ECONOMIC BAROMETER

Taranaki Daily News, 15 July 1930, Page 7

ECONOMIC BAROMETER

FALL IN THE PRICE LEVEL.

TRADE SHOWING INCREASE.

The economic barometer in New Zealand seems definitely to have swung to “fair.” Beyond “fair,” and not very far from it, is “prosperity.” As far as the most observant business men are able to say the pointer is on the way to that delectable word. No tendency to retrogression has been seen; all the evidence points to a continuation of the movement towards bettor things and happier times. Prudence recognises the difficulties that lie in the path, but experience has provided the solution to most of them. All that pessimism appears to be doing just now is hiding head beneath a cloak that it thinks is economic depression, but which optimism knows to be just its own lack of courage and disinclination to tackle a position that hard work can turn to 'good account.

“Things are better than they seem.” A Christchurch business man .whose position, states the,Times, gives .him unusually good opportunities for ..peeping in touch with conditions of trade was emphatic in making that declaration. ’■ “While, in many quarters, business is difficult,” he added, “yet-there are certainly bright spots.” Ho instanced the motor-car industry and said that he had been assured by one firm that its sales during the past year had constituted a record. . “Some of the retail soft goods houses are more than maintaining. their figures, and what is decidedly interesting, is that this increase in sales is divided. almost equally between town and country,” he said. “One might have expected the country sales to have fallen, but no fall has been registered. _ . “Prices generally are lower, making business more easy to get. All merchandise has fallen considerably in pi ice during the last six months. “The Government Statistician is working on a false scent in many cases. Many 'of the articles listed are used very* little, and new articles have been adopted. It is safe to say in .every case that prices are misleading because merchandise is so much better ni quality at any given price and will give more lasting wear and prove a better investment for the purchaser. “With a little more give and take between Capital and Labour things could right themselves in New Zealand pretty promptly. It is not of much use to ask the man on the land to work 69 and 70 hours a week, when the man in the is working only 40 hours a week. lOmeans, of course, that the country worker is working Jong hours to keep the town worker"in a sheltered position both as regards wages and time worked. InAustralia, the land of many strikes and