UNCERTAINTY IN TRADE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23284, 1 March 1939, Page 10

UNCERTAINTY IN TRADE

"Steady trading is now only a vague memory," said Mr. Henry Kitson, retiring president of the Stock Exchange Association, at the annual meeting of the association in Wellington yesterday—a condition which he attributed to the uncertainties confronting the people of the Dominion. His remarks, unfortunately, are not restricted in their application to the investment market. For all the Prime Minister's bombast about totalisator figures and radio licences, an atmosphere of uncertainty pervades production, industry and trade, an atmosphere so heavy as to cloud increasingly the Government's picture of prosperity. , Mr. Kitson makes it clear that surplus money for investment has almost vanished. This does not mean that financial resources have been drained to the limit, but only that those with money to invest can see no certainty of reasonable returns. This fact itself is sufficient to react to the detriment of production, both primary and secondary, and when other aspects of Government policy are taken into consideration it is easy to see why confidence is failing. As far as the producers are concerned the Government is lavish with promises but dilatory in performance. Time and time again it has been stated that labour would be provided for the farmers to assist them in their battle against rising costs; the farm labour shortage still continues. With equal assurance, the Government has stated that it will put men into profitable employment in private industry; the army on Public Works is as large as ever. No one is to be hurt by the operation of Government policy, but importers and even manufacturers are still in a haze of doubt regarding trade restrictions, and doubt in trade not infrequently results in heavy loss. Business can never flourish in an atmosphere of uncertainty. Not so very long ago it used to be shouted from the housetops that "Labour has a plan," but experience has shown that Labour's planning chiefly takes the form of clumsy improvising.