BRITISH ENGINEERING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18298, 15 January 1923, Page 5

BRITISH ENGINEERING.

-;:-:-•'-- '.-,■,,' -;, ■♦ ".• .' ' .■, "•.■■; ACTIVITY IN HOME TRADE. !.!'■; Discussing, the! outlook ! or .;■ the engiriesj"- • ing :! industry, the November 'issue of' British _ Engineers'; Export Journal states that ..orders , ars c&njiiig - ia, ; and the en- : duiries from overseas .increase- daily, but British engineering is a vast industry, the greatest single exports trade of the country.. To estimate the degree of recovery attained by siicli a_ .great combination of business, it.is necessary to take , [wide;-:! views and -t0.../.make' cautious esti-' " mates. During .the- past few weeks, the! , j trade '^press;has; ; reported large contracts '-. secured' by. British engineering -firms! for; works in - lands overseas—^for; the construction of .a 'great dam and irrigation • works in Egypt, for!'railway extensions and "rolling! /stock in India ■ and Ne* Zeahftid,- for 'mining equipment, textile ! machine^. and electrical ; power- station . plant ,in ■ different- parts of the world. -I Perhaps, in fairness, these large contracts should be- regarded as : representative of the: less : remarkable export orders which form the normal:; bulk' of British overseas - engineering, trade,: but even so they do not ■warrant -much jubilation. A ! A«6srding'Mo the {statistics compiled by the British Engineers':. .Association, theengineering ! exhorts of . Great ; Britafo;.-dur-ifig'first > nine: moths ; of ; 1922 showed , a' deficit ;of: 32.7,-per, cent. : in comparison with, the corresponding period of. 1913. : Stated in round .figures, ; British engineers sold' to buyers in; lands overseas £34,800,000 worth of products . more in ~ January-September, -1913, than during the!" [■ first nine-months of 1922. A deficit so vast cannot; be filled ;up by outstanding con- ' tracts here or there, but only .by steady increase of the.trade-all $yer. - r - > ,! ■ Paradoxical as .it seems, shrewd, business men look; rather to, the home mar- ' ket for the v most reliable; assurance of oversea's trade;.recovery." For this-".they ' have the .warrant of history, which!shows " 'tiiafr prosperous home industry always has been the spring of successful ■ export trade. Looking in thafc directipn British engineers, have good reason for hope.: At nearly.every large ; seaport in the United Kingdom,, docks : are being extended and harbours ::improved ; hew ; coal mines are being sunk in several ,;coalfields; great electrical power generating stations are in course of erection extension, or equipment at large centres of population in various districts; London Underground Railways have put in hand tube extensions and laid down schemes 1 for improvements, involving expenditure of over £6,000,000; local authorities, both corporate arid. rural, : are enlarging public services, such as sewer<age, cleansing," water supplies, gas, eleetricity. and transport;facilities,!.with almost feverish activity. As yet, the effects. of this - renewal ; ; of 'engineering business have not had time to make themselves felt.in stimulating'' exports, but the results; .will come. That is to say,* engineers have still to look forward■l- ; -'■.. ' •■ - 1 ! ■—. __