The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 1921. BRITAIN’S TRADE.

Southland Times, Issue 19248, 11 June 1921, Page 4

The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 1921. BRITAIN’S TRADE.

Figures showing the decline in British trade during May are sufficient to justify the anxiety displayed by the Imperial Government in its recent decisions. The slump in both imports and exports is severe and its effect is accentuated by the fact that it is not sudden. Returns for February showed a great falling off compared with the figures for January, the decrease in imports being £12,000,000, and in exports £24,500,000. This downward movement was continued in March, and on top of this has come a further drop. The decrease in imports in February compared with the corresponding month of 1920 was about £74,000,000, so that the relative position in May is fully £6,000,000 worse so far as goods coming in are concerned. The export figures, however, reveal in a mors marked manner the shrinkage in Britain’s business. This February compared with its corresponding month of 1920 disclosed a falling off in all exports totalling £32,000,000, but the May slump represents a decline of £89,250,000. These figures are enough to be alarming and they represent, the direct effects of the industrial upheaval, coupled with the collapse of trade on the Continent. Coming at the same moment the sudden drop in the American exchange will cause a great deal of comment, but it would not be wise to ascribe to the trade slump in Britain all the blame for the drop in the pound sterling in New York to a point lower than it has been , for a considerable period. The latest quotation is 3.68 dollars, which represents a fall of 22J cents from the lowest point reached in March, and of 27 cents from the quotation on March 31. The movement had had an upward tendency, with periodic set-backs, and the present collapse, 12 cents in three days, is probably due to the operations of the United States Emergency Tariff to a certain extent, and perhaps to German finance activities in connection with her indemnities. The exchange rate has not yet touched the lowest point, but the unheralded collapse after the persistent climb will noi make the task of the British manufacturers any easier. The trade balance is also likely to be a serious matter for the country unless some remarkable change? take place. Ordinarily Britain’s invisible exports can make good an advance balance of well over £200,000,900, but at the present rate it is extremely likely that the excess of imports over exports will be much heavier than was contemplated at the beginning of the year, and as an additional burden there is the fact that the United Kingdom’s invisible exports will not be as strong as was hoped. With this position facing them it is natural that the Imperial Government should be anxious to get back to normal as quickly as possible, but the ground lost by the coal mine strike will be difficult to make up and its effects will be felt in the Old Country from one end to the other for a long time to come. The contest seemed to have been inevitable, but if there had been greater frankness between the parties, with less mistrust, an actual outburst might have been avoided. In spite of the retrogression of the coal Industry, the miners went out to demand a standard wage equal to their wages in April. After receiving the benefit of artificially inflated prices for export coal, the industry showed a surplus in Devember, 1920, of 8d per ton, or £7,092,337 over the guaranteed profits under the Coal Mines Emergency Act. But the revenue was then falling off, the December quarter showing a deficit on the pit head operating accounts of £1,136,000. In January the backward movement continued, the total loss on the coal disposed of in that month being £4,889,331, which with the amount of guaranteed profit due to the owners under the Act meant a deficit of £7,139,331. The chief cause for this debit balance was the £10,000,000 paid to the Rimers as extra wages, obtained as a result of the national strike settlement and increased output in December, but it was then estimated that even with the output wage bonus withdrawn the loss in March would be over £5,000,000. It will be seen from these figures that the industry could not continue if the miners’ demands were acceded to, but neither side seemed ready to trust the other. The contest has been long and costly and its effects are being felt, but it would be unwise at this stage to say that the Old Country has felt the worst of it. I The anxiety of the Imperial Government is a sign that the authorities expect to have to face more difficult problems than any yet raised by the trade decline.