TRADE NOTES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18509, 21 March 1922, Page 8

TRADE NOTES

A DEADLY STATE OF THINGS. KEV TO PROSPERITY. (Fxox On* Own Cobbbspondbkt.) LONDON, January 20. The problems of international politics and their influence on trade and commerce wore discussed at a meeting of the Association of British Chambers of Commerce in London, when the chief points emphasised were the demand for a gradual return to a gold basis and steps to secure the economic reconstruction of Europe, based on a demand for a cessation of inflation of currency by means of the printing press. Sir A. Mono uttered a striking plea_ for economy: “ Local taxation and imperial taxation have increased to an alarming extent in the last few years,” he said. “ I feci that it is not yot adequately realised that we have got to economise to an extent far greater than we have yet done. Wo have assumed 100 much that industry and commerce are the milch oows which can be drawn on indefinitely, and that whatever the charge on the manufacturer, the cost can be passed on to the consumer. We are reduced to the position in which the consumer finds himself too poor to buy the goods of the manufacturer, and so far from the manufacturer being able to pass on the increased costs, he finds himself unable to produce at all, with consequent unemployment. You have got to get down to the root evil—the cost of production; and rates and taxes are part of the cost of production. I have encountered cases in which guardians have granted out-relief on a scale larger than the amount earned by the workers in the same district,” he said. “ That is a deadly state of things which no country can possibly stand.” Lord Southwark moved a resolution urging the early reduction of postal chargee with a view to rendering the postal services more popular, as their use waa now being greatly curtailed and the development of commerce hindered by the high charges at present imposed. High charges were destroying trade, increasing unemployment, and robbing the Exchequer of revenue. Mr Field (Birmingham) declared that the Government was absolutely driving trade out of the country by their postal charges, which were a vexatious form of taxing industry. HOW TO REMOVE TRADE DEPRESSION. Mr F. Russell (chairman of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce) says trade depreswould be removed to some exteat if Scottish railways could see their way to make a reduction in rates, however small. From the evidence given at the inquiry into Scottish railway conditions it waa clear that raihyaymen in Scotland were occupying a privileged position and preventing a reduction m rates. Trade prospects for the future were doubtful, and commercial and industrial interests had reason to complain about the delay of the Government in bringing its proposed economies into operation It waa a hopeful sign that foreign markets were growing more appreciative r f the high quality and dependability of British manufactures, but at the same time a ruthless cutting down of expenditure and a material reduction in national and local taxation were needed immediately if tlie United Kingdom was to get any chance at ell. ‘ HUGE DRAPERY LOSSES. It is expected that huge losses on the trading for the past year will be shown in the coining annual report of some of the big wholesale drapery house*. Owing to the enormous decline in prices heavy losses by the wholesalers were unavoidable, but recent results have proved to be more unfavourable than was generally anticipated. Losses on the year's trading of £IOO.OOO and upwards, will not be uncommon among the larger businesses. Wholesalers were compelled to face the trade slump and mark down their prices in drastic fashion to replacement" cost, or even below. “EMTNG FIGURES.” A good-humoured duel between a railway manager and an engine driver enlivened the proceedings at a hearing of a Scottish railway dispute before the National Wages Board. Cross-examined, Mr J. Kiddle, a Caledonian driver did not agree with the statement made at the inquiry that some of the Scottish railwaymen desired lo go back to longer hours. Mr Cramp: If you were told that men had actually gone to the superintendent and 'expressed that desire, what would you say ?—I would say that it was. in our language, flap-doodle.—(Laughter.) Mr.Matheson pointed to the fall in the cost of living, I ut witness said the' working man did not believe the Board of Trade figures, basing their argument on what they paid directly for the necessities of life. “If yon could eat Board of Trade figures it would be all right,” he'Added. COST OF LIVING. The last official index figure regarding the cost of living showed that on December 31 the cost of all the commodities usually taken into account was 92 per cent, below that of July, 1914. This is the lowest recorded since March, 1918. The corresponding figure for December 1, 1921, was 99 per cent, and that for January 1. 1921, was 165 per cent. The decrease in the percentage since December 1 is mainly due to reductions in the prices of some of the principle articles of food, including bread, flour, meat, butter, and eggs. TEA SHORTAGE AND HIGHER PRICES. It is estimated that the world’s output of tea is about 145.000,0001 b below requirements. Considerable activity exists on the buying side of the trade, and competitive purchasing on short supplies means higher prices. Control ended and production continued at a high rate until representations were made to growers that it should be reduced. A demand from the Continent helped to absorb the heavy production, but that market slumped, and with the failure of the oxpecte 1 demand from Russia, the call for decreased production was urgent. It waa answered by the growers, fine plucking being resorted to, there is a shortage, and prices are advancing. Last year pluckings came down to below normal consumption; India has developed a habit of drinking her own tea, and “dry” America is making a larger call on the world’s output. Importers declare that but for the higher taxation (lOd to Is per )h) the price of tea would now be 35 per cent, above pre-war. They add that one result has been the ruination of some small growers and heavy losses by larger ones. With the reduction of purchasing power, there is an inevitable increase in the call for cheaper- teas, and it must be reflected in the price. TRADE DISPUTES IN 1921. The end of 1920 marked the termination of the long rise in wages which l*ad been in progress since the early part of 1915. In 1921 the decline in employment and the fall in retail prices were accompanied\by reductions in rates of wages which, beginning in January in the coal mining and wool textile industries, subsequently affected nearly all other industries. The changes in rates of wages reported during 1921, in those industries for which statistics are veguarly compiled by the department. resulted in a net reduction of about £6.000.000 in the weekly full-time wages of over 7.000,000 workpeople. In 1920 a net. advance of about £4,800.000 in the weekly wages of 7,700,000 workpeople waa reported. The aggregate loss of working days in all disputes in 1921 waa about f. 6.000.000. The total number of disputes reported was less than otic-half of the total for 1920, and much below the totals for either 1918 or 1919. Owing, however, to tho magnitude of the coal mining dispute, the number of workpeople involved in disputes in 1921 was little less than in 1929. and greater than m any previous year except 1919: and the aggregate loss of time through disputes in 1921 was much in excess of any hitherto recorded At the end of the year the oroportion unemployed in industries covered by the Unemployment Insurance Act was over 16 per cent, compared with approximately 6 per cent, at the beginning of January. 00 OPERATION IN TRADE. Mr Arthur Henderson says that trade and industry can no longer be conducted by empirical methods. In the present condition of affairs rule-of-thumb methods and haphazard hand-to-mouth ways of doing business were calculated to bring failure. A stage has been reached in economic revolution when those responsible for the conduct of the enterprises by which the nation lived must get together for consultation and understanding. Co-operation was the key to progress in trade, finance, and industry, as it was in international relations. Business men needed to made a more determined effort to understand tho interdependence of world trade. We could not any longer treat trade and commerce as an indivdual. local, or even exclusively national concern. Trade was subject to tho complications of world finance. Then (here was an economic contribution each country must make to the prosperity of the world as a whole. Hie earth was our storehouse, and all the nations of the earth must be encouraged to be our customers. Trade difficulties _ of a quite unprecedented kind bad arisen, the result of causes which perplexed even the experts. The position was so abnormal that it might

