BRITISH INDUSTRIAL CON DITIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 14

BRITISH INDUST RIAL CON DITIONS.

TIMARU MAN'S OBSERVATIONS. (Faou Otm Omt Co»rbspokiusnt.) CHBLSTOHURCH, January 6. Mr J. Lilico, managing director of th« South Canterbury Woollen MiU>, lias returned to Timaru from a lengthy trip to Britain and Europe, and to a, Timarn reporber yesterday he gar© a. very gloomy accotmt of the 'industrial depression at present prevailing in the United Kingdom. The country, he says, was never in a worse state than it has been during the last six months, and from, one end of Britain to the other every class of manufacture is in a state of stagnation. In every one of the large centres tjiere ar© thousands of unemployed and thousand* of people are starving. The reports received by the New Zealand newspaper^ utterly fail to convey am Idefr of the heartbreaking scenes that are witnessed every d»V. The depress Ton has been attributed primarily to the tightness of money aris£ iug out of the American crisis, and, whilW tjils probably has sormething to do wi^hi it, the real explanation, he thinke, is to be found in tie poHoy which is stjll adhered to of dragging along tinder th« old conditioajs and working with the old class of machinery, because "It was good! enough for out predecessors 30 years ago and should be good enough for us." The result is that tSe United Kingdom is no\tl a dumping ground for the surplus pro-. duct« of America; epid Gerpaajy in particular, and of other countries to a lesser; exitent, acid th© workers are thrown oufc^ of employment, and axe unable to buy ©veai the cheap imported goods. Mr Lilico sajd that he felt assured that Mr Ohaiftberladn's Protection, policy must be adopted before long, and. thds was th# only thiag w^ich would, e|fect any perma^ nent amelioration of i»b.e industrial conditaong,.