TRADE BALANCE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21266, 21 February 1931, Page 17

TRADE BALANCE.

AUSTRALIA PROGRESSES. IMPORTS CUT BY HALF. (From Our Own Correspondent.) • SYDNEY, February 12.’ For the first occasion for many years A ustralia’s oversea trade for the month of f December gave a surplus of exports f? ufficient to pay for imports and meet ijaterest charges on the public debt. Exd hiding shipments of gold the figures f or the month were; — Exports £8,746,848 Imports £5,140,013 Surplus .. .. ’.. £3,606,895 'The big improvements that have been i secured in the recent months are easing the position in London considerably, even •though that same position is being hindered by such indiscreet speeches as the Premier (Mr J. T. Lang) sees fit to make from time to time. The surplus of exports over imports for the first : six months of the current financial year, which closed on December 30 was £4,995,355. .The decline in the December imports amounted to more than £5,000,000, while exports fell away by £BOO,OOO compared with the figures for December, 1929. The great decline in Australia’s world trade is shown by the fact that the total of imports and exports for the six months under review was valued at £81,000,000, compared with £124,000,000 for the same period in 1929, and with £150,000,000 in 1927, the peak year. None of the above figures takes into account the export of gold from Australia. Allowing £1,000,000 as the normal half year’s production of gold by Australian mines, the surplus of exports for the six months was approximately £6,000,000, equal to one third of the overseas interest commitments relative to the period. The position is now being further improved by the seasonal increases in the volume of exports, accompanied by a big decline in the value of imports. The half-year’s fall of exports by more than £6,000,000 was accounted for mainly by the decline in the value of wool, hides, and skins by £3,743,000, of which wool accounted for £1,376,000, Other big reductions were in metals, coal, sugar, and butter. Butter was down £268,000. Wheat and flour exports showed an improvement. Big collapses occurred in several divisions of exports. These figures are illuminating because they show what a country can do without when driven by necessity. Here is a table showing how imports have fallen away: —

1029. 1030. Machinery and metals .. £21.000,000 £.5,000,000 Apparel and textiles .. .. 10,000,000 7,000,000 Foodstuffs .. 4.000.000 2,000,000 Paper and stationery .. .. 4,000,000 2.000,000 Timber and manufactures .. 2,000,000 735.000 Motor cars 4,000,000 831,000 Hosiery and knitted goods .. 030,000 01,000 Rubber and leather .. 1.300,000 442,000 Alcoholic liquors .. .. 000.000 307,000 Imports are still falling, and whatever may be charged against Australia it must he admitted that she has achieved something.

Early next spring two flowering cherry trees, which have been growing on the Kingston, Surrey, by-pass road for the last two years, will be dedicated to the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, the daughters of the Duke and Duchess ot York. The Duchess is patroness of the Roads Beautifying Association. The trees, which have not yet been chosen, will be “adopted” by the princesses, and will boar a tablet inscribed with their names. The ceremony may oe made the occasion of the first public function' of the Princess Elizabeth. In a few years there will be a beautiful avenue of 80 flowering cherry trees along this busy highway. More than 800 trees have already been planted by the association, including Lombterdy poplars, red horse-chestnut. Norway maple, beech, and flowering crab-apple trees. More than 150 trees- have been dedicated to the memory of men who fell in the war, and for £2 2s a tree can be planted and a bronze plate fixed on it as an enduring memorial and an added charm to the countryside. . It was reported at the meeting of the Llangollen (Denbighshire) Rural District Council that Mrs Annie Roberts, for a weekly wage of Is, cleans the council offices, uses her own brushes, and provides firewood. She had applied for an increase. The members were so astonished at her low wage that they decided to increase it to 2s a week in the summer and to 2s Gd during the winter, and voted her an honorarium of £l.