Great Britain Retains Its World Supremacy

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 7301, 31 October 1933, Page 12

Great Britain Retains Its World Supremacy

NEW ZEALANDER IMPRESSED EY ECONOMIC RECOVERY, t A messago of high life for the future of Great Britain, and an unswerving belief that her destiny includes a return to a position of absolute world supremacy, were the sentiments that characterised ati address delivered to the Palmerston North Rotary Club yesterday by Mr. W. J. Jordan, M.P. Mr. Jordan, who recently returned from a 1 trip to the Old Country, entitled his talk “Impressions of a Late Trip to Great Britain,” and gave an excellent review of tho recent trend of events 1 in that country that was much appreciated by Rotarians. Britain was a mighty place in that it was the centre of the world’s activities, said Mr. Jordan, and one could glean an endless array of impressions. England in post-war times had been a nation in mourning, finacially ruined, involved in the same sweep of disaster that had involved all Euroue. But fortunately her people were determined to restore their country to a state of proseprity, and their energy and courage had gono a long way towards achieving that end. As a means to national recovery, a great emigration , policy was initiated, and New Zealand, as well as others of tho overseas Dominions, received her quota of somo thousands of people. Energy and thrift . wero everywhere apparent. Truly the proverbial two blades of grass were raised where formerly only one grew. The material wealth of the world was such that seven years after the war tho world was actually better off than before the conflict. Vast sums were available in loan moneys, and huge borrowing schemes wero engaged upon. Britain and New Zealand among others w r ere heavy spenders in • this respect. Britain, rightly regarded as the world’s , economic centre, had gone through a rc- ’ volution, and the opinion was current that in spite of the great political experiments in other lands, Britain would win out to a premier position again. In the period 1913-2 S, tho production of the world had increased on a colossal scale, and thanks first of all to the . Creator, there was an abundance exceeding anything before thought of. Standards of living were high, leisure and pleasure were within easy reach, and everywhere there seemed to be an ! upward trend in the tide of man’s af- ; fairs. The poignant fact was that we ; did wot realise our might; wo did not ■ count our blessings. The world was I largely oblivious to thb galaxy of good things with which it abounded. : Tho Great Crasii. Then came the crash. With all its attendant horrors. It was impossible to assign the blame, said the speaker, but tho disaster had overtaken, civilisa- , tion despite the lact that the supply of the world’s good things was inercasi. ing at ail enormous rate. There was [ suddenly a great check imposed on the • hub of commercial activity, tho cry went up, “The people are living too ' well.” •‘Such was the mistake made ia Britain and elsewhere, and there V7as an immediate outcry against luxury. There set in a sweep towards retracting, a move to lower once again the standard of living of the people. But even as the decree went out, there was still a mighty hum of productivity, . a great importing of goods into Bri- ■ tain. Great changes were wrought upon . the industrial life, and petrol threaten- ! ed the coal trade and the railways, in ! which many millions of pounds were in* ; vested. The unfortunate investors were ’ hit hard, and there came a slash at ’ the people engaged in the industries. • Investors became nervous, machines ' were rapidly reduced to a state of ob- : soletism. Joint stock companies sprang i up throughout the country, and capital s beyond measure poured into these concerns. So nervous were investors that ! they staked their all in these combines, to the irretrievable ruin of tho small ; shopkeeper. Money was massed up in l bank deposits, and the chains were ■ tightened on development, Tho bauks l of England were overloaded with money for which it was difficult to find a satisfactory outlet. Municipal and Government stocks soared high in popular esteem, and the people were ready to hazard their savings on these public ■ securities. Wanted, More Work. Britain’s great difficulty was to employ her people, said Mr. Jordan. Ramsay MacDonald had himself admitted that a state had been reached wherein Britain could not employ, under tho present financial arrangement, all her people who were craving work. A radical change seemed necessary. Britain had shown a unanimous determination 1 to improve her position, for the country’s visible trade balanco was so uu- : favourable that she had of necessity to ; put her economic house in order. In 1931-32 Britain.’s trade with many coun- ' tries improved, but time and again there was a staggering balance in favour of tho other country. Britain generally, . so Mr. Jordan gleaned from attending debates in the Commons, was determined to safeguard her interests, to ■ exalt tho position of her own primary 1 producers. They' had to reduce tho bulk of overseas goods to raise internal prices, and this restriction it would appear had to apply to New Zealand with the rest. Trade figures had improved in 1932, albeit there remained 1 in that year an adverse balance of i £330,000,000 in Britain’s trade balance. ■ There wero therefore vast possibilities for Britain in the future, because once ■ slio had re-established herself in the - trade arenas of the world, Britain would be able to rise abovo all other countries., ’.joycs those, .where suck grand*

scale and apparently successful experiments wero being carried on. Back To The Land. Britain had instituted a great back to the laud movement, said Mr. Jordan, and 5700 additional farms had recently been occupied. The land tax had lowered so many of the traditional mansions, tho land owners were forced to throw open their land for settlement. Peers of the realm, many with titles centuries old, were engaged in industry, not of desire, but of necessity. They took posts as company directors, etc., and so helped guide the commerce of the country. Britain had all tfie gold she wanted, but the price of money had sunk, and profitable investment was hard to find. There was simply not enough work to go Tound for the people of Britain. But Britain now recognised that the army of unemployed were not to blamo for the condition in which they found themselves. They were regarded as a national responsibility. The “dole,” so called, was such that the unemployed could live at least in security if not in comfort. The old attitude of saying “Why don’t they find work?”' was gone, and in circles where one would perhaps least expect to find it there was expressed a roady sympathy for the unemployed. The sustenance paid was at the rate of 15s per man and 5s for each dependent, while the recipients were also allowed to engage in certain casual work without being deprived of any measure of relief. It was recognised that if the people had no money to spend, the tradesman could not hope to sell their wares, and so for this reason the heavy taxation was not regarded as particularly ouerous. The object of the system was that it distributed the distress so that its incidence wag nation-wide, and did not penalise individuals only and therein lay its value. The transitional benefits paid in Britain were almost astounding. Mr. Jordan instanced typical figures of tho large payments made to indigent persons. v

A New Spirit. Public opinion was behind these movements to care for the people of tho country who were struggling to live. Even clerics of high repute were advocating from their pulpits an examination of the economic system which had allowed tlic people to sink to such depths. Such expressions of opinion wero at first surprising, but- they indicated a new spirit traversing Britain. No longer did those in authority refuse to consider the human family as such. “In view of this new spirit animating lier people, 1 cau see Britain rising above Russia, Italy and the C.5.A.,” said Mr. Jordan. “The people are determined to do their best, and they have the industrial equipment to do it. The relationships of man to man have improved out of sight in the last five years, and similarly employee and employer are on a far happier basis.” The speaker said he had visited many of the great factories, and was literally astounded at the facilities accorded the employees, including club rooms, billiards and even swimming baths. There was a happy mingling of employee and proprietor, and these showed an unbelievable improvement in the last five years. Concluding his remarks, Mr. Jordan said that it was an outstanding feature of the modern Britairg the improvements she had made in the lot of the human family. The old look of bitterness and despair had disappeared from the faces of the people, so that ono would soon sec the smiles prevalent again, and the people would soon be reinstated to that standard of living to which their energy and faith entitled them. The speaker was accorded a hearty vote of appreciation on the motion of Mr. C. N. Rabone. The club expressed its sympathy with Rotarians J. Wallace, F. J. Nathan and J. B. Gerrand, all of whom are at present; indisposed, ■