INTER-IMPERIAL TRADE

Hokitika Guardian, 1 October 1929, Page 2

INTER-IMPERIAL TRADE

‘ STRONGEST ECONOMIC FORCE 1‘ IN THE WORLD. REVIEW .BY BRITISH TRADE ' COMMISSIONER. ...v. . . J r WELLINGTON, - Sept;.' 27. • .;/j;-do’ not'.: want to be. unduly - op ; . ’tjmisfi.c, but from; what. I have sail you -wijj see that I do not'feel at all; pessimistic about; the prospects of tip Hqmpl• Cpuritry. J.TJi'b proportion pi.pur . exports *going; :tp the Eriipi/re i'.J gracluhliv? ;irici easing,' It is .- to- tip Empire' that we are all looking for--development in the,; future, and witl>> ■ the' .linpreasitig wealth and . develop-, mentf ’of tfie< Empire ’wp ; have, every, reison' (to expect an increase am“ deyplppment of inter-imperial' trade.” The/., above optimistic note : way sounded by -the newly-appointed Brit-: jish -Trade 5 Commissioner (Mr L; A. •Paish, b.B.E.)"■:in .an address :at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon yesterdpy at Messrs Gamble and Creeds rooms. ■ There was a large attend? ahce, over whioh Mr D. J. McGowan (vice-presideht -of -the chamber) presided. . . ‘ , 1 Mr Paish said the occasion afford; ed him an s, opportunity to make the acquaintance of .the lending busincs; mfen of the capital of the Dominion. The secretary, ’iVtr FaircKUd, had been 5 one of the'first to welpome him to New»Zealand, and,the hoped when hp got bafck from, his first tour of the Dominion that they would have a 10l of work to do together. Mr Lambie had told him that the chamber and ite officers had always been- willing* to help his predecessors in' every way and he looked forward to a continuance of .that help. They were all, “working to the • same the increase Of trade,' and, the 'more they, worked, together, the more successful would be. . ' . ;

CENTRE OF GRAVITY OF EXPORT trade;,.. ■ : -. ..! “The prosperity/ of the Home Coun-f try is of interest to NeW. Zefllatid, as it forms the outlet fop the g^eat-hulk of ybur' ; exports,” said: Mr Paish./ ‘.‘Historically., it .'is true, that the volume of the export trade pf the , Unifed. Kingdom is consider-; >Ably less than it; was'in pre-war days.: But. auireiy no one • expects an exact /restoration..', .to i - pre-war conditions: Everyone/'appreciates that the policy \yhieii is going ,on all over the world, .particularly , during the war and during the post-war period of fostering 'secondary industries, must react upon the trade of the Home Country and that in any lines formerly supplied ■from Great /Britain will be made elsewhere-. J

•: (‘Some trades,: therefore; have contracted, :others have expanded, and although the balance is not entirely satisfactory, there is no reason to be too f despondent. There has • been,; as a'matter of fact, a. very definite moye.ment in what may be called the ‘Centre, of gravity of the export trade of. 'the world. Pre-war possibly one half emaiiated from European countries ; to-day only about one-third is th,e figiW It is, therefore only -to be expected that there is some diminution in volume from the pre-war state of affairs. . ..

BRITISH EXPORTS INCREASING. j “Fifteen years, Low ever, 'is a very long period of comparison for practical. purposes, particularly when the period covers the economic catastrophe of the world’s war, and most of us are now working from 1924 as a dfctum year. It is possible that these figures are known to you, but I do not think they can be emphasised too much. The volume of the exports of British goods has increased during the last five years by 8 per cent. If we confine ourselves to British manufactured goods the figure is over 10 per cent, ranging over practically all. industries except the cotton and woollen trades.

“These figures are reflected in the employment figures. We have actually 7 per cent more people employed now than in 1924. During this year we have had a very satisfactory fall in the numbers of the unemployed, the figures for which have dropped by 300,000, or over 20 per cent. I expect you know that these figures of unemployment are somewhat misleading. They do not mean the number of people entirely without employment as any ordinary person would imagine, but merely the number unemployed on one particular day of the week. Of course a considerable proportion of them obtain employment ’during the week. I am glad to say the figures are going to be issued on a different basis.

. A GLEAM OF HOPE. “Unemployment in Great Britain varies widely from trade to trade, and it is particularly rife in the coal,' steel, engineering, shipping, and the cotton and wool trades,” Mr Paish continued. “Indeed, the unemployment in these trades accounts for one-half of the whole. Even in these (trades, however, there has been a 10 per cent drop .since the beginning of this year, and even the most jJoßsimistic person shoiild obtain a gleam of hope from that. “The most hopeful sign, however, is that it is precisely in these trades that such energetic measures are being taken to remedy the cause of the trouble.: The Lancashire cotton trade,

with its peculiar organisation, is coming under microscopic review both from within the industry and from ‘without. In the iron, steel and engineering trades rationalisation is actively at work.

.INFLUENCE OF DERATING ACT. “Tlie Government has done something to help,’’ said Mr Paish. “The Derating Act will relieve- industry of a considerable proportion of local rates, and it is confidently expected that this relief will provide for sitb-,-ttantial reduction in costs of xproduc|tion. The present Prime Minister ; .ias appointed two committees to deal /with the cotton and iron and steel trades, one under the chairmanship lof the Lord Chancellor, and the other j under .the President of, the Board of /Trade. The personnel of these com•mittees,’ which comprise, some of the •best ibrains in ' the country; ensures (that the true of these two rrea-t industries, will ,be brought to 'light ,and<when that; is done, we' may irely upon the good sense not only of the employers but of the employed to iai4>ly the necessary temedfes.

■ “Even in the steel trade about which so many people fear the strength of Continental competition, we find that our crude steel production is over 20 per cent over 1924, and in the machinery section we exported over 30 per cent niore tlian we did five years ago.

£50,000,000 IN ARTIFICIAL SILK. : “The. newer, industries show an| even brighter picture,’ 1 said Mr Paish. “Take the artificial silk trade , for pxninple. The piroductitm of artificial kills yhrn is becoming one of the principal industries of the world, and I think we 'piny claim that it is, as with so many other industries, a child of British invention. There is something like 250,000,000 invested in the industry iir the United Kingdom, and we are the second largest producer in the world. It seems quite possible that the adaptability and resource of the Lon cash ire and Yorkshire designers and weavers in utilising mixtures of artificial silk and wool and cotton, nmy. prove tile salvation of these important trades.”

GREATEST AND STRONGEST ECONOMIC FORCE IN THE WORLD.

Mr Paish. concluded. by saying that he did not want to be unduly optimistic, but he. did, not feel at all pessimistic about the prospects of the Home Country. The / proportion of exports going. to the 'Empire, they had every reason to expect an increase and development of inter-imperial trade. Undue pessimism could only hinder that development and he would realise to -the full when* talking and thinking of the future trade position, that the Empire constituted the great est and strongest united economic force in the world. -