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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

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Reference :-

C.O.885

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ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

(Memorandum.)

10

Enclosure in No. 9.

Department of Trade and Customs, Melbourne,

July 29, 1896.

THE Commissioner of Trade and Customs directs me to forward herewith a scheme prepared by the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce for the return which the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies proposes to obtain with a view to finding a greater market for the products of the British Colonies and Dependencies.

This scheme contains in the main the information which would be most useful for the purpose indicated, but one or two modifications are suggested.

Firstly, it would probably be advisable to omit the third column, as no one in the exporting Colony could be in a position to fill it up.

Secondly, the statistics only should be in the tabulated statement, and the other information should follow each item in the tables.

Attention is called to the suggestion of the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce in regard to the importance of obtaining particulars of the imports of the United King- dom in regard to the countries of product, the demand, &c. As Great Britain is the principal market for the products of Her Colonies and Dependencies, such a return would undoubtedly be of much greater value to the Governments of these l'ossessions than any returns made by the Possessions themselves. The main question in the Colonies is how they can most successfully compete with foreign countries in the markets of Great Britain.

The principal items in the export of which this Colony is interested are enumerated in the annexed list. These items will probably be grouped by the British Government under more comprehensive headings, and they are forwarded merely for the purpose of showing what headings it will be necessary to include.

LIST REFERRED TO.

H. N. P. WOLLASTON.

The goods respecting which information is required in Victoria are as follows:-

Animals, Live-a. Cattle.

b. Sheep.

c. Horses.

d. Pigs.

e. Poultry.

Apparel and slops.

Arms and ammunition-a. Cartridges.

Blue.

Flax.

Fruit-7. Bottled and canned.

b. Dried currants.

c. Dried raisins.

d. Dried-other sorts.

e. Fresh.

Glycerine.

Grain-a. Barley.

b. Beans and peas.

c. Maize.

d. Oats.

c. Wheat.

J. Other.

Grain, prepared-a. Pearl barley.

b. Bran and pollard,

c. Flour.

d. Maizena.

e. Oatmeal.

f. Split peas.

Glue.

b. Shot.

c. Dynamite.

d. Gelatine Compounds.

Arrow root.

Arsenic.

Bags and Lacks.

Bark.

Beer.

Biscuits.

Bones and bonedust,

Boots and shoes.

Brown ware and tiles.

Brushware and brooms.

Grease.

Butter.

Gum.

Candles.

Canvas.

Carriages and carts.

Cheese.

Hair.

Hats-a. Felt.

b. Other.

Hay and chaff.

Chicory.

Hemp.

Coffee, ground.

Hides.

Confectionery.

Cordage.

Drugs.

Dyes.

Honey.

Hops.

Horns and hoofs.

Implements, agricultural.

Eggs.

Essential oils and essences.

Fibres.

Fish-a. Salted and dried.

b. Preserved.

Jams and jellies.

Jewellery.

Lard.

Leather.

Leatherware.

Lime juice.

Linseed and linseed meal.

Malt.

Mats.

Meats . Bacon.

b. Hams.

c. Fresh or frozen beef.

d. Fresh or frozen mutton.

2. Fresh or frozen pork.

f. Fresh or frozen poultry.

g. Fresh or frozen rabbits.

h. Salted beef.

7. Salted pork.

j. Preserved meats,

Milk, concentrated or preserved. Mustard.

Nails, wire.

Nuts.

Oils 7. Animal.

b. Vegetable.

Onions.

Paper.

Perfumes.

Pickles.

Potatoes.

Saddlery and harness. Sauces. Sausage skins.

SIR,

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Seeds.

Silk, raw.

Skins-. Kangaroo.

Soap.

b. Opossum.

c. Rabbit.

d. Sheep.

Spirits. Brandy.

Starch.

Sugar. Tanow.

b. Whiskey.

c. Wine.

Timber-. Hardwood.

Tobacco.

b. Blackwood.

c. Palings.

d. Posts and rails.

e. Street paving blocks.

Vegetables. Fresh and frozen.

Wax, been-.

Wickerware.

Wine.

Wool.

b. Bottled and preserved.

Woollen Piece Goods-r. Tweeds and worsteds.

6. Flannels. e. Blankets and rugs.

60, Market Street, Melbourne, June 11, 1896.

REFERRING to your letter of 26th February, with the enclosed copy of communi- cation from the Colonial Office to the Agent-General for Victoria, upon the subject of a return which the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Mr. Chamberlain, proposes to obtain with a view to securing an extension of the market for Colonial products, I now have the honour to forward herewith the suggestions by this Chamber as to the form in which the contemplated return should be made, and the nature of the information required.

I am also desired to intimate that before this contemplated return could be filled up, it would be important to have a complete list of articles imported into the United Kingdom during 1895 or during the first half of 1896, with information under, say, the following headings:-

1. Description in full.

2. Place of export.

3. Market value at port of discharge in the United Kingdom.

4. Demand for articles.

5. Is consumption increasing? Compare, say, 1890 with 1895.

6. Statistics of annual imports.

My Council recommend that this information when obtained, together with the preparation of the return required by Mr. Chamberlain, should be referred to a repre- sentative Board or a Commission, sitting in the capital of each British Colony, to analyse each item in the return, with the view of deciding whether and under what condition each particular Colony could add to or increase its exports to the benefit alike of consumers and producers.

The Honourable

The Commissioner of Trade and Customs,

Melbourne.

I have, &c.,

C. HALLETT,

Secretary.

Melbourne, June, 1896.

Form suggested by the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce for the purpose of ob- taining information desired by the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in reference to the commodities which it is considered might advantageously

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