TRADE OUTLOOK.
SEEKING NEW MARKETS-INTER-EMPIRE COMMERCE AND PREFERENCE. On hia arrival in Wellington on Sunday, after a nine-months’ tour of England, America, and Canada, Sir John Findlay, K.C., was asked by a representative of the Times if he could indicate or suggest lines along which New Zealand was likely to move to a sounder economic position than was being experienced in the Dominion. “I can claim no expert kowledge in respect to such matters,” answered Sir John. “But, during the last six or seven months, I have heard much wellinformed discussion upon this topTl!. There seems to be in England, at any rate, a fairly widespread belief that ’the depressed position of our wool is due to war accumulations of that commodity. How to deal with these is admittedly e perplexing difficulty. It seemed to me that the best solution was that advocated by some of the experts I met, namely, to sell our wool to Poland and othe’ Central European countries, on such terms as to payment, no matter how dis« taut, as can be arranged.” PAYMENT GUARANTEE. “Do you mean in the open market, o; subject to the limitations prescribed bj the wool realisation associations?” “In the open market, certainly,” saii Sir John. “It is urged,” he continued “that, although the present position O 1 the "buyers would, in such a case, provid* no guarantee of payment, yet som< measure of reasonable expectation that the wool would be paid for ultimatalj is better than to permit these accumulations to continue to demoralise tbi market. “It seems generally recognised in Lon* don that we compete with certain other countries, not* ably the Argentine, in beef. But in respect of butter, lamb, and mutton, it ie confidently asserted that we have nothing to fear. I found, in many quarters in England, that New Zealand butter ia regarded as the best on the English market, and I was applied to more than once for information as to where our butter could be obtained. In providing this information the High Commissioner’s office could do much.
INTER-EMPIRE TRADE. “A proposal that is gathering a rapid-ly-increasing favor in England is that oi promoting trade within the Empire by a well-devised system of Imperial preference, and it is gratifying to remembei that Mr. Massey has always vigorously advocated this proposal. Indeed, I think it may be fairly said that, with the passing of a resolution moved by Mr« Massey at the 1918 Imperial Conference, the principle was adopted by the British Cabinet, and has already been given effect to, with marked benefit, to India and Egypt, and, to a much - smaller extent, to ourselves. This principle has been expressed in England in the phrase: ‘The Empire’s goods and commodities for the Empire’s people, as against foreign producers.’ In England, too, I found, all the time I was there, that leading British statesmen and prominent representatives of overseas Dominions exhibited a strong and eager desire for closer relationship of all kinds, including commercial relations with India.” OLD WORLD AND NEW. “Our position to-day is admittedly depressed by stagnant markets and low prices,” said Sir John, “but it is better than that of any other country that the war has directly affected. The eyes of very many people who were suffering from the distress prevalent in the Mother Country are turned towards this country with a longing desire 'to be here. Without in any way desiring to underestimate the hardships we are now encountering, it may, I think, be truly said that we do not, in contrast with the plight of other British people, know how well off we are. We have been taught, much less than our kith and kin in the Old World, the bitter lessons of war. We have never known the rigorous rationing of even necessaries of life, which prevailed so long there, and these correctives to private expenditure and extravagance have not really influenced us, at least so far as any substantial effect upon our mode of living is concerned. Surely there is no doubt that, with such a country and such a people as ours, there is not the least justification for gloom or despair. If a cordial co-operation of all classes can be promoted; if waste, where avoidable, is avoided, and a strict economy enforced, both publicly and privately, the way out from our present depression to a broader and an ampler day will not be long.”
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Taranaki Daily News, 4 October 1921, Page 5
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737TRADE OUTLOOK. Taranaki Daily News, 4 October 1921, Page 5
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