THE DEPRESSION OF TRADE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XX, Issue 58, 10 March 1886, Page 4

THE DEPRESSION OF TRADE.

11. (J. C Pirfch in the Auckland Herald.) In a very able paper read by the Right Hon J. G. Goscben, M. P., before the Manchester Chamber of Commerce in September list, the extent and severity of the Depression of Trade are described ; some of its causes partially defined ; and its consequences considered, but the latter, mainly as to the manner in which the present cheapness of all commodities affects the consumer. But Mr Goschen failed to direct the attention of his hear, ra to the equally important qu^Btion — How the present wave of cheapness h affecting the producer 1 In failing to do this, he omitted drawing attention to the important condition that, if the producer continues to find that his operations not only cense to yield a fair profit, but involve heavy losses, he will be compelled to diminish production. This must logically i and ultimately end in a great diminution of employment, to be inevitably followed by a heavy and general reduction of wages, and not improbably attended by a great increase in the coßt of the necessaries of life. And if after having destroyed the producer by exacting the highest wnges from him, and at the same time purchasing nearly everything he reqnires from the producer at rates far below cost, what wonder if the consumer, in his turn takes his place on the rack. I have shown that the splendid inventions of the £toam engine, Ihe spinning jenn?, and the power loom marked the commencement, as they were the foundation, of England's manufacturing supremacy. In relation to this, let me in passing note that England, which owed so much to the inventive genius of her son 3 , should have, until a very recent date, persisted with a blind and fatal obstinacy in levying pa'ent fees so exorbiant. as to drive the flower of her inventors to the United States, where email patent fees and liberal treatment of inventors gave inventive genius fair play, with the result, thai; the United States have to a very gre^t extent supplanted England in the invention and production of tools and labour-saving machinery. This blind adherence to precedent, so characteristic of Englishmen, has materially influenced, and, as will appear further on, iB still influencing the polity and genius of the nation ; co much 00, that to English workmen, and in hardly a lesser degree, to English employefe, a new idea, a new invention, is too often treated with indifference or dislike, because it is new. Whilst to Americans — both masters and men — for a thing or idea to be new, is a certiiiu passport to its careful examination, "and, if there be any good in i 1 ", to its hearty adoption. This unfortunate idiosyncracy, together with a tendency to under-estimate the power of an opponent, are English failings, as foolish as they are fatal. Nevertheless, for the first half of the century, English manufacturing supremacy was fully recognised — and, I may edd, as fully resented — by the rest of the world. '■:' At this juncture, after years of fierce agitation, England adopted Mr Cobden's policy of free trad?. " Free trade with all the world," in its wide and proper sense, is a grand formula of a noble policy. To embodies, two conditions : — 1. The free admission to English markets, subject to duties levied for revenue purposes only, of the productions of foreign nations. 2. The free admission to foreign markets, subject in lika manner to duties levied for revenue purposes only, of English productions. Ha:l both these conditions been fulfilled, Cobden's dream of universal free trade would have been realised, and we should have seen the nations of the world profitably engaged in the production of the coinmo i lies for which Nat me and circumstances had best fitted them. But whilst the first condition has been adopted, the second has been altrgefcher disregarded, with the result that free trade is at present a one-sided affair — in fact, is not fr^e trade at all. After forty years of effort to induce "all the world" to accept the policy of universal or real free trade, it may well be asked, are Continental nations, are the United States any nearer now to the adoption of " all round free trade " than they were in Cobden's day ? Have