NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15594, 28 April 1914, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

FALL IN SECURITIES. i xotable feature of the fifty-fourth aniiial meeting of the Association of Chamicrs of Commerce of the United Kingdom i'as that most of the resolutions proposed dated to problems caused directly or inlirectly by Labour troubles. The- words 'strikes." "industrial unrest," "syndicalsm," and "general and sympathetic trikes" were in the mouths of nearly .very speaker, while their arguments ended to display what a widespread and flntinuous apprehension there is among raders of all classes of interference iii busiless by Labour troubles. In his presilential address, Sir Algernon Firth said ,hat 1913 bad not been so satisfactory a rear as 1912, and that a smaller amount of lew business had come forward. "The •enowed fall in the value of securities," he said, " during the past year is a serious 'actor. Three hundred and eighty-seven standard securities depreciated £186.000,000 luring the year, making a total depreciation since 1910 of £371,000,000. There ias been considerable appreciation since this year came in, but it is small compared with the big, continuous drop for three rears. Such loss must affect business considerably. Many employers complain that, as a result of increased wages, and in some cases the operation of the National Insurance Act, production has fallen off md cost of production has increased, not only by the increased sums paid in wages. but alfo through absenteeism and lack of effort when at work. This is a most serious danger to our competitive efficiency. The president quoted some significant figures ' in regard to unemployment, increase in wages, and the cost of l iving. The Board of ,Trade figures, which onlyrelated to some 900,000 men. out of an estimated total of 15,000.000, he pointed out, showed a reduction in unemployment rates from 2.5 to 2.1. That meant that 18,000 men were unemployed for twelve months, and, calculated on a different scale, it indicated that 296,000 people were unemployed at any given moment. As to the cost of living, cotton was up 10 per cent., wool 24 per cent., jute 21 per cent., minerals 9 per cent., and food, drink, and tobacco 1.8 per cent. The Board of Trade figures showed that the advance in wages during the year amounted to £164,000 a week, following on an advance of the previous year of £140,000 a week. That, however, only applied to 1,770,000 workers —an advance equivalent to £8.500,000 for the year. If allowance were made for the advances to railwaymen, postal servants, and the like, the increase in wages during the last twenty years amounted to over £60,000,000 a year." A RECIPE FOR FAME. In the House of Lords recently Lord Newton brought his brother peers to face the question whether Prime Ministers should own racehorses. He thought they should. Ho associated the fact of Lord Rosebery running horses for the Derby with his becoming chief of the Liberal Party, and ho had an idea that if Mr. Balfour had a racing stable instead of "tootling" his time with golf and lawn tennis he would still be leader of the Unionist Party. Having attempted to poleaxo the moneylender, Lord Newton now proceeded to deprive tipsters of a living by proposing in his Betting Inducements Bill to prohibit the betting circulars which provide, exclusive information and to stop tipsters' advertisements from appearing in the Press. For a first offence there was to he a modest fine of £25,/ but if the offences continued the offender might havo six months' hard labour in gaol. In his cheery way Lord Newton declared that if any young man desired to carve a career for himself and asked how he could exercise the greatest 'influence on his fellow-countrymen the advice he would give him was "Buy a few horses," a suggestion which met with the hearty approval of their lordships. If the young man succeeded in winning a few races he would become a most important person. "If," the noble lord added with a show of extensive knowledge, "be then took an interest in anything—politics, for instance—persons would listen to him with the greatest deference." Indeed, he expressed the profound opinion that Lord Rosebery owed a great deal of his high position and the influence, ho always enjoys to the fact that ho withstood the assaults of the Nonconformist conscience, and, in spito of Nonconformist opposition, won four or five Derbys. "Four or five Derbys?" questioned tho Earl of Derby, turning round in surprise. "Five," said Lord Newton. "Three," corrected Lord Derby. "Well, it was a record," Lord Newton declared, determined to make a point. "No, no!" shouted many lords with a wider knowledge of the Turf. Still there, was the problem of how men who wanted to put "a bit on a horse" were to find out what horse. Lord Newton had it. "I would not go to advertising tipsters," said he; "I would go to Lord Derby, and ask him to tell me a safe person with whom to bet."

INDIAN FINANCE. The final report of the Royal Commission on Indian Finance and Currency lias been issued. The chief conclusions of the commissioners are. as follows :—" The establishment of the exchange value of the rupee on ft stable basis has been and is of the first importance to India.'' The commissioners hold that India has derived enormous benefits from the substitution of gold for silver as the standard of value, and that India's prosperity is bound up with the maintenance of the gold standard. They also find as follows :—" The India Office perhaps sold council drafts unnecessarily at very low rates on occasions when the London balance was in no need of replenishment, but we do not recommend any restrictions upon the absolute discretion of the Secretary of State as to the amount of drafts sold or the rate at which they are sold, provided that it is within the gold points. The amount and occasion. of sales should be fixed with reference to the urgency of the Government's requirements and the rate of exchange obtainable, whether the drafts ate against Treasury balances or against the, reserves. There' is no ground for the suggestion that the city members of the Secretary of State's council sho\ve<l any kind of favouritism in placing on deposit with certain banks, with the directorates of which they were connected, a part of the India Office balance at a. time when it was too large to be placed entirely with the approved borrowors. But we call the attention of the Secretary of State to the desirability of avoiding as far as possible all occasion for such criticism, though it may bo founded on prejudice and ignorance of the facts. We are not in a position to report either for or against the establishment of a State or Central Bank, but we regard the subject as one which deserves early and careful consideration, and suggest the appointment of a small expert committee to examine the whole question in India, and either to pronounce against the proposal or to work out in full detail a concrete scheme capable of immediate adoption."