Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13. MILLIONAIRE OPINIONS ON BRITISH TRADE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue XXXVI, 13 December 1902, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13. MILLIONAIRE OPINIONS ON BRITISH TRADE.

'■.UK I I) .iMM's. |l W ' Ulll.-lc .1 |, r ; ,|||,| |; ;1 |,,.| !.,,,* , „,, 1' I hli I lOII.S In ,'Vlhllr n|>MH'il| ,„, !]„_■ ''• |h .- .'Ull Jl|n.|l.;. !. nl Hill, .[, ( „,(!,. "•'^■- M--M.il ily been in. uh: -n| l!: |,y I \ndre\v C.iMiir-ir. || 1C ,\m<M kau i 'ni(l!')ii,iiic. iidji Jii.islci and uiilim ">> P"l)lß.i| i.'i*,.;ii,:uv. 'tlie nlli.Pl* hy J' 11 ' -"V l f i-..-eI 1., .lone. fl . imll.un.uiLSl " llh All i< ,m ship-owner who has 1 IMMI ,n in- pM-M'iii position [vom .md lhi-nu._-.il " i| lc la nks." The lw«» men in fad may i, t . hu[h C()11 . - ide red In have " risen fn.m lhe ranks/' They have been p M ,r m llie it time, ami aie now neli beyond avarice ; and both liave higher aspirations than to merely enjoy m selfish and soul-des'ti eying ease the weal Hi. they have won. Andrew ' Carnegie's .millions have been des- ; cribed hy .some ultra-socialists as ' blond-bought, and one or tw, local bodies have refused to accept his gift of libraries in consequence. But [ Ihis has nothing to do with his opinions on commerce, nor does il C affect the soundness (l f many of his . economic theories. sir Alfred i I Jones- commenced life as a boy a working for his livelihood. He now e -ols -lun, niul lons of steamship- t uy scores of nulls, several | s <J 0 iy_^ numbers of banks, and J li mng.'nu. '-class caravanserai V coalmines, . "v Islands, Ja- m scores of h^ 1 '"•v resorts hotels at the Canai riyJ . I V.- 11 --I*-*-

end lo such a place as X'elsoiii. His j ich-man's hobby is to develop the c ileasure-islands named both for re- • > leation and for <"omnierce, while c ic is not inattentive (o science, for M ic has established the famous Liver- 1 i :)oul School of Tiopi.-.'il Rest.i.ch for the study aiul cure of malarial I diseases. 1 The coiit rasf- between the Iw i nan mentioned is extremely interesting. In the one we have a Lnton whose every penny is clean, who has toiled npwaid through legitimate means lo his goal of wealth- In the other we have an American, who has made his money as many Americans— and many Bril isbers— do, by high laiifl'.s, monopolies, and si me measure of gi hiding 'the faces of the I orr. Hiit both, in, their ','airr days of. enjoyment of their accumulated leisure and treasure turn to good works in redeem thrir weallh of -„iflidness and to sanctify il. They are holh prominent' figures m lhe social and economic life of the day. ,uid tlun- are both im) orlanl faclots of the welbheiug that wealth judiciously dist i ibulcd ean bring. The one is no Worse than man\ — lhe other is <i belter man than most Let c oniinent rest at thai Differing as lliese two iypmal millionaires and successful business j men do in their characterM ies anil uielhods, they are in a measure agreed in their veuiicl on British coinmetce. its trend, and the cause., win it appears to have reached the limit of its expansion, and is now ihrcalened w;lh contraction. Great nrilain. from llieir standpoint . so far as she is sulVcring. is suffering from Lit. Mr CaniPliiP allncirs lo ■, he enormous expenditure in Ureal Brilain on pleasure, luNunrs, and amusements. Some of his suggestive sentence.^ read as follows:— ! " The two continents of AiiioriM land Europe Inne a decided advantage ( "'-r Britain in the sobrielv and regular habits of their workmen" "To reduce lhe drink bill of Ihe ' count r\, now reaching the incredible figure of fcliw.wHMion, to fc'2u.wiu,iiilll implies not the depraila ti.ni hut I lie cl< vaUon of the people." "If liiitain can saw ball of the tobacco bill of fc.T2.WHi, will it will not render life less happv nor health less robust. " To summarise Mr Andrew Ca'rnegie's testimony, it is that he insists that Great Britain is handicapned in her struggle with America by her heavy expenditure on her aimv and navy, and that, as regards Europe and America combined, she is handicapped by the fact lhal her people are putting more heart into pleasure and into sport and into .gambling than they ,K> into wcrk and 'business. All .'■lasses are " ut." Their first thought is how to enjoy themselves. Sir Alfred .Joius. while he admits ,],,,!, BriMsh Hade is not so badly oil as some imagme. also ut lers a warning iu«te. " Undoubtedly ," he s,,\ s. " Britain m'M make a big „:iu! i. We are 100 mud of sport, „'f bet tin-, and "f pleasure-- of all Kinds. We ba\e lmmlnmged <>wrscL.ifs with Uie noi ion, thai we are unavailable. Bui ior all Hub wc won't be beaten if we li«i\e i nliuary fair pLiy . We lnue immense reserves, and we shall have such ar awakening as when the volunteers ',i,d veoinaniy came lo the a-sist-ance"of lhe regular army. We musi 1 ake si i louslv to busine-- * » * Comment ing on the views of t lies* authorities, the Melbourne '' Argus' tnU.. :i. tone midway between pc?simisin ami optimism If, says thi '• Argus," turning aside from thesi {wo experts, we look on the brigh side of British trade, there would b< jiiucb io congratulate the em pin upon. Vlea'aire-making, though i may be pushed too far, and a lavisl expenditure, though it may L< pusbed too fill-, aie n;,t tbe signs 0 pou-ilv. In.trutive indeed is it L contiasi (bo criticisms of Grea Britain during the early years n t v >ueen Victoria and tbo criticism! ii, ,w published, during tbe carlj wars of tbe reign of her son. Ihen a> now. thcro were loud complaint: of the loss of foreign markets Bir thmi tbe complaints were real ' Miseiy, distress, and awful povd'.) were i-it'e from one end of tbe kingdom to the other : (bore was ik occasion then to warn the Mritisl people that they spent too much oi ,-iport and dissipations, and that the) ran tbe risk of enfeebling' thcii cnerdes through laziness and luxuiy rhc change from this ter.'ible degra dation and tin* awful peril lo th< empire came as if l\y magic. "Oivi us free food and free raw materials,' said the tarill' i-.-formers of that day • 'ami cat ic^oiKjr.ci- thai position." They more than kept thei. word. London i'.-elf is at evidence of llieir success. '1 lieu it (.•ordained about a million of inhabitants. Now it contains six million." * « » The moral Lo be learnt from these ;, three aspects oi commercial, social. 3 aud economic conditions of oui motherland is that while there is much to grieve over, there is also » much to be proud of and to inspire hope. The pusillanimous detrac- - tors who are alarmed at every shipment of forebgti goods, who would bar and lock our ports against the i world ina Chinese isolation, may be fc set aside as not worth listening to. f On the other hand the warning of kindly critics and good friends must not be ignored, The advice of these is for Britain to adhere to her policy ' of "the open door," which gives her cheap food, cheap raw materials, and (ills her millions within her small home area with plenty at small cost. Yet at the same time to strive with all the nations inremainicg in tho forefront of commerce, invention, labour-saving " pusbfulness" and determination to supply , demand, and even whim, as they arise.