TRADE OF JAPAN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16671, 16 October 1917, Page 6

TRADE OF JAPAN.

INCREASE IN WAR PERIOD; ' WAGES MORE THAN DOUBLED. ? The effects of the war on, the commei cc and industry of Japan are described in a letter received in Auckland from a Kobe firm. The latter writes that owing to the daily advance in prices ..of _ packing materials and the rise in. wages, it is 1 impossible 'to give definite quotations for goods. lie letter states that unless after the war a decline takes place in the. cost of materials and labour, Japfn must be regarded as an expensive. country for labour, and the cheapness of labour so often discussed in the past can no long 0'" be associated with the' country. ■ Wages for an ordinary labourer who formerly received the equivalent ,of less than Is 4a a day have risen to from 2s 5Jd to 3s Id, while women, • who Used to receive od a day, now demand Bid. . . . ■ The total foreign trade of Japan in 1916 was £188,389,500, compared with £118,683,600 in 1914.' Whereas imports I in 1914 exceeded exports by £463,400, in 1916 exports exceeded imports by £37,104,100, and in -the two years, 191516, by £54,*226,400. For the first half of 1917, the total of foreign trade is given at £115,646.800, and excess of exports of imports at £26,,100. The returns for the year are estimated at £220.000,000, with a. balance of exports equal to £60,000,000. The greater prosperity of the people is indicated by the bank returns. The deposits ill the trading banks increased from £166,755,000 in 1914 to £309,755,000 in 1916, while in the same period the deposits in the Post Office, Savings Banks increased from £11,783,500 to £38,650, Before the war the savings of the people in the Post Office banks amounted to an insignificant figure, but the increase in wages has enabled them to set aside part of their earnings.