12

H.—34

(iii.) Imports in regard to which the United Kingdom, is predominant. This heading covers a multitude of commodities almost too numerous to mention. The details can be seen in the tables of Appendix No. 5, but it may be convenient to give here a list of the principal articles or groups of articles. It comprises confectionery, pickles and sauces, ale and beer, cocoa and chocolate, whisky, and non-alcoholic beverages; alkalies and potash; apparel and slops, cotton piece-goods, drapery, all the better kinds of hosiery, woollen piece-goods, blankets, haberdashery, linen manufactures, hats and caps; carpets and carpeting, canvas, floorcloths ; cordage and twine (exclusive of iron and steel cordage); pig iron, bar, angle, bolt, and rod iron, sheet and plate (not galvanised), many kinds of hardware and ironmongery, and the heavier class of hollow-ware, wire netting and other wire except for fencing purposes, plain tin plates, and pipes and fittings; railway materials; mining machinery, portable and traction engines; arms, ammunition, and explosives; leather belting; stationery; paperhangings; photographic goods; books and periodicals; china and earthenware; linseed-oil, varnish, paints and colours, and dyes; bicycles, motors and parts thereof ; brushware; blacking and dressing; platedxvare; and cement. In regard to many of the articles comprised in this list there is a certain amount of foreign competition, but in no case is it extensive enough to appear likely to be serious, at least for some time. General Remarks on Foreign Competition. It will be seen from this survey that, xvhilst the United Kingdom has to encounter a severe competition in certain branches of the import trade into New Zealand, yet as a xx'hole its position is not seriously menaced at present. Its two chief competitors are the United States and Germany. The competition of the former has declined somexvhat in the last txvo years from its maximum in 1904, when it reached the total of £1,528,000, to £1,406,000 in 1906. The main commodities supplied by the United States are as follows, in order of importance: Manufactured tobacco and cigars, kerosene and other oils, agricultural machinery, other machinery, gas and electrical engines, boots and shoes, xvire fencing, hardware (chiefly tools), nails, leather, wood manufactures, printing-paper, knitting and sewing machines, vehicles, bicycles, scientific instruments, arms and explosives, clocks and watches, fancy goods, lamps and lampxvare. The only other foreign competitor of importance is Germany; and the share of that country in the New Zealand trade, though still small, is undoubtedly increasing xvith some rapidity; the fact that the goods come either through London or Australia makes it difficult to estimate their precise amount, but, according to the New Zealand returns, the imports declared to be of German origin increased from £277,467 in 1903 to £336,960 in 1906. The principal commodities which Germany contributes are pianos, fancy goods, manure, some machinery and metal manufactures, glassware, hardware, fencing-wire, wire (other than fencing or netting), china and earthenware, lamps and lampxvare, xvood manufactures, and a large variety of miscellaneous goods. Foreign competition in manufactured goods, which the United Kingdom might supply entirely, is not then on the whole very extensive or severe, and it relates in many cases to articles in regard to which British manufacturers have never hitherto made any serious effort to develop their trade. The only exceptions to this general proposition appear to be agricultural machinery and implements, other machinery, boots and shoes, certain special kinds of textiles, wire fencing, and some kinds of hardware, notably tools; and in these cases, as we have seen, the success of foreign competition has been due to the greater suitability of their products to New Zealand conditions, greater attractiveness, or cheapness combined with quality. As to most,of the other articles in respect of which foreign countries have a large share of the market, they may be divided into two broad classes: — (1.) Articles in regard to which foreign manufacturers have devoted themselves to the production of cheap lines of .staple goods with which, as a rule, British makers have declined to trouble themselves, or which, in some instances, they could not produce: such as watches, some leather goods, cheap glass and earthenware, xvooden clocks, &c. Cheapness does not, 1 however, always mean inferiority (of this Swiss watches furnish an example), and, though in a number of cases the foreign products may be less durable than the more solid and expensive British articles, they last long enough to serve their purpose, and often present a more attractive appearances (2.) Miscellaneous goods to which British manufacturers have never given much attention. It is noteworthy that of the re-exports from the United Kingdom in 1906 over 177,000 pounds' worth, or over 25 per cent., were goods "not otherwise enumerated " —that is, goods of many varied classes of small value separately. It would, nevertheless, be a serious mistake to underestimate either the extent of foreign competition or its possibilities of expansion, and, although British manufacturers justly contemplate the present position with some satisfaction, yet they cannot afford to relax their vigilance, or be lulled into any feeling of security by a preferential tariff. The Germans in particular are making in New Zealand, as elsewhere, strenuous efforts to extend their trade, and, handicapped though they are by the preferential treatment of British goods, and by the absence of direct steamship communication —the latter, however, an obstacle which may be removed at any time—they have yet made substantial progress, though their share of the trade is still comparatively very small. The United States competition (in goods which the United Kingdom can supply), is menacing at times, but it fluctuates a good deal, and in the case of some commodities British manufacturers appear to have learnt a lesson and to be recovering part of the lost ground, and American competition seems to have made no progress in recent years. Tn spite, hoxvever, of constant