The Dominion. MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1909. PROSPERITY BREEDS PROSPERITY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 646, 25 October 1909, Page 6

The Dominion. MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1909. PROSPERITY BREEDS PROSPERITY.

— '. •« ■■■ ' — . ■ .The Bankers' Magazine, London, recently explained How the wheels .of. prosperity are solf-lubricating. (l.). The increased production of the manufacturer gives more. -. employment,. and possibly higher wages, 'to a largo number of work-' people. .(2.) The work-people spend'their., increased earnings on commodities Or ; cnjoymcrits\ which stimulate other trades and enable them to increase -their volume' of employ-, ment. (3.) Opportunities are thus afforded to capitalists and employers of labour to embark on new ventures which, they would not touch when' trade generally ' wa's slack. . ,;(4.) .Capital becomes' much more easily 'obtainable' from .'the public for new enterprises, ,(5.) Scientific .'and financial/activity is encouraged;, new processes.are invented and old ones improved; hew'industries are started, and, if .successful, ;they open '. up fresh of activity for both brain and muscle. (6.) ■Tho last and greatest o'ifect of ..all is the development. of. virgin 'country and the extension of the ..world's cultivated area These: are obvious truths as applied from, the European - standpoint, and they are: •well worth .bearing in mind at the present time. Up to about the end of Jund trade ..WM .distinctly bad. in Great Britain, as-well-'as on tho:.Continent. ... There -wi>ro feeble signs of improvement-in the United States, but;thcy wcrc;such as to givo, proinise'-pf' development. Thc'tradc 'peri--diiium', swung-in ; tho direction of depres-sion-steadily from about November, 1907, to June', 1909; 'but such a movement has its limitations,, and there, comes a time "whqn the pendulum swings the other way'.' ThesWing-of tfie pendulum is now to-: wards prosperity;' it may meet with temporary, checks, but tho movement may be: expected to continue for-some time. ~We'have on' several occasions called attention & the improvements that were mahifesliing themsolyes in Europe land America,: and'-wo may: be permitted :f .p quote* ah'offieT important feature* of:' the improved economic conditions of' ihe United States. The railway system is io the United .States what the' mercantile marine is to the United. Kingdom. On August 18, according to "Bradstreet's," there, were 159,424 idle cars on the American railway systems: On April 19' lass, year the number of idle cars stood tt 413,338, the highest figure reached during the depression; , Since then there has been:a decrease of 253,914 cars, or . approximately 61; per cent., and as, compared with August 19, 1908, idle railway rolling stock has been taken up to the extent, 0f"93,775 cars, or ,'37 per cent.- Before'the financial crisis brought industry in the United States to a standstill tiero ' were insufficient. cars to transport tha goods that offered, and in October, 1907,- the shortage was 1 estimated at over 83,000 trucks. The cohgestioh of traffic on that occasion was due to a. certain extent to the lack of sufficient haulage power and-want of terminal accommodation. Recently, howeverj immense sums' have been spent in making good these defects, and further expansion is contemplated in direction of increased facilities for handling the traffic. The expanding prosperity and increasing industrial activity in Great Britain and the United States react on the world at large, and New Zealand is beginning to come under their influence. Prices of' our produce are how advancing, and as showing the direct connection we may. instance hemp. The higher prices now ruling for New Zealand hemp, in the face of a continued large production of Manila fibre, is due to the iriagnificeril harvests in the United States' and Canada. The .States' aione, it is estimated, required this season an additional 114,60 C bales of hemp for binder twine, and this in itself was sufficient to raise values. Sc far as New Zealand is concerned tho outlook'is very promising, for a, large pro duction of the primary industries is as surcd. The output of the dairies will-to substantially greater than;.last season arid already it is claimed that more" but ter arid. chccSe is being produced .thanvir the flush of the past season. ''The.woo: clip is'bound-to be larger, for a greater number of sheep to pass undo] the shears. : The lambing has been good and the export of frozen meat ought ft beflip to' the average. ' Agriculture wil .contribute its quota,'for it is stated thai •ar'lafger.area is being sown in wheat. The by-products of the pastoral iridustrj

must necessarily, be larger', arid " values'' seem likely to remain, as high as they are' now, .and may gb higher aa more people' become, employed in the centres. The greater volume of capital that the greater production will provide us with will act and react in a great many ways on the activities of the people at large, Moro money 'will be ~ circulated among all classes, and Iprosperity should become gcnoral. ■ •