OUR TRADE RETURNS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 34, 10 February 1930, Page 6

OUR TRADE RETURNS.

The most important fact conveyed by the Dominion's trade returns for 1929 is the great volume and value of our exports. Though exports last year declined in value by about £-600,000 as compared with 1928, they amounted to considerably over £55,000,000, a total which has been exceeded only once in New Zealand's history. On the other hand, imports for last year show an increase of nearly £4,000,000 over the previous year, anil though the excess of exports for 1929 is close on £7,000,000, it is less by £4,500,000 than the "favourable balance of trade" for 1928. It is easy to account for the comparative decline in export values during the past twelve months. The fall in wool alone made a difference of nearly £1,350,000 to the total. Fortunately the prices of our dairy produce were not seriously affected by the general fall in values, and whatever was lost in selling price was more than counterbalanced by increased production. Leaving wool out of account, the most important items in the list of our exports are butter, cheese and lamb, and there was a substantial increase in the return for all of these. Butter alone in 1929 brought the Dominion nearly £2,000,000 more than in 1928, and this was more than sufficient to outweigh the comparative decline in the return from wool and other pastoral products. It should interest our readers to observe that Auckland headed the Dominion's trade centres last year in the value of its. exports. Wellington was considerably ahead of Auckland in the matter of import values, but Auckland superseded the Capital City at the head of the list in export values. Auckland's output of butter and cheese last year accounted for, just about half the Dominion total. Last year Auckland exported butter and cheese to the value of nearly £10,000,000, and these figures are sufficient to indicate the rapid expansion and progress of the dairy industry in recent years in this part of the Dominion. There is nothing wrong with the country's export trade just now. But the increase of imports last year by nearly £4,000,000 is an ominous feature of the returns, and a country with a population of only a million and a half which imports more than £4,000,000 worth of motor cars in one year can hardly claim that it is living within reasonable limits of expenditure or avoiding that extravagant outlay on luxuries which, either with individuals or countries, is the sure and certain- precursor of financial stringency.