TRADE IN AUSTRALIA.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 105, 4 May 1920, Page 5

TRADE IN AUSTRALIA.

PRICES STILL INCREASING. ELECTORAL SYSTEM. Among the passengers to arrive by the Niagara this morning was the Hon. Geo. Fowlds, who has been on a visit to Australia. The special object of Sir. Fowlds' visit was to attend the halfyearly meetings of the Australasian Demonstration Committee of the Lon- ; don Missionary Society. This committee, he said this morning, haa taken over the administration of the L.M.S. in Papua. They had a deputation that had just returned from visiting the mission stations, and altogether the meetings were very interesting. He also had j the opportunity of attending the meet- , ings of the Australasian National Coni- | mittee of the V.M.C.A. in Melbourne. j Speaking of trade matters, Mr. Fowlds ' said that both in Sydney and Melbourne ihe found all kinds of businesses working iat high pressure, und there, as here, the ! great difficulty was not to sell goods, but to get the goods to sell. Prices in most ' lines were going as high as they were in ' New Zealand. While he was there sugar ! went up to Hd per pound, and during the i war it had been- considerably higher j than in New Zealand a-s the result of ' their tariff laws. "Notwithstanding the '■ high prices a new tariff had been ; brought into force by the Federal Govi ernment as the result of which the prices iof certain lines mcrea-ed immediately. i The drought still in some sections of the continent, but while he was there substantia) ruin*- fell over a good part of the country which would relieve the situation considerably, but the loss of sheep had been very heavy, and ran into millions. He arrived in Sydney a day or two I after the State elections had been held i and while the votes were still being j counted. The election was conducted for the first time under proportional repre- ; sentation, and considering that the regu- ; lations in the Act had been framed by I Mr. Holman, who could not under any ! circumstances be considered a friend of i the system, he thought the result on i the whole had given satisfaction. At , any rate, for the first time the people in New South Wales had had the opportunity of making their own choice, and had secured representation according to the whole of the people. The result was to bring practically an even balance between the Labour party and the various parties which were more or lese opposed to Labour. A good many electors refrained from going to the poll, and some people had been inclined to blame the new electoral system for that result. After oareful inquiry he (Mr. Fowlds) was fully convinced that it was the general dissatisfaction with the existing National Government among people who could not bring themselves to vote for Labour, and therefore stayed away from the polls. There were also a considerable number of invalid votes. This war. brought about by the stupid or mulicious provision in the regulations that every voter had to mark his preference for every candidate standing in every electorate. That latter difficulty was likely to be remedied before a new election took place, and he had no doubt that the system had come to stay in New South Wales.