Cobdeu'B prophecies or dreams been fulfilled? J' The imposition by every foreign nation of heavy protective or prohibitive duties, continued from Cobden'a times to ours, gives a conclusive answer to his theories and dreams. Ara they not dreams still ? Like some other dreams they may be most safely interpreted by the " rule, of contrary." . Outside England and her colonies, is not the civilised world to-day less under the influence of true free trade principles than ever before ? This one-sided free trade has temporarily stimulated productive lenergy in England and in evary foreign nation. But whilst it has opened English markets to all the world, it has practically closed the markets of the world to English manufacturing enterprise, with the result of a stupendous over-production in almost every raw material or manufactured article. I may now notice the questions relative to the depression of trade proposed by the London Chamber o£ Commerce to its members uuder date of September 17, 1885. Among these the following are the most pertinent to my inquiry : — How. far has the. depression been influenced by.1. Fall in prices? 2. Over-production? '6. Foreign competition ? 4. Foreign tariffs and bounties ? 5. Appreciation of gold ? 6. Communication with other markets ? Questions 1, 2, 3, 4, I have already discussed, and I venture to hope that I have proved them all to have been potent factors in assisting to cause the present universal depression of trade. To summarise my conclusions upon them, I may say that the " one-sided free trade," or, in other worde, the " unfair trade " towards herself which England has adopted, supplies a sufficient answer to them all, and is directly responsible for much of the present depression. With regard to question 5, " The appreciation of gold," Mr Goschen, in his address to the Manchester Chamber of Commerce before referred to, says, though not very definitely, that " the diminished production of gold has exercised a powerful influence in the general fall in prices of commodities under which we are now suffering." lam not disposed to agree with him. I prefer to agree with the directly contrary opinions cited by Mr Mulhall in his very able article, " Prices and Gold Supply," appearing in the Contemporary for August, 1885, previously cited. I entirely agree with Mr Mulhall in his conclusion that •' the diminished production of gold has had no appreciable effect on prices." In former times, when gold was the chief circulating medium, when bank - notes, cheques, and bills of exchange were unknown, and when, apart from the rude barter of those times, gold was the one purchasing power, and when our modern system of credit was undiscovered, undoubtedly gold exercised a much more potent influence on prices than now. But in our time an entirely different system is in operation. For, as Mr Mulhall shows, whilst the world's stock of gold, coined and uncoined, in 1830 was 540 millions sterling, in 1885 it had risen to 1004 millions sterling, coined and uncoined in about equal proportions. Gold, unlike potatoea or wheat, is not reduced by consumption. The stock of uncoined gold existing as jewellery and plate to day is partially available for coining m'^°^°T if necessar y- The fact is, aa Mr Mulhall shows, that the use of gold for commercial purposes has steadily diminished to the ratio of 18 per cent in relation to the volume of English commerce, whilst bank interest in Great Britain was dearer by 1 per cent from 1861 to 1870 than from 1871 to 1880, with a vastly increased volume of trade from 1871 to 1880. Had the diminished yield of gold been as accessory to the depression of trade as some suppose, a directly contrary result would have followed. It is evident that gold is Besoming less and less potent in its influence upon the commerce of civilised nations. As a medium for daily retail transactions, for passing from hand to hand, for ornamental purposes, and for a basis of security for the issue of bank-notes, it will continue to play anecsssary part in the exigencies o! civilised life, but beyond theqe uses — so far as commerce is concerned ~i£ will play in the future much the same $art as did the iron currency of Lycurgus' in the simple trade of ancient Sparta— it will be too cumbersome and too costly to handle 'unnecessarily.

