BETTER THAN EVER.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 27 June 1928, Page 10

BETTER THAN EVER.

NOT DECADENT. BRITISH • INDUSTRIAL-PROGRESS. Sir Herbert Hambling, a leading British business man and also deputycahirm.an of Barclays Bank, in a recent speech referred to the British habit of self-depreciation and emphasised- the necessity for combating the idea abroad that Britain is decadent. AYo rightly deplored, lie said, the large number of unemployed, but omitted to mention that the increase was due. to our larger population, and that the numbers actually at work in Great Britain were greater than before the war. _ While the depressed condition of, gome of our” industries was constantly being canvassed, we scarcely ever heard mention, of the dramatic pro-' gross made in others. For example, in atificial silk —a comparatively new industry—Great Britain had been quick to take advantage of the opportunities l it offered, and we were one of the leadins producers of this product. The motor-car industry afforded another example of British progress, and for the first nine months of 1927 the exports of motor cars and vehicles, including parts and accessories, amounted to £7.718,000 — a very substantial figure. The estimated output of British motor cars and commercial vehicles. even in 1926 —a year of labour disturbances—was 180,000, or more than double the total of 1923.

The electical industry afforded another striking instance of almost incredible progress, when they remembered the severe competition it had to face. In this industry, which was now ,the principal exporting branch of the engineering group in this country, Great Britain was well ahead of all her .rivals in the world’s markets, and the industry depended upon the efficient production pf goods which required great technical skill in design and manufacture.

Equally encouraging, as evidence of efficiency, was the fact that the hulk of machinery employed in the cotton, woollen, flax and jute mills of the world was manufactured ill Great Britain. There was also evidence of vil tality in the fact that our business men had taken immediate advantage of the possibilities' onened up by the popularity of “wireless.” Instances of the- same sort cpuld be multiplied to show that Britain had neither been behindhand! in the world progress of the last 20 or 30 years, nor ras decadent, now. Our aviation and our engineering stood high. “The decline in the order books of the depressed industries is, to some extent at least, due to world factors over which this nation has no oopfrol,” declared Sir Herbert. “T find considerable encouragement from the developments in flie position of ,the shipbuilding industry. AlTlon, in the' face' of keen competition, our country is' entrusted with the building of half of the world’s tonnage—work involving the highest degree of skill —there can be little justification of any suggestion that we are 'down and out’ and that our craftsmen are no longer 100 per cent, efficient.”