BUSINESS COMPLEXITY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18761, 18 July 1935, Page 14

BUSINESS COMPLEXITY

PRESENT-DAY CONDITIONS INSURANCE DIRECTOR’S VIEW “I have been a director of this office for 35 years, and nothing impresses me more than a comparison of the ease with which business was transacted in old days with the worries and difficulties of the present time,” said the Hon. Sir William H. Goschen, chairman of directors, at the annual meeting of the Sun Insurance Office, Limited, in London- “ The world position is not only a question for theoretical contemplation by the student of economics, hut a practical problem, which daily confronts those in control of a world-wide business like ours.” Sir William said that in Great Britain trade had continued to improve, although the improvement had been largely of an internal character. There had also been some amelioration in conditions in the Dominions. Elsewhere, however, there had been little, if any, change for the better. ‘‘.The policy of economic nationalism adopted by so many nations remains unmodified," said the chairman. “Severe financial stringency is being experienced in many countries and has resulted in the almost complete blocking of national currency. This has proved a source of considerable embarrassment to offices with business in such countries, inasmuch as it necessitates- the accumulation of funds in foreign'- currency- which can not he converted into sterling. “In my opinion stabilisation of currencies must be the first step toward recovery in international trade, but stabilisation can only be gradual in its effect. The setting up of economic harriers and restrictions is far easier than t.heir removal, and I fear that a full restoration of international trade, upon which alone lasting prosperity can be built up. must await the full appreciation by the peoples of the world of the direction in which their true interests lie.”