"J£k »• meeting of tbV inembsrs of the N.Z.It. A,, a discussion took place as to the plac^ at which the next annual meeting should be held. The supporters of Christchurch argued that the population was large . the people wealthy and liberal^ the railway facilities remarkably good, especially for Volunteers, who could travel free from the extreme cod of the South Island, and that consequently the entries would be very largp, numbering probably 400 ; further, that it would give an impetus to volunteering in a district where it was languishing, partly for want of a permanent range, which latter difficulty had just been got over, bub that for the association's purpose a capital range could be got ne3r the Christchurch Racecourse. The supporters of the claims of Marlborough started by saying that it . could provide a splendid range, due north and south (at which statement thf re was immense cheering.) Furthermore, toe Volunteers there were enthusiastic, and had alwayß taken a warm interest in the meetings of tha Association, and officers of companies were present who had had the advantage of seeing how well things were mauaged at the present meeting. Tae admittedly splendid range at Blenheim proved to be a difficulty in the way of Canterbury ians, and, at the suggestion of Volunteer Soall, Captain McCredie agreed to the addition of a proviso to his motion, to the effect that no place be selected for the meetiag that cannot provide a range due north and south. Tae Aucklanders strongly supported Marlborough. Lieut Cooper, however, agreed that what would be better still would be the selection of Nelson or Wanganui as Che permanent place of meeting. The airangements at Wangauui were as nearly as possible perfection — in fact, the best at any meeting he had ever attended — though the range was not so good as that at Nelson. Failing a permaucnt place, the next be. t thing was to go to Blenheim. Ac the close of the discussion the motion and the amem - nient were put to the meetiag, but tue numbers on each silo appeared to be too close to be settled by a show of hands. A division was consequently called for, the Blarlborough advocates being t-ei.t to the right and the Christohurch tupporters to the left. After the men had been told off two or three times by telUrs the numbers were at last deoiared as follows :—Christcburcb, 78 ; Marlborough, 75. The announcement was receive J with great entering by the Southern men. The annexation of Burinah was brought about in this simple and matter of fact fashion, A notification appeared in the Calcutta " Graz9tte " as follows :— " By command of the Queen-Empress it is hereby notified that the territories formerly gov<--rmd by King TheeDau will no longer be uuder his rule, but have become pare of her Majesty's dominiODS, and will, during her Majesty's pleasure, be administered by such officers as the Viceroy and Governor- General may from time to time apppinD.— Dufferiu."- Tne gSpecta.tor " ' • speaks!; of- the act aslone of remarkable significance. - It points to the fact that at home they seem incipable of governing " a little island which we have owned, if not mled, for six centuries.*! At home " one irishman threatens to tear fro.n ue an integral portion of the Home Kingdom, and we defend ourselves with seas of words. There, another Irishman, without a single speech or a moment of debate, by an ordinary notification in a Gasette, adds to our dominion a country five times as large as Ireland, ten times as rich in natural resources, and inhabited by a people more numerous than the three millions who, vve all teem to thiuk, must be permitted to dispose of our future aud.our fate." "German Syrup."-? No* other medicine in the world was ever given /.such a test of its curative qualities as Bosctiee's German Syrup. In three years two million four hundred thousand small bottles of this medicine were distribnted/ra? of charge by Druggists in the United States of America to those afflicted with Consumption, Asthma, Croup, severe Coughs, Pneumonia and other diseases of the throat and lungs, giving the afflicted undeniable proof that German Syrup will cure them. The result ha^ been that Druggists in every town and village in civilised countries are recommending it to their customers. Go . to your druggists and ask what they know about it. Sample Bottles 6d. Regular size fMi Thre£ : doße3 will reUeve'any case. F&es and Btjas.—B.eefclei.JnsectsV roaches, ants, # »ed-bugs, rats, mice, gophers, chipmunks cleared out by " Rough on-Rats. " Ken?p thorne, Prosser & Co., Agents, Christchurch. The Bad and Wouthless are never imitated or counterfeited. This is especially true of a family medicine, and it is positive proof that the remedy imitated is of the highest value. As soon as it had been tested and proved by the whole world that Hop Bitters was the purest, best and most valuable family rnedicioe on earth, many imitations sprung up a»d began to steal the notices in wbich the press and the people of the country had expressed the merits of H. 8., and in every way trying to induce suffering invalids to use their Stuff instead, expecting to make money on the credit and good name of H. B. Many others started nostrums put up in similar style to H. 8., with variously devised names in which the word " Hop. or " Hops" were used in a way to induce people to believe they were the same as Hop Bitters. All such pretended remedies or cures, no matter what their style or name is, and especially those with the word " Hop" or " Hops" in their name, are imitations or counterfeits. Beware of them. Touch none of them. Use nothing but genuine American Hop Bitters, with a cluster of green Hops on the white label, and Dr Soule's name blown in the glass. Trust nothing else. Druggists and Chemists are warned against dealing in imitations or counterfeits. • . >. > , i