PRODUCE MARKETS AND TRADE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 1843, 18 June 1920, Page 5

PRODUCE MARKETS AND TRADE.

THE OUTLOOK.

TAKE IN SAIL-DON'T CROWD ON CANVAS.

In his address to the shareholders of the Bank of New Zealand to-day, , Mr H. Beauchamp (ohairman of directors) said: "With the cessation of tho Imperial Governments purchaso of produce, the producers of New Zealand must makoithc best arrangements they can for the financing and marketing of "their-produce. Tho Banks will, no' doubt, on terms and conditions to bo arranged, be called- upon to provide very largo sums for this purpose. That the position is full, of difficulty and. dan-' -rcr must be obvious to all. Tho 6tores are Full of produce whidh cannot possibly bo .moved before the flush of the next season, shipping is 4 still scarce, and likely to remain so, and the terminal markets are glutted so far as meat and wool are concerned. It may be desirable, if not im perative, to look for new markets for wool and meat, but in this connection wo can but turn to, America, which is tho only country apart from'Brjtain that can oiler a market. The British Government is itself endeavouring to avail itself of the American market in an effort to quit its own accumulations of wool and meat. The prospects in the United States appear no better than thov are in Groat Britain. Wool offered in' New York registered a *harp decline, and it is yet to be determined whether a reasonably good market can be secured there. for mutton and lamb, although,, for the latter, arrangements have been made for several shipments within the iioxt few months, totalling, in r.U, about SpOiOGO- carcases. In respect ,to frozen meat tho United States Bureau of Markets, Omaha, under date sth March, said:— l' ■

'Following the announcement of tho exportation of three hundred thousand lamb and mutton carcases by tho British Government to the United States early in the week all Eastern lamb and mutton markets were sharply lowered. Declines for the week rannpd from 2 dollars at Boston to 4 dollars at New York and Philadelphia, with all grades similarly affected and condition at the close of the week unsettled.'

"Sinco ' tho importation of frozen meat has the effect of cheapening' that article, there is some hope that the markets of the Eastern States may be capable of absorption, but car© will have to be taken in dealing with markets oh the Pacific Slope. A San Francisco firm in ti circular letter to correspondents says:-r ■•.

'We strongly advise'against Now Zealand shippers sending any meats to this Coast on consignment unless they want to get 'stung,' as it is an easy matter to trado on other people's money. If Const dealers want lamb, mutton or other meat products they" can put up a letter of credit, 'otherwise the New Zealand: dealers had better keep their meats in their freezers, as we have known meat products to have practically eaten themselves up with storage and other charges when shipped to this Coast on consignment' ~ ..'

The circumstances of tho; .time- demand that businessmen should rather take- in sail than crowd on canvas; and all would be. well advised not to stretch their financial commitments too far. Tho civilized world ha? been, suffering from an excess of "idle fancios 1 ' which have contributed to a mass of social and economic theories that have clouded people's minds and led many of them actually to belie.vo thai, they, can and will . live' and prosper, by jthese theories rather than by work. Thare arc certain economic ;pruioip!es by wliicli men. and nations livp and prosper, and never before, at least in living memory, was there such a need to' bring back a full recognition < f til. stf principles. The .world's need for reconstruction iss.rc.al and pressing-, ond'tho ■attitude 1 so generally prevailing toward work and production must undergo ,a change unless disorganisation or perhaps disaster ; is to oventu'ate. Diminished production, decreased thrift kind. curtaiied credit furnish the essential 'elements of a financial crisis and such a crisis, seems inevitable in tho not distant future unless we abandon dreaming and settle down to work and tho practice of thrift. "Increase production and avoid extravagance" should be tho slogan for tho peopjq of New Zealand. |