NOTE OF WARNING

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 8190, 3 August 1912, Page 5

NOTE OF WARNING

STRESSFUL TIMES AHEAD THE BUSINESS OUTLOOK IN AUSTRALIA. By Telegraph— Preps Association—Copyright SYDNEY, August 2. At the annual meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, the president (Mr Braddon), in his address, referring to the late drought, said it would probably result in a decrease of 150.000 bales of wool, valued at £1,875,000. Touching on the financial position, the president said that when caution was particularly needed the Government expenditure was needlessly lavish. These things did not tend to create confidence. At the back of all was the Federal land tax, which had made a bad impression on the British investor, who had stimulated for the withdrawal of British capital. He foreshadowed a period of possible monetary stress. In ten years the taxation in New South Wales had grown from £2 4s 7d per head to nearly £5. Mr Braddon declared that it would be very generally conceded that compulsory arbitration for practical _ purposes had been demonstrated a failure. He suggested that the Act should be dropped, as it was impossible to apply the measure to employer and employee alike.