, Westminster, has been placed at the disposal of the overseas forces for services or religious ministrations. Inaugural services for the Australians and Now Zealanders will take place on February 16. SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE LACKING. London, Feb. 1. A committee of leading scientists has published a memorandum on the necessity of greater scientific training, and suggesting the replacement of the Board of Trade by a Ministry of Science, Commerce and Industry. The memorandum points out that we have suffered checks in the war through lack of scientific knowledge on the part of legislators and administrative officers. MOTHERLAND'S CARE. \ London, Feb. 2. The Daily Telegraph, commenting o< the Parliamentary luncheon to Mr. Fisher, wonders what has been the Mother Country's virtue, or her care for the dominions, which has now aroused their devotion. It urges statemen to vepay the devotion to its fullest extent when the dominions claim the right in an Imperial Council to share the Imperial policy.