DEPRESSION IN BRITAIN.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20027, 8 September 1930, Page 12

DEPRESSION IN BRITAIN.

NATIONAL FINANCIAL POLICY. "The failure of tlic market for fixed interest-bearing securities to develop the activity that normally occurs in periods of bad trade and relatively cheap money is significant. It is open to ouo main explanation— namely, lack of confidence, the principal cause of which is to be found in the disastrous trend "of national financial policy," the City editor of "The Times" wrote in his half-vearly reviewing of banking and monetary conditions in Britain. "The additions made to the cost of social services, particularly unemployment last year, and the tone and composition fi f Mr Snowden's Budget speech, dtomi> re than he perhaps realises to undermine still further the confidence of the business world, which had suffered s| aeries of shocks over a long period. The heavy burden of debt—which has 1 become much heavier in resi^&rfugto the steady fall in si»co I the greater part of tho debt was cheated—the prodigious annual cost of 'v overn * mcnt, which is actually greater than the total debt, and thi' apparent indifference of Parliament to the,, need for retrenchment on " a largo scale, aro among the causes of the weakening of confidence. Another, and perhaps hardly loss impressive, cause v <» apprehension, has been the poor trade returns and the rising tide of unemployment. The public is being constantly reminded by the chairmen of great business undertakings that costs of production in this country are too high to enable them to compete successfully in foreign markets, or even to withstand the competition of foreign manufacturers, who in recent ■ vears have been able for the first time to invade successfully the home market. The excessive cost of production, tho result not of one buf of a combination of causes.and the maladjustment of prices lie at the root of our industrial, commercial, and financial troubles. Owing to the unlikelihood of these coats being reduced in the early future, many bankers and business men in the ritv formerly staunch free-traders, have felt compelled to contemplate, and even to advocate, a change in fiscal policy. They feel that unless it is protected against the competition of a lower standard elsewhere, the higher standard of living this country will ultimately perish with a general decay of British trade." AUSTRALIAN INVESTMENTS LOW LEVELS REACHED. (UXITED PRESS ASSOCIATION —BY ELECTEIC telegraph—copraioirr.i (Received September /tfi, 5.5 p.m.) SYDNEY, September 7. Investment business 011 the Stock Exchanges in Sydney and Melbourne is infinitesimal. The "bears" have adopted a slogan, "Sell everything," and many investments aro dirt cheap. While capital security is equally, as sound as it was a year ago, the inability to establish a stable level of prices has scared investors, who have withdrawn from the market until the outlook is brighter. Bank shares are below par, while brewery and gas shares have touched the lowest Jevei for years. DUNLOP-PE&DmU RUBBER. DIVIDEND MAINTAINED. Private advice received in Christcburiili on Saturday stated that the Dunlop-Eerdriau Co. had declared a dividend at the rate of 3 per cent, per annum. The company has a paid-up capita! of £3,764,151, and the reserves at the last annual balance were £502,412. The dividend last year was .6 per cent. TAXATION ON SHARES. People in New Zealand who buy shares in the Dominion in companies registered in New South Wales now have to pay stamp duty in both countries. The duty in New South Wales is 9d for every £lO or fraction thereof, whilo in the Dominion the rate is 3s (Id on every £SO or fraction thereof. Stockbrokers are not very with tbo new taxation, and less pleased with tho increase in their license fee from £2 io £5 per annum, with the additional hardship that in a partnership each merilber of the firm is now requirod tp pay: a license fee. One prominent stockbroker in New Plymouth told a reporter last week that many licenses would not be renewed. WORLD WHEAT CROP. AN INCREASE PREDICTED. (UNHID PBJCSS ■ ASSOCIATION —BT ELICTBIC : TEWSOEAPH—COPTBIOBT.) (Received September "th, 5.5 p.m.) WASHINGTON, September B.' Tho world's wheat crop, of 2,337,139,000 bushels shows an increase of approximately three per cent, over 11)29. The forecast was made by the Department «>f Agriculture on the basis of reports frsm 26 countries. ENGLISH QUOTATIONS. LONDOX, September 5. Cargoes oponeq dull, with prices 3d to 6<l easier, but closed steady with improved demand for Australians and Russians. Part of the Irrawaddy cargo brought 33s and part of the King Malcolm was sold to Naples at 33s Parcels are steady at the declined level at 3d, but trading is more active. Parcel* ex Port fiobart brought 32s 6d, ex Surrey 32s Bd. Futures are quoted:—London: September 31s Id, December 31s 6d .per quarter. Liverpool: October 6s lCjjd, December 6s 10gd; March 7s per cental. SHEEPSKIN SALES. Daleety and Company, Ltd., have received the following cablegram from their London office, .dated September sth* Sheepskin Sales—The following i? the range of prices realised at September sales: Merino— • d. d. Tbree-quarter to full-woolled .. 6} to 7J Quarter to half-woolled .. 5 to 65 Medium, short, and shorn 3$ to 6 Fine Crossbred— Three-quarter to .full-woolled .. 8 to 9i Medium and coarse crossbred and full-woolled .. 7J to 9 Fine crossbred, quarter to halfwoollfed .. .. •. 6J to 8i Medium and coarse crossbred. quarter and balf-woolled .. 6J to 7| Crossbred, short and ehorn .. 6 to 7J Lambs . <*. 74 to #