The Hawera Star. WEDNESDAY. MAY 16, 1928. BRITAIN’S TRADE IMPROVEMENT.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 16 May 1928, Page 6

The Hawera Star.

WEDNESDAY. MAY 16, 1928. BRITAIN’S TRADE IMPROVEMENT.

Delivered every evening by f> o'clock in Hawera. Manair.. Normanby, Okaiawa. Eltharn. Jlangatoki. Kaponga. Altonj Hurleyville Patea. Waverlev. Mokoia. Whakamara. Ohangai, Meremere. Prase* Road, and Ararata.

It is a matter for profound satisfaction that last year, was the best trade year Great Britain has experienced since 1920. The recovery was reported very confidently some months ago, and the anticipations of a good year were justified except in coal and agriculture, in both of which conditions have remained rather stagnant. A determination on the part of the iron and steel trade to recover their lost markets had a good deal to do with the industrial improvement generally. These trades reduced prices materially so that they, might compete in. the open market on at least equal terms with their foreign rivals, and one result of the movement was an immediate stimulation of the shipbuilding industry, and of all trades in which iron and steel are important as materials. In other directions as well, the recognised adaptability of the British manufacturer is being evidenced by the increased employment in new trades, the most important being artificial silk, those connected with electricity, the motor trade, and, above all, the distribution trades. Unfortunately, cotton and coal, and to a lesser degree wool, are still depressed industries, but there are significant signs that the work of reviving them is being taken in hand. Otherwise, production compares favourably not only with post-war years, but even with the years immediately prior to 1914. It would, however, be a mistake to attribute 'the recovery to any single trade factor, because it is undoubted that. Great Britain was beginning to, experience the benefits of a very comprehensive scheme of industrial and economic investigation that had boon initiated a few years earlier. It is largely due to the work of such ‘ 1 f act-flnding ’ ’ bodies as the. Parliamentairy committees on trade, taxation, une.mplovmenit, agricultun?, etc., that a fuller understanding ha« been achieved and avenues of real progress discovered. Perhaps the investigating body whose work has been of most direct interest to the Dominions is the Imperial Economic Committee, which began by calling attention to the increasing relative importance of the markets for British goods in the Empire overseas, the necessity for further stimulation of those markets, and the purchase’of goods produced by the partners in the British Commonwealth of Nations in preference to those imported from foreign countries. Thus it is shown that, by a

natural action and reaction, the Mother Country and the Empire overseas would build up one another. Moreover, the process would continue as industries, and not merely primary production, gained firmer footing in the Dominions, and although the establishment of the more complicated industries would be necessarily slow in the newer and less developed countries, the growth of the simpler industries in them would increase the demand for the products of the higher British industries. The Dominions are largely dependent on the prosperity of Great. Britain, and the brighter trade horizon will mean much to them. If the revival in trade could stimulate those industries that are languishing, the combination of revived staple trades and those of recent growth would undoubtedly mean a new era of prosperity in Great Britain. The trade outlook is definitely favourable, and from all points of view, including the relations between capital and labour, there appears to ibe solid,ground for satisfaction and for hopefulness.