BRITISH TRADE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18998, 20 October 1923, Page 7

BRITISH TRADE.

LACK OF CONFIDENCE. PRICE STABILITY ESSENTIAL. TRADE COMMISSIONER'S VIEWS. (Frou Our Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, October 19. ■Speaking at a luncheon here Mr N. Llrnslie.. lI.M. British Tirade Commisisonor, said it was the luck of* confidence that was hindering trade now. It was quite impossible to carry on trade while confidence was lacking and price stability was not attained, “Just look at the effect of the Ruhr trouble on the iron trade,” he said. “Lor example, at the beginning of this year the price of iron was down to about £5 a ton, but when the ironworks of Lorraine and the Ruhr, were shut down iron rose in a comparatively few weeks to 150 s a ton, and it has since fallen to about 120 s. How can one trade under such conditions? The distributors naturally refused to buy forward for fear of incurring huge losses. For the last, two years, therefore, the world- had been buying from hand to mouth, and the manufacturers dared not turn out any great quantity of stock, so that until we can restore confidence we cannot get trade xcstored.”

Another extremely important factor, and one that ho thought was going to effect Now Zealand very greatly was the wide differences in price between the different grades of goods. Owing to the groat demand during the war the facilities for production were greatly increased. Prices did not then count, and the normal levels of, prices were completely upset. Many articles soared to artificial values, others became a drug in (ho market, and at the end of the war (ho production of wide classes' of raw materials and manufactures had been enormously increased, while other manufactures had been- thrown completely out dl gear. When tho civil demand followed the war demand it was found that these price levels would not suit, and there had to be a period of re-adjustment. After alluding to the position in respect of wheat, beef, butter, and cheese, the speaker said that the world was up against the problem of getting back to a stable and duly proportionate level of prices. This, could ho done in one or two ways, cither by artificially restricting the production of foodstuffs and raw material and forcing up prices, or by increasing production of manufactured goods au-d reducing prices. Tho latter was the lino that England was working' on, and to his mind it was the belter way. She was reducing prices and the cost of living. In reply to an interjection Sir Elmslie said that in some cases shipping freights were now lower in proportion to Hie working costs than they should be. The speaker concluded by urging tho necessity of getting tho costs down.