take years of effort by the combined forces of Capital, Labour, and the State to restore the shattered mechanism of trade and to set the wheels of industry revolving’ even as swiftly as before the world war. "We cannot be content merely to restore trade to the.level of pre-war years,” declares Mr Henderson. "Great as the value of trade was before the war, it was not large enough to provide everyone with the meins of a decent, healthy existence. The essential conditions of an economic revival are a bigger production of wealth, more efficient methods of distribution, the removal cfr restrictions upon the free flow of trade, and a sense of justice amongst the pro* ducers.” HIT BY GERMAN COMPETITION. The National Union of Manufacturer* state that no British industry has suffered more disastrously from German competition than the fabric g'ove trade, the makers of which recently snpHed to ilie Board of Trade to ire included in the Safeguarding of Industries Act, the application being, opposed by f he I.ondon Chamber of Commerce end other interests. When the case for the manufacturers was put it waa pointed out. that the result of German competition has been to reduce the number of persons employed in the industry in this country from 11,000 to 1700, and all those now are on short time. The Germans are undercutting the British manufacturer by 50 per l cent. GERMAN TOMBSTONES. Employees in the monumental granites trade, one of Aberdeen’s leading industries, have been notified of an impending cat in wages, varying from threepence to fourpence per hour, according to the class of workers, partially because practically no orders for tombstones or war memorials are being received in Aberdeen, and only stock stone* are being manufactured. Abeideon granite merchants failed to induce the War Graves Commission, to give a contract, for service men’s tombstones. The Germans, meantime,, are serious competitors. It is reported that the American wholesale agents, who previously used to buy large quantities of Aberdeen granite, have purchased £IO,OOO worth of headstones from "Germany, manufactured from Scandinavian granite, while large English cities are getting tombstones, and even war materials from Germany, and also from Cornwall at rates substantially cheaper than Aberdeen granite yards can produce them at with the present rate' of wages. TRADE-MARK ANOMALIES. When the committee, under the chair* manship of Sir William Acworth, which is inquiring into an application for the imposition of a tariff on imported aluminium and hollow-ware made by British aluminium and hollow-ware manufacturers, resumed its sittings, Mr E. Sellman (Sellman ami Hill. Wolverhampton) said he had received from a German, firm a letter stating that the Export Department at Berlin now refused permits unless payment, was taken in the respective currency. Under this‘scheme the new German prices for pots and pans were 5s per kilo, and for hollow goods 7s 6d oe* kilo. The English prices on a comparative scale were 8s Id and 16s 8d per kilo. His own firm had cleared up all orders before Christmas; ‘at the moment there was no employment in their works, and they bad shut down. Mr C. J. Stanley, manager of the Army and Navy Stores, was questioned as to what happened when customers were told the article was made in Germany. “Dp ypu tell them?” The witness smiled, and said that the goods were sometimes marked “Made in Germany.” . "Of course, he proceeded, “neither the package nor the article is required by law to bo marked, and ” The Chairman: Tell us why. The Witness: Oh, I am not the Cabinet Minister .who brought it in, but probably he wanted the Germans to pay the money they owed to Great Britain.* The gpod* roust hot be marked “Made in England.” but they need not be marked “Made n Germany.” When another witness .referred to .goods coming from Germany unmarked; the chairman said the matter need not be pursued. “It is too fine a point for us,” he added, “and the main thing is that goo do can come in from Germany that are not marked.”