55 



Import Trade. 



By W. G. Kendall. 



There is perhaps uo department of commerce which luis exerted so 

 great an influence on the wealth and progress of Now ^outli AVales, or 

 the social condition of the community, as that of the Colony's import 

 trade. With the loosing of her fiscal bonds the port of Sydney gives 

 promise of becoming the entrepot of Australasia and Oceana, aiid this 

 can hardly be wondered at considering the unrivalled geographical 

 position, combined with the splendid facilities offered alike for hnport, 

 transhipment, or distribution. Here traders of every clime will find 

 a ready market for their products and manufactures, to return ladeu 

 with the wealth of our own soil. If the trade of New South Wales 

 has made such substantial progress under the rule of protective duties, 

 the expansion of operations under the flag of freedom can hardly be 

 estimated. Recognising the advantages which must ever accrue to 

 the trade of the port of Sydney, a brief glance at some of its details 

 will be of interest. 



Foreign trade with this Col(my may be divided into two distinct 

 branches — home consumption and re-export. The latter is by no 

 means a small quantity in the aggregate of the Colony's annual turn- 

 over, and it is w^orthy of note that the volume of our export trade lias 

 been largely augmented in proportion to that of the other colonics by 

 reason of our lighter duties and the more liberal scale of port charges. 

 The local import trade of to-day is a totally different business from that 

 of a few years ago. Easy communication and rapid transit have 

 brought about a set of circumstances which the pioneers of Australian 

 trade never dreamed of. With the advent of a liberal cable system 

 between all the principal manufacturing and producing centres of the 

 world, aided by voluminous codes and the choice of numerous steam 

 services, the pulse of the local market has learned to beat in harmony 

 with that of the Antipodes, and spot stocks now feel the effect of fluctuat- 

 ing cost more keenly than was the case when our supplies made long 

 voyages by sailing ships. The result of these new conditions has not 

 been all profit to tlie average importer however. The strictly '' whole- 

 sale " trade is a thing of the past, and the occupation of the " muldle- 

 man " has almost gone. It is now within the means of small retailers 

 to set up as ^'^ direct importers" in every part of the Colony, and the 

 business which once transpired v/ithin the walls of a few city ware- 

 houses has become distributed over the length and breadth of the laud. 

 This has been particularly the case with the soft goods trade, and with 

 each succeeding season lai-ge warehousemen fiud it more diflicult to 

 place their goods or realise the profits of bygone days. Nur is the 

 importer of soft goods alone in this respect; hardware merchauts. 



