(From an editorial)
Thanks to the deliberate suffocation of indigenous Indian industries in the past and the pursuit of a policy of indifference and hesitation in the opportune days of the war, India, unable as yet to regain her economic and industrial freedom, presents a pathetic sight. The report of the Trade Commissioner, besides giving the cause and extent of the expansion of Japanese trade in the country, is also interesting as revealing a psychology of anxious alarm at Japan’s commercial invasion of the Eastern markets of European traders. The report says that the most remarkable and significant feature of India’s import trade during the war was the prodigious expansions in imports from Japan, the total value in 1918-19 amounting to almost eight times that of 1914-15. Such notable advances in Japan’s trade with India the report attributes more to the shutting-off of normal supplies than to any better quality or more economical production of Japanese goods. On the other hand, the report speaks of the unenviable reputation of Japanese goods and traders, the despatch of articles below samples, late shipments, bad packing and unbusiness-like habits in general.
