TRADE IMPROVING

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 17, 21 January 1939, Page 13

TRADE IMPROVING

INDUSTRY ORGANISES

MR. HUDSON'S REVIEW]

THE RETARDING FACTOB

(British/ Official Wireless.)

(Received January 21, noon.) !

- RUGBY, January 20.

The Parliamentary Secretary for ;, Overseas Trade, Mr. E. S. Hudson, sur- . ) veying trade prospects, said that un- • ,; less war supervened the trade cycle •": • now seemed to be definitely on the up- •'. grade. The only thing that was really impeding recovery was the continued .'. international uncertainty. The fall of. ■:- prices seemed to'have ceased, and- ~ many of Britain's chief i customers ~;

were beginning .to get better vahie v for their products. . /

Another hopeful sign was the high' -4 level of retail trade last year. It had .'"

increased by 7 per cent, in 1937, com- ,' pared with 1936, and 7 per cent. in. ■ 1936, compared with 1935. In. 1938 ' it continued to rise, though 'only . slightly, , '' The wages level was maintained and,.-. the cost of living, after a rise, had ,;. started to fall again. The improve- • ment in the United States of America, ;" on which people in Britain were very dependent, also seemed to be reaL ■

Mr. Hudson1 repeated his conviction, ," that the only way of meeting competition ,pf the kind British industry was .. now encountering was co-operation, y within industry itself, so that British. '•" traders could speak with, one voice. ' •*, HANDS GREATLY STRENGTHENED. -: "It is no use blinking the fact that '" some of our foreign competitors have had their hands immensely strength- •■ ened by the intervention of their Gqv- ~ ernments in economic and industrial .... matters," he declared. "Whether th*t. < intervention is theoretically desirable ,>- ---or, in, the long run, economically .sound. ' the fact remains that in the totalitarian, countries industries are organised. to> -, speak and act not only individually '■ but also nationally. ' ~; "Against competition of this kind J the individual trader of this country is powerless. Within the last few weeks we have made considerable pro^ gress in getting various important industries to organise in a united way. '~ When in the next few days or weefea - we come to negotiate with tfce conntries concerned we shall be in a ranch . stronger position than we were before .., we were able to get our industries to 1 speak with one voice. "Where our industries have been or- ... ganised for export encouraging. pro- - gress has been made and I hope.it wUI .-, prove possible to arrive at an agree- . - ment with our competitors to avoid uneconomic forms of competition. Once y our industries are organised they can . be assured of the fullest help from - the Government, ' ■ '♦I think that if we succeed in avoid- ,- ing war for the next eighteen months ] we have no reason for undue pessi- .\ mism as regards our trade. I am .not ■ • concealing from you the magnitude and '-.. difficulties of the situation and of the new economic problems continually

arising, but ho doubt our competitors ' are experiencing similar prqblems. '• What we have to do is to show our . ■] traditional initiative and enterprise in ~'. devising new methods to increase our ; export trade in the new conditions of - . international competition.'l-