TRADE NOTES

Evening Post, Volume XCIX, Issue 70, 23 March 1920, Page 8

TRADE NOTES

THE RICHEST YEAR

ALL RECORDS BROKEN

"A SERIES. OF GREAT YEARS."

(FHOM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

LONDON, Bth January

An enormous turnover of money is shown by the return of the Bankers' Clearing House for 1919. The total number of bills- and cheques which passed through amounted to £28,415,000,000, exceeding the previous year's total, by £7,218,000,000. In 1913, the last complete year before the war, the totai was only £16,436,000,000. The past year's total is due mainly to the prevailing high prices and growing general trade, with the huge amount of currency in circulation to meet them. Another reason is that under present conditions all transactions on the Stock Exchange have to be settled immediately in the case of each one, instead of the mere balanca being settled once a fortnight, thus largely increasing the number of cheques. Not only was the year itself a record, but it contained the record day, 28th July, when £189,000,000 was cleared; the record week, ending with Christmas- Eve, when £772,000,000 was cleared —a tribute to Christmas shopping —and the record month, December, during which £3,095,000,000 was cleared. PROSPEROUS YEARS' AHEAD. Sir Hamar Greenwood, Secretary of the Overseas Trade Department, considers that Great Britain and the Empire never entered a New Year with brighter prospects of prosperity. "Reports from our consuls and commercial diplomatic officers all over the world," ho says, "show that production here is far behind what other countries need from us. Europe is especially in need 'of clothing. Millions are in rags, and the amount of wool and cloth we are sending abroad is very small, compared with the demand. All countries want transport, equipment, rails, locomotives, trucks, and other things, and no one ca-n supply those better than we can if we can once get into the swing of output. No country has a better commercial outlook, and, if we can avoid 3trikes, we should become more prosperous than we have ever been. This should be the first of a series of great years."

AMBASSADORS. OF TRADE. "Daring the past nine months enquiries from foreign and Dominion buyers to the value of quite £20,000,000 have been sent to members of our various associated industries," "said Mr. G-. F. Locock, C.M.G.", Assistant-Director of the Federation of British. Industries, to the Daily Mail. "We started our over- ! seas trade commissioner service last March,, and this year we shall extend our direct representation to New Zealand and Australia. Our aim is to get a man of the highest type, who knows the country, the people, and the language, and then to have a corresponding man here, to maintain direct personal touch and understanding. When a commissioner comes home on leave he visits such of our members as wish for it, and thus the area of knowledge is extended. These commissioners supply status and other information, report on special opportunities, forward inquiries, provide interpreters and translators —in short, they are business ambassadors. Quite £3.000,000 of orders came from the Athens Exhibition to British manufacturers, and (food will result for years. Foreign inquiries are fully maintained, and our manufacturers are taking the far-sighted view in allocating part of their output to foreign buyers, in the interests of future trade, though in most cases the entire output could be sold here." In a letter which I have just received from Mr. Locock, he says : "We are not contemplating a direct commissioner of our own at the present moment in New Zealand, but we hope to co-operate with important interests there in carrying on the work of fostering ' British trade between the two portions of the Empire." .TINPLATE ■ TRADE Throughout South Wales the trading community is looking forward optimistically to a. continuance of the great prosperity which that area has enjoyed for the last five years. Shipping freights remaiw extraordinarily high, and shipowners anticipate at least another two years of unbounded prosperity for the shipping industry. The tinplate trade, which is one of the staple industries of South Wales, has never experienced such prosperity, and prices have increased 10s per box during the past few weeks. So busy, are the'tinplate millowners that they aro daily rejecting urgent orders, and delivery cannot be guaranteed till the i spring, or early summer. There is an insistent demand for tinplates from Scandinavia, France, Spain, Portugal, and especially from Japan. A rumour isj current that tinplate milis will be established in France because of the inadequate supplies from South Walea. JOINING FORCES. ■

Messrs. R. Walker and Sons, Lid. (makers of the Wolsey underwear) > ami Messrs. W. Tyler, Sons, and Company (makers of Jason hosiery) have' amalgamated' It is announced that tho newcompany has already reinforced its powers by tho acquisition of three of the finest spinning mills in Yorkshire, thus enabling-'it to spin its own yam's, manufacture the goods, dye and finish them, and distribute direct to recallera This amalgamation marks a new record of progress in the hosiery trade, providing, a 6 it does, a producing organisation.complete in every detail, with, the most modern equipment and with a policy behind it, which will make, at lea3t this department of Br.tish manufacture the foremost in the world. This effort on tha part of two British companies to secure a leading position in the -world' 6 trade will (it is remarked) be watched wKh interest in view of the action by "combines" in America and Germany in the same direcSCOTLAND AND NEW ZEALAND. The Glasgow correspondent of The Drapers' Record writes: "Scotland*bids fair to open up a new era in industrial methods. From the newer methods which are likely to see the light of day in 1920, the old high-tide mark of excellence is certain to be more than maintained. Not only are the most up-to-date looms being installed, but greater attention is being paid to the application of scientific management. Late months have disclosed a gratifying desire on tha part of New Zealand buyers to enter our markets, and home firms are arranging to have samples and patterns sent out twice a year. Home makers are, on their part, eager to grasp.at.this trade and giv? the people in Now Zealand an opportunity o£ buying highclass cloths at reasonable prices." CLOTHING PRICES FOR 1920., To The :Times a drapery-trade correspondent writes : "There are no signs whatever of cheaper clothing during 1920. In every direction the rates for materials are steadily mounting, and the world demand for apparel is heavily in excess of the world's supply. With the whole world clamouring for greatly-in-creased supplies, there has been a demand on the part of Labour in almost

every country for a reduction of working hours, bringing production in many cases down below the pre-war level, and accentuating still further the wide margin between demand and supply. Wool, cotton, linen, silk, and artificial silk fabrics all are on a much higher level than ever before. Every manufacturing cost, including the very important one of labour, continues to .advance. To take one instance, approximate prices quoted only six weeks ago have been raised 2s 3d a yard for'overcoatings" for next winter. Silk has become a difficult problem recently, and is likely to become worse. The world consumption of silk goods has increased enormously. in the last few years, and production has sensibly diminished. Prices continue to advance. Quotations for men's straw "boater" hats are up 25 to 30 per cent, on a year ago, Japanese plait merchants having broken their contracts' with English importers and Bold the straw at much higher prices to American and other buyers. Supplies will, in consequence, be short, and merchants have been rationed." A NEW. ARMY. A vast fishery business is being developed by Lord Leverhulme, who is announced as having fleets of trawlers in Scotland, at Fleetwood, Yarmouth, and Grimsby. Ii is said that some of the largest fish merchants in the United Kingdom will soon sell under the Leverhulme banner fish that will be cheap and fresh. The persuasive personality that created Port Sunlight has achieved a remarkable triumph in that practically all the proprietors of these various businesses are remaining as managers' in the new concern. The organisation, when completed, will supply fish not only to th 6 towns but to remote country villages by means of an army of travelling motor fish shops. POWER FROM TRAMWAY WIRES. In Bradford for three ye«rs there has been running on the Corporation tramway system a parcel delivery van, worked like a trackless trolley vehicle, but with the additional power of storing current. This current is called into use when the vehicle has to , traverse roads along which there are no electric wires. This vehicle, which is the only one of its kind in existence, makes two journeys, to Leeds every day with parcels. It is claimed that the system is the cheapest kind of transport known, and that the running costs are much lower than those incurred in connection with motor lorries. At present the powers of the Bradford Tramways Department are limited to the carriage' of only a certain weight of goods over different parts of the tramway system. It is proposed, however, to seek extended powers to enable the department to take any kind of transport ap to any 'weight. The electric delivery van is a business proposition and pays for itself. . NEWS FROM THE CLYDE.

Returns available of the amount of work turned out by the Clyde shipyards during 1919 show that only once has the output of twelve months been greater, and that was in 1913 when the aggregate tonnage was 756,796. The 1919 returns (subject to revision) show an output of 406 vessels, aggregating 645,374 gross tons, and with machinery of 1,623,778 i.h.p. The volume of new construction has been diminished considerably by the great amount of labour and plant utiliswi for the reconditioning of vessels commandeered by the Admiralty, so as to lit them to resume their usual mercantile work, and by the swapping of partia'lyconstructed naval vessels. During tha year also, the shorter working week was brought into'operation, but this has had no very great effect on output, as timekeeping has greatly improved- in many establishments. RECORD AMOUNT OF WORK IN* HAND.

Two records were achieved during the year. The destroyer Tyrian, a Scotstoun vessel, attained a speed of 40 knots on its trials, and the Anchor Liner Cameronia was built in 9^ months by Messrs. W. Beardmore, to replace the vessel of the same name lost by enemy action. Chief honours ii\ construction go to Messrs. Harland and Wolff, who turned out 14 vessels of .75,871 tons in. their Go van and Greenock yards. The most outstanding vessel, included in the return is the great battle-cruiser Hood, constructed by Messrs. J. Brown and Co. at Clydebank, at a cost of about six millions. In engineering this firm takes pride of place with a total of 295,300 i.h.p. The outlook for 1920 is held to be extremely bright, provided 1 that serious labour troubles can be avoided. The amount of work now on hand—about 1,000,000 tons—is the largest in the history of the Clyde. . • .

A MILLION DEAL. Much interest has been aroused in financial circles by the' announcement that Mr. S. B. Joel (who is equally well known as a South African mining magnate and owner of racehorses) has acquired- the, interests held by the Speyer family in the underground . electric railways of London. Mr. Joel said he could not state the exact amount of the Speyer. interest in the undertaking; "but you may certainly say," he added, "that the undertaking is now absolutely 'All British.' I already had a large holding in the combine, and, of course, this addition will be a considerable increase in my interest." As the undertaking is being run at a loss, higher fares are probable. A GREAT SCHEME. Details of the great-Marche dv Monde, or rendezvous of the bikers of the world, which is to be set up in Paris in two years' time, are given by Sir C. Dundas, secretary of the Association of Great Britain ar.d France. "The object," he said, "is to give producers and buyers of the world the facility to perform all their transactions in one place. It will be the only , building in the world where the rentals will decrease according to the length of >the leases, and where the tenants will be considered as valued clients, and not as objects of speculation. The building will be a six-storied one, with a- frontage of 350 ft. It will be nine times the size of Trafalgar Square, iand will cos;> approximately £4,000,000. "A VERITABLE CITY."

"This enormous building," continued Sir .Charles, "will contain five thousand -'shops, the most luxurious club in the world for'buyers and producers, swimming and Turkish baths, gymnasium, restaurant, grill-room, roof garden, several lecture rooms, industrial cinema, and the world's largest banquetingroom. Briefly, what is contemplated is the erection and operation of a veritable city in which it may reasonably be estimated there will be a floating population of manufacturers, producers, merchants, buyers, and the necessary employees, exceeding 30,000 people. The advantages of this huge project to the British buyers and sellers will be enormous. • One of the principal objects of having this world's market in Paris," he said, "is because the French capital is the centre of the railway centres of Europe, and the advice of the buyers of the world has been taken on this matter."