The Evening Srar MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1931. REVIVE TRADE.

Evening Star, Issue 20986, 28 December 1931, Page 6

The Evening Srar MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1931. REVIVE TRADE.

Some day, when the Railways Board has time to extend to Dunedin its now spirit of seeking patronage by offering the services required, tho Upper Harbour will have an up-to-date railway export wharf, usable because charges are not prohibitive. Then there will be no more such phenomena as our exports seeking outlets south or north instead of using that nearest hand. But, even if all Otago’s products destined for overseas markets were to bo shipped at the port of Dunedin, their volume would fall somewhat short of what one would expect of such a province as Otago. It is possible that Dunedin is showing signs of less suffering than towns further north during the present depression simply because Dunedin depends, and has for some considerable time depended, less on her export trade than those other cities do. The inevitable inference is that Dunedin must be possessed of “ invisible exports.” That is to say, one infers that Dunedin has considerable investments in other parts of New Zealand. Such an inference would bo quite correct. _ Other towns occasionally speak of the high proportion of the rentier class in Dunedin us compared with themselves, and this has been tho case’for very many years. Probably Otago’s heavy gold production in the early days was tho fund out of which many of those investments wore made possible, for not every golddigger by any means squandered his

winnings, and undoubtedly capital was amassed by storekeepers and others who commanded sometimes famine prices for supplying tho current needs of tho diggings. Again, this port was tho home of the local shipping services of New Zealand, and these materially added to our “ invisible exports.” But Dunedin is not tho busy port it once was. No port in the world is to-day. Of all industries shipping perhaps shows tho biggest percentage of idleness. To-day’s commercial cable from London records set-hacks in the iron and steel trades and in shipbuilding. With so many vessels laid up in ports all over tho world, it is not at all surprising that there is no disposition to add to tho world’s superfluous tonnage. After tho sinkings effected during Germany’s submarine campaign, an immense effort towards replacement was made. After tho post-armistice trade boom was satisfied and the reaction camo which developed into one of the longest and most severe trade depressions on record, it was found that the cargoes offering would not nearly fill the holds of the vessels plying for it. iThere began talk of overproduction. Because prices of primary products have fallen to near or below the margin of profit, there have been attempts to limit production. One sees instances of such attempts in the limitation of outputs—for example, in the smaller areas sown in wheat in the United States and in the agreements to restrict the production of copper and rubber. But the deepest and most far-seeing thinkers question whether there is really such a thing as overproduction. The country most mechanised for mass production is tho United States. To-day we read of Xmas in New York, the commercial capital of a country with over seven millions admitted unemployed. There were long queues being handed out coffee and sandwiches from lorries after waiting hours in New York’s bleakest winter weather. That sounds more like underconsumption than over-production. The next great mistake the world made after wasting its substance in war for over four years has been in seeking the utmost trade privacy while licking its wounds. Britain’s resolve to adopt protective tariffs and temporarily abandon the gold standard appears to be bringing other nations to their senses. At least, this can be said of some outlying parts of her Empire. Mr Downie Stewart is now conferring with Canada’s representative in Honolulu to try and repair tho senseless falling out the two dominions permitted not long ago. The Canadian envoy’s remarks on the butter trade are so very sensible as to form an antifriction lubricant. We all want trade to flow again, for it means recommissioning of ships and work for bored railwaymen.