AMERICA AND THE AUSTRALIAN TRADE.

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1491, 24 January 1882, Page 3

AMERICA AND THE AUSTRALIAN TRADE.

The time must soon come when the United States will feel the necessity of cultivating closer relations with the Australian colonies. The latter are quite able to largely use and consume American productions, whilst the United States might take from them in exchange in vast quantities their largest production — wool. Among the articles exported to Australia by the United States in 1880 were, blacking to the amount of $18,401 ; brooms and brushes, $30,650 : carriages and carts, $132,382; passenger and freight railroad cars, $10,204 ; clocks, $46,289 ; drugs and chemicals, $182,129 ; iron manufactures, $743,786 ; edge tools ; $78,606 ; lamps, $24,004 ; marble manufacturepu $60,000 ; musical instruments, $56,801' V paints and colors, $67,000; paper ana stationery, $33,702; silver plated ware, $62,189; sewing machines, $85,957 ; manufactures of wood, $367,677. The San Francisco Bulletin, referring to the condition of Australia's foreign trade and the chances offered for increasing our proportion of it says : An examination of the custom house reports that we are competing in the Australian markets with every article England sends there, with the exception of eigh— that is to say, alkali, of which Australia imports $194,000 worth ; linen and . jute goods, $2,415,000 ; oil cloth, $460,000; silk goods, $1,895,000; telegraph wire and apparatus, $275,000 ; umbrellas and parasols, $356,000 ; bags and sacks, $360,000 ; and slates, $190,000. In some of these articles we are not able to compete. Ireland has a monopoly of linen goods. Stones and slates we are not in a position to supply. But since the date of these statistics considerable progress has been made in silk and cloth. In every other article we are competing, though, it must be admitted, a long way behind. Of wearing apparel, Australia imported $8,102,000 from England in 1878. We sold it $15,179 worth. It woxild seem that this is an item which might be largely expanded. We are manufacturing an extesive line of tweeds and cloths of the lower grades which are quite as good, if not better, than those made in England. There is, of course, a national prejudice in favor of the article made in the mother country. But national prejudices disappears very rapidly before self-interests. If we can sell the Australian cloths, equal to the English in every respect, but at a lower price, we can easily enough take the market. Of ammunition and stores the colonies imported in 1878 from England $841,000 worth, and from us $803. We cannot expect much of this trade, for it necessarily runs in official channels. In rides and revolvers, however, we did better. The imports of these articles from England into the colonies were valued at $300,000, while ours were set down at $4,725. Of beer and ale the Australians are pretty large consumers. The notion is probably prevalent that no beer is worth the drinking in which there is not Thames water. They imported from England in 1878 beer and ale to the value of §2,202,000. We sent them at the same time these beverages to the extent of $3,660. The trade in books was quite large, but we made a better showing in that item. British books to the value of $1,520,000 were imported, against $32,082 for American books. England has an advantage over us which it had to get over, but even that would yield to the cheaper price. That advantage is that England buys nearly the whole of the products of the colonies. The gre.it staple of Australia is wool. Of that England bought, in 1878, $81,138,000 worth. The wool we imported from Australia amounted to $528,000. There is a chance to do a large business in this city in Australian tin. But we believe the field has not been neglected. Tin is on our free list. It is produced in large quantities in Australia. There is a turn in tin imported from Australia into this city against the tin imported into New York from Cornwall. The difference is the freight across the continent. The other Australian exports are coal, tallow and stearine, guano, skins, furs and pelts, hides, cotton (:?121,000 worth), flour, wheat, copper and bark for tanning. There arc certainly large trade possibilities for us in this direction. The market is a large one, and the tilings needed are in many cases in the line of our industrial development. If our iron experiments should turn out successful, the whole of the Australian trade in iron and steel must in time fall to our share.