JOHN BULL'S NEED

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 31, 5 August 1925, Page 9

JOHN BULL'S NEED

BUY BRITISH GOODS. The Welfare League writes:— The Empire is so constituted .that very few, if any, parts can stand alone, and this is especially the case so far as New Zealand jjt concerned—.we stand or fall with England. If she cannot afford to buy our produce, we lose our best and probably ©ply sure market , for our raw material. This would mean national insolvency. The financial .and industrial situation in the Old Country therefore is vital to us, and is one which causes concern. We have only to read the cable news to realise this, but 'anyone who also read* the leading English papers must see that John Bull is " up against " a very serious position. This is due to several causes, which we propose to examine . shortly. The war cost the Empire £10,054,000,----000 (ten thousand and fifty-four millions) in national wealth (men, money, and property). Of this huge sum the actual cash it cost England alone was £7,066,000,000, plus £1,739,000,000 lent by her to' the Allies, for which she has so far received no payment of capital or interest, so she is carrying £8,805,----000,000, on which she has to pay interest. Of this sum there is due to America on the funding arrangement about £1,000,000,000, and England has to pay over £30,000,000 a year interest on this sum. Largely as an outcome of the war and its aftermath, we find the national expenditure enormously increased. In 1913 it was £197,000,000; in 1923, £789,----000.000—a rise of from £4 16a 5d to £lb 0s 5d per head of the population. The great burden of this expenditure has fallen on industry by the direct taxation of its income. In 1913 direct taxation produced 52 per cent, as against 48 per cent, indirect taxation; in 1924 it was 63 per cent, and 37 per cent, respectively. Direct taxation now amounts to about £435,000,000. This is drawn out of industry. Taking an income of £50,000 per annum, we find in 1914 it paid £4029 as against £27,578 in 1922, an increase of 584 per cent. Another burden is the local body rates, which in 1921 amounted to £152,----000,000, having risen since 1913 from £1 8s lid to £4 9s 7d per head in 1921. All these increases are drawn out of industry, most of which would otherwise have been available as surplus income for investment in foreign enterprise, which would lead to export trade. There is another vital factor. Had England got to work seriously immediately after the war, she could have re* gained much of her shattered trade. But unfortunately "Red" agitators got to work and caused grave industrial disorganisation to an extent not generally realised. The time lost through strikes since the war has increased fivefold. The average time lost between 1900 and 1913 waa 7,742,000 days per annum, against an average of 37,760,000 days per annum from 1919 to 1923. This means enormous economio loss, not only in production but in purchasing power, due to loss of wages, while it also adds seriously to the cost' of production, which prevents competition with countries which have settled down to real hard work. The sad part of this wretched business is that the majority of these strikes have been " unofficial " —that is, against trade union discipline, and against national agreements; also in the majority of cases nothing has been gained which could not have been had without striking. Such is the result of Communist agitation. What js the moral? Buy British goods and so assist British manufacturers in every way possible. A favourite maxim on which some men pride themselves is: "There is no sentiment in business." We do not agree with this, but for our purposes we will accept it as sound for the moment. Quite apart from our sentiment for " the old man," John Bull, we nmst realise that oven if it costs us a little more we must do all we can- to bolster tip British jpdustry, because unless we do so England cannot buy our exports. For our own salvation we must therefore continue to buy ,in England. Thus, apnrt from sentiment, such a policy is good business.