Mar. 19.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 483

3. With this object I take this opportunity of inviting the assistance of your Government in obtaining a return which will show, for the years 1884, 1889, and 1894,—
   (a.) The value (if any) of all articles, specified in the classification annexed, imported into the colony under your government from any foreign country or countries, whenever (and only when) the value of an article so imported from any foreign country or countries was 5 per cent. or upwards of the total value of that article imported into the colony from all sources, whether within or without the British Empire, and when the total value of that article imported was not less than £500.
   (b.) The reasons which may have in each case induced the colonial importer to prefer a foreign article to similar goods of British manufacture.

4. These reasons (which should take the shape of a report on each article separately of which the foreign import exceeded 5 per cent. of the whole import, and of which the total value imported was not less than £500, as defined above) should be classified and discussed under one or other of the following heads:—
   (a.) Price (delivered in the colony) of the foreign article as compared with the British. The term “price” is not intended to include the duty (if any) levied in a colony; it is the ordinary price in bond, and this should be clearly understood in making the report. But where it is found impossible to give any except the wholesale price (duty-paid), this should be stated, and the exact amount of duty entering into the price should be given. In treating of price, regard should be had to cost of transport, facility of communication with any given country, subsidies to shipping, special railway rates, bounties on export, terms of credit or payment given by British or foreign exporters, rates of discount, &c.
   (b.) Quality and finish, as to which full particulars should be given.
   (c.) Suitability of the goods for the market, their style or pattern. In connection with this, and in illustration of the reasons for the displacement of British goods of any class, it is important that patterns or specimens of the goods preferred should be sent Home, unless the bulk is very great. This will be necessary chiefly in those cases where the difference cannot be fairly described in writing.
   (d.) Difference of making up or packing, as to which full particulars should be given.
   (e.) False marking, such as piracy of trade-marks, false indications of origin, or false indications of weight, measure, size, or number.
   (f.) Any other cause which may exist should, of course, be stated.

It sometimes happens that imports which actually come from foreign countries pass through Great Britain, and are included in colonial statistics as British. Where this is a matter of common knowledge I shall be obliged to you if you will treat of these imports under the headings embraced in this paragraph, notwithstanding the fact that they are not distinguished in the returns.

5. With a view to facilitating the return, I annex to this despatch a draft of the form under which the particulars above requested may be returned; a list of commodities which is intended, as far as possible, to secure uniformity in making the return; and a schedule of instructions as to filling up the return, which I would beg you to commend to the attention of those on whom the preparation of the return may fall.

6. To select the best classification to guide your Advisers in their investigations has been a task of some difficulty. Most colonies have classifications of their own, usually admirable of their kind; but as they have been mainly compiled for the special tariff purposes of each colony they differ considerably from one another, and do not afford a basis of classification generally applicable to all colonies. I have, therefore, on the whole, thought it best to adopt the condensed classification used by the Board of Trade in the annual statistical abstract for the exports of the United Kingdom. At the same time, I suggest that those responsible in each colony for furnishing the returns for which I am asking should expand their return under each chief heading by such detailed sub-heads as may be suggested either by the ordinary colonial returns, or by the course of trade in the particular colony; and in this connection I append a schedule of subdivisions suggested by various Chambers of Commerce in this country.

7. I am further desirous of receiving from you a return of any products of the colony under your government which might advantageously be exported to the United Kingdom or other parts of the British Empire, but do not at present find a sufficient market there, with any information in regard to quality, price, or freight which may be useful to British importers. I mention the matter here that you may be prepared with information; but I am contemplating the preparation of a further and fuller despatch on this branch of the subject.

8. I am well aware how much has been, and is being, done in this direction by the self-governing colonies through the High Commissioner for Canada and through the Agents-General, and also by the Imperial Institute, the Royal Colonial Institute, and other public bodies. I am glad to have this opportunity of expressing my admiration for the excellence of this work; but, in a matter of such importance, no additional efforts or opportunities of acquiring information can be superfluous.

9. I shall be glad to have these returns as soon as possible, and shall greatly appreciate your expedition in the matter.

I have, &c.,
J. CHAMBERLAIN.