A—s

240

Eighth Day. 30 April 1907.

Mr. ASQUITH : What do you mean by a large fall ? Mr. DEAKIN : In percentage. Mr. ASQUITH : A large fall in the aggregate, or a large fall in proportion to the whole. Mr. DEAKIN : In proportion to the whole. For instance, the percentage in Cape Colony dropped from 80-3 in 1880 to 65-4 last year. It is in its proportions that he is measuring it. Then, looking a little more closely at the course of British and Australian trade, I find that the greater part of the goods that Australia purchases abroad are still obtained in Great Britain, and to that country a large proportion of Australian produce is exported. But though British superiority as the chief market for Australian trade is maintained, the extent of that superiority has distinctly diminished. Take the official figures of the development of British trade from 1860 onwards : they represent the average annual importations into Australia from Great Britain in each decennial period of goods of British or Irish origin. The figures are, for the period 1860-69, omitting odd figures, 12,400,000/.; 1870-79, 14,400,000/.; 1880-89, 21,700,000/.; 1890-99, 18,400,000/.; and 1900-05, a quinquennial period, 20,800,000/. Mr. ASQUITH : Those are British imports into Australia Mr. DEAKIN : The average annual imports into Australia from Great Britain, during that decennial period, show that increase, which has then to be measured with the general increase of our trade. It has been urged that an important influence affecting British trade is the loss of the direct carriage of goods produced in the continent of Europe, which formerly were sent to Australia by way of England. Mr. Schooling did not deal with this, but took the imports in gross, that is to say, he took all those as English which came from England, and the balance as foreign. It is impossible during the earlier years above referred to, to distinguish directly from the trade statistics, either of Australia or of the United Kingdom, the amount of foreign goods imported into Australia by way of England. But though the total of all goods not of British origin is not known, yet a competent Australian authority has been able to make for me a close dissection of the returns, with the result shown in the following table. From this, it will be seen that there has been little change in the volume of foreign exports to Australia coming by way of England during the last 20 years. Look at the average annual imports into Australia from foreign countries, distinguishing the value of goods coming direct or by way of England; in 1860-69 the direct importations were 3,200,000/.; imported by way of England, 700.000/.—total, 4,000,000/.; in 1870-79, direct importations were 2,800,00*0/.; imported by way of England, 1,140,000/,—total, 4,000,000/.; in 1880-89, direct importations, 4,900,000/.; imported by way of England, 2,000,000/.—total, 6,900,000/.; in 1890-99, direct importations, 5,900,000/.; imported by way of England, 1,500,000/.—total, 7,500,000/.; and in 1904-05, direct importations, 11,300,000/.; imported by way of England, 2,400,000/.

Preferential Trade.