THE TRADE CRISIS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19500, 8 June 1925, Page 10

THE TRADE CRISIS.

DRASTIC ACTION NEEDED. CO-OPERATION WITH DOMINIONS. BRITAIN NO LONGER SUPREME. {From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, April 15. Mr W. A. S. Hewins, who i« chairman o) the Empire Development Union, has prepared a statement on the present condition of .British productive industries. While British industries are stagnant or declining, it is pointed out, and the expert trade shows no sign of real recovery, ‘2l foreign countries, with whom comparison .is really possible, have made very considerable advance since the war. It that tlie position of Great Britain is exceptional. Since the decline in the comparative position of our industries extends now over more than a generation, it points to permanent causes which can only be removed by drastic action taken by the Government of Great Britain in close association with the dominions. The facia are summarised as follow: — 1. During the last few years there have been fluctuations in the number of < the unemployed, bu the figures give no ground for supposing that its menace is diminishing. In fact, on March 16, 1925, the number of unemployed was 1,219,200 as compared with 1,094,111 on the corresponding date last year. This official figure is not an actual measure of the dimensions of the problem. There are not less than 2,757,190 persons at present supported by the State by reason of unemployment, and to this figure should strictly be added those who are employed under direct grant from the State or local bodies on relief works. 2. Meanwhile, for many years, the amount paid for imported foodstuffs has increased. In 1924 it was £555,000,000, an increase oi £62,000,000 over that of 1923, and £101,000,00*1 over that of 1922. 8. This growth of imported foodstuffs has been accompanied by an enormous diminution in * the agricultural population, thus diminishine the Home market for British manufactures, and also the competitive power of these manufactures in foreign markets. 4. Yet this huge bill for imported food has to be met in the main by British manufactures. These exports are 15 per cent, below the level of 1913 and show no sign of recovering their ancient level. DETAILED FIGURES. 5. The production of iron and steel is down to the level of the late seventies. Most of the furnaces are out of blast, and exports of iron and steel and manufactures thereof in 1924 were only 77 per cent, of the 1913 volume. The exports of machinery were, in 1924, 67 per cent, of the 1913 volume, of cotton yarn 77 per cent., oi cotton piece goods only 63 per cent. The exports of worsted yarns in 1924 were 83 per cent, of the 1313 figure, while woollen yarn exports were well above that figure. Exports of alpaca and mohair, however, were leas than one-half of the ,1913 exports. \v nile exports of woollen tissues showed a large increase as compared with 1913 the exports of worsted tissues declined by 10 per cent. Exports of thrown silk were only 27.8 per cent, of the 1913 quantity, and exports of spun silk yarn were less than 25 per cent. Exports of silk piece goods were barely three-fourths of the 1913 figure, and exports of piece goods of silk mixed with other materials showed a decline of 60 per cent, as compared with 1913. Exports of flax and hemp yams, and also of linen piece, goous, iu 1924, were 40 per cent, below the 1913 figure. The output of coal fell from 278,439,600 tons in 1923 to 269,133,000 tons in 1924. The total export of coal fell from 97,607,866 tons in 1923 to 79,340,170 tons in 1924. 6. Our total exports of British produce, measured ou the basis of 1913 price levels, were £420,582,000 in 1924 as compared with £525,254,000 in 1913. , On the other hand, there has been a great increase of imports, especially of manufactured goods, the total imports having risen from £768,735,000 in 1913 to £825,726,000 in 1924, measured on the basis of 1913 prices. Taking the volume of trade on the basis of 1913 prices, imports have risen 4.1 per cent, and exports have diminished 24.5 per cent. , 7. The exports of British produce to foreign countries actually diminished by £4,000,000 in 1924 as compared with 1923. but there was a net gain in the export trade in 1924 as compared with 1923, owing to an increase of £32,000,000 in the exports to the British dominions. BRITISH ASCENDANCY GONE. The figures show that our overseas trade is becoming more and more dependent upon the British Empire itself. Our total production is not more than 80 per cent, of what it was before the war. But the conditions are not peculiar to the period following the war. The change in the comparative position of British industries was quite well marked more than 20 years ago. There have, of course, over that time, been ueriodic fluctuations and even occasional booms, but tne comparative decline’ of British industry had set in long before' Mr Chamberlain commenced his campaign. The war interrupted this movement and the _ year 1920 was a boom year, due to entirely artificial and quite temporary causes. Since that time normal tendencies have been resumed, and there is no indication in the figures that they will be checked by just leaving things alone and waiting for the operation of natural causes. ... . . , _ Tne great advance of foreign countries has altered all the conditions of foreign competition, and whatever steps are now taken for the restoration of British industries must take account of the fact that Great Britain is now only one of a number of great industrial countries, some of which are better equipped, and practically all of which have made far greater advance in recent tunea than this country. THE ONLY HOPE. The memorandum concludes; “There is no hope whatever of translating into fact the delusion which affects so many minds that Great Britain can once more become supreme as an industrial country, it that were ever possible the process of deterioration in her position has gone much too far, and if the British race is. ever to be again supreme among the nations of the world it is clear that immediate and drastic action must be taken commensurate with the vaslneas and the critical character of the problem, and that action can only be taken by Great Britain in association with the great dominions.”