AUSTRALIA’S POSITION

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 238, 5 September 1933, Page 2

AUSTRALIA’S POSITION

“ALMOST OUT OF THE WOOD.” “Despite a few calamity howlers here and there, the general tone in Australia during the last year has been one of optimism. Doubts have been expressed outside the Commonwealth as to whether this breezy optimism is justified, but with the publishing of the financial year’s balance-sheets of many industrial undertakings during August, and the opening of the wool sales in Sydney, there seems no reason why we should not say that it is,” said Mr Goldberg, governing director of the Goldberg Advertising Agency, Ltd., on his arrival in Wellington from Sydney by the Maunganui yesterday on a short business visit.

“I personally feel tha.t in many spheres Australia is almost out of the wood,” he said. “The opening of the wool sales in Sydnev last week showed nearly a 50 per cent, increase in values over the sales of last season. As a generalisation this does not sound very helpful, but, reduced to cold figures, it definitely puts a. new aspect upon Australia’s economic position. “The sales of the season 1928-29, which realised the greatest amount during the last five years, totalled £56,720,505. Last year’s clip, which was for a greater number of bales than that of 1928-29, realised only £29,363,156, but, on the prices at the opening of this year’s sale, while tbe clip is less than last year, it shows an increase over the 1928-29 clip, and the 50 per cent, increase in values will add over £12,000,000 to the value of the clip. This means that the season’s clip should realise over £40,000,000, which will be the highest return for wool since 1928-29. The addition of £12,-

•d.OOO in returns to the pastoral industry will necessarily mean the influx of a large amount of fluid capital, which should do much toward decrea.sing unemployment and rehabilitating the industry.” Balance-sheets published so far for the end of the financial year showed remarkable progress in almost every instance, Mr Goldberg continued, and even those undertakings that showed working losses did so at a. much more favourable rate than had been the case in the balance-sheets of last year. There was also a very healthy activity on the stock market, and many concerns that had not been listed in the day’s calls for some time past were now showing among ’change figures. Almost throughout industrials were showing a. strong tendency to rise, and Government bonds had been firm for long enough to show that investors were satisfied with their security. Probably one of the best reflexes of the improved trading conditions was to be found in the daily newspapers, which were carrying a greater hulk of advertising now than during the previous few years. This advertising wa.s not only ior nationally advertised products, hut included a greater pressure of display by retailers, he concluded.