Australia’S Muddling

Exporters.

What Islands Traders Have to Endure.

(Written for The Pacific Islands Monthly by an Experienced Islands Trader .) ALL good Australians must applaud the efforts of The Pacific Islands Monthly to win back to Australia the Islands trade she has lost over the past years through (as you have put it) the short-sightedness of her politicians.

But perhaps the time is ripe to say that not all the blame can be portioned out in this direction, for there can be no question that many of our orders have gone overseas as a direct result of the slipshod methods of Australian agents, merchants, and manufacturers, whose motto at all times seems to have been, “Anything is good enough for the Islands.” This has been ad mitted to the writer on more than one occasion by men doing a fairly large business with us.

One of them unblushingly said that if he had difficulty in selling a doubt ful boat or engine in Australia, all he did was to give it a lick of paint and unload it on the Islands, per medium of an agent.

Of course, this sort of thing could not be if agents were alive to their responsibilities, and knew their busi ness. The late S. H. Howard, for in stance, though he had never visited the Islands, made it his business to know, not only what Islanders wanted, but where their requirements could be obtained, and their price, worth, and all about it.

There is far too much telephonebuying done now, and not nearly enough boot-leather used. Here is a rough illustration: An order is at hand for six dozen of Blogg’s tin-openers. The agent rings up some wholesalers and the following ensues: “I have an order here for Blogg’s tin-openers for the Islands. Do you stock them?”

“No! You won’t get them in Syd ney. But I have a better and cheaper line here, at 4/6 doz. We send, hun dreds of dozens of these to the Islands every boat.”

“Right. I want six dozen.”

The deal is closed, and with the goods goes the accompanying letter: “Blogg’s Tin-openers. We searched the City for these, but they were un procurable, so we have substituted Mugg's, which are cheaper and a much more popular Island line.”

And so our Islands Store shelves be come littered with unwanted stock.

The fact is well known that it seldom pays to return goods. I have received lines from one of Sydney’s largest Islands suppliers, which no conscientious merchant would dream

of keeping away from the tip, and full price has been charged.

As for the old confidence trick about “shipping large quantities to the Islands” —if the writer had been given a sovereign each time he has had this poured over him, he would not now be oft the gold standard.

The engineering fraternity of Sydney seem to be a particularly lax lot; they do not know our conditions and needs, and simply do not want to be told.

Letters of inquiry for quotations time and again do not fetch a reply by the same mail, and sometimes not at all.

A request for a metal benzine tank

to be supplied with a small Sydney made engine, in place of a tin one, which is standard equipment, fetches the reply that “we do not supply metal benzine tanks,” and, we assume, “Take what we supply, or go to blazes.”

Now, a metal tank will last years, where a tin one rusts through in weeks. The extra cost should not amount to sixpence. Yet this firm spends hundreds of pounds per annum in advertising As for repair work, one can only assume that award rates in Sydney are in the vicinity of £1 per hour in this trade. While, as regards electric re pairs, it is the exception rather than the rule to get a job done decently and successfully.

The Islands would use many more Australian-made engines if makers would only show that they really wanted business. But here is a very recent example of a small engine im ported on the strength of an adver tisement. On being uncased, it was almost too stiff to turn, and was found to be incorrectly lined up with the reverse. There was not a scrap of literature to aid installation and run ning. The starting handle was rivetted together wrong way about, rendering it useless. The exhaust connection was useless for our purpose, and a substi tute made by the makers—which was worth 30/- extreme value but charged 50/ had to have 15/- worth of work done to it to make it fit the engine.

And then, to cap the lot, the magneto was useless!

It is a waste of time to point out these errors to the makers themselves —they simply do not believe you.

Next, we come to importing agents and the dictionary meaning of the word “agent” in this connection seems to be “a person who retards business.”

Often they do not understand the first thing about the line they handle, and have to write back and ask you for further particulars.

One could go on, for pages, quoting 'instances like the following: I was quoted 13/6 each, for dozen lots, in bond, Sydney, of an American line.

But, knowing the American price, I got one of the larger stores here to stock them, and they were sold at 12/6 retail, after paying the extra freight and charges as between here and Syd ney, and showing the usual 33-1/3 per cent. What profit did that Sydney agent wish to show ?

The ridiculously high tariff walls in Australia have encouraged attempts to

manufacture some of our lines, but, judging by some of the stuff I have seen and handled and which is quite unsaleable for the purpose intended, Australia would be well advised to either mend her ways or keep well out of the business.

I do not suppose for one moment that you will find space in your valu able paper for all this, but it ought to be known generally. It is not the blathering of an inexperienced new comer, but the result of over 26 years of business dealings with Australia— and particularly with Sydney over the last ten years.

Let merchants and manufacturers sell us goods at fair world-parity value, and the agent show us that he is worthy to act in that capacity, and there will be no need to worry about a flow back of trade.