Britain Has The Orders

Northern Advocate, 3 April 1947, Page 6

Britain Has The Orders

“Britain is having a really bad time, but she has the same spirit today as she possessed during the war,” commented Mr A. Whyte, who recently returned to Whangarei after a tour of England and the United States on behalf of Wilsons (N.Z.) Portland Cement Ltd. Mr Whyte was able to give an interesting comparison of the industrial and domestic problems facing both countries. “Every industry in Britain is exceptionally busy. Orders are booked for as far ahead as three or four years. There is no firm which is not well and truly booked up,” he said. “There are also firms which cannot get building materials and those which already have buildings cannot get raw materials. “Deliveries were another major difficulty. It might take anything from 24 to 36 months to obtain delivery of heavy machinery.” The purpose of Mr Whyte’s visit was to secure prices for new equipment and see the latest in plant design and manufacture. “I found that as far as plant was concerned, unless it was built within the last 12 years, ours compared most favourably,” Mr Whyte said. EXPORT MARKET FIRST “Otherwise it is like buying a car 12 years ago and trying to compare it with the models being built today,” he added. America seemed to have taken a reverse policy from that of England, Mr Whyte said. After the war, the United Stales had been “all out” to replenish its own shelves and it did not worry to any great extent about the export market. ‘Britain, of course, has gone just (he opposite." said Mr Whyte. “She has deprived herself of every thing to recuperate her finances and to recover her export trade, particularly with those countries from which she must buy. “It appears that America is finding it difficult to secure an export market because Britain has cornered all the orders.

“The British people' are definitely up against it for foodstuffs, and particularly soap and clothing,” said Mr Whyte.

“The United Kingdom provides a striking contrast to countries overrun by war, particularly Denmark and Sweden. Sweden is well off in every respect—financially and commercially. There is plenty of clothing. “Denmark, because it is a productive country like New Zealand, had plenty of food.

“I think Britain will come through with flying colours, however,” Mr Whyte concluded.

People In Western

States, Jobs In East

“America seems to have reached the peak of the unusually prosperous times it has had and is settling down to a more economic way of life,” said Mr A. Whyte, who recently returned to Whangarei after a tour of the United States and Britain.

“There is a marked contrast between the Eastern and Western United States. In the East there is still a shortage of labour—in the West there is an abundance.

This state of affairs was said to exist because of the fact that during the war whole towns—thousands of people—had been shifted to the west coast where new factories had been erected. The west coast was in closer proximity to the war in the Pacific. People who were taken from the cooler climates of the eastern states had remained on the west coast. Likewise servicemen who had been trained in California had realised that better conditions prevailed there and had returned to settle down.