THE IMPORT TRADE. ry 



fixing- convention rates for leading- lines of goods. The life of "asso- 

 ciations " formed for the purpose has invarialily Ijeen of short dura- 

 tion^ or they have failed to come to a working head ; and, apart from 

 the soft goods and wine and spirit trades, rules and regulations for- 

 mulated by the various departments of trade have been honoured 

 rather in the breach than the observance. The ^Vine and Spirit Mer- 

 chants' Association, however, has proved the most successful venture 

 of its kind, and is doing good work in the suppression of illicit dis- 

 tillation and the adoption of salutary measures for the regulation of 

 the more important branches of the import trade. High duties have 

 been synonymous with the importation of wines and spirits of an un- 

 desirable quality, and what has failed to find consumers in the local 

 market has been readily absorbed by the island trade, to the detri- 

 ment of traffic in a better standard of liquor. As the revenue derived 

 from the import of intoxicants and narcotics amounts to nearly 

 £1,000,000 per annum, the importance of an association having for its 

 special object the regulation of trade in these items cannot be over- 

 estimated. 



With imports valued at c€l 5,000,000 to c€25,000,000 per annum, it 

 is not to be wondei-ed at that competition has grown keen with manu- 

 facturing and export countries, especially between the eastern and 

 western worlds. While increasing rivalry for the trade of Port 

 Sydney has reduced prices to their lowest possible level, it has pro- 

 moted increased communication with foreign ports, and stimulated a 

 reciprocal interchange of natural products. The official division of 

 the import trade of New South Wales between the United Kingdom, 

 the continent of Europe, America, the East, and intercolonial ports, 

 is set forth in the following table ; but it is perfectly certain that the 

 trade from and to Germany, the United States, and France, is far 

 more considerable than these figures would indicate, and that in many 

 descriptions of goods it is increasing. Take, as an instance, such an 

 item as fencing wire, the imports of which in 1894 were £97,400. Of 

 this it appeared that under £50,000 worth came from the continent of 

 Europe, whereas in reality the true amount must have been from 

 £80,000 to £90,000 worth, the supply of the vast bulk of the imports 

 having passed into German hands. The imports of such goods from 

 Victoria and other colonies merely represents the sorting up of stocks 

 between the different ports. 



Although the figures in the following table are incomplete as repre- 

 senting the whole trade of the Colony, they are fully sufiicient to show 

 that the operations of the port of Sydney are spread over a very wide 

 area. It must also be distinctly remembered that the returns furnished 

 do not include business in transhipments from ships' side, for^which 

 entry is never passed, which means that the "unknown quantity" m the 

 export transactions must be very considerable, and would show very 

 much larger results in the aggregate. The most superficial analysis 

 of the table is sufficient to reveal the fact that Sydney holds the key 

 of the Queensland and Pacific trade at least, while that of other inter- 

 colonial ports shows that the exchange of imported goods is equally 

 nt, and it may be fairly assumed that whatever^ increase may 

 ph 

 port. 



important, and it may be fairly assumed that wiiatevcr : , ,, • 



take place in trade with the East is pretty sure to trend towards tins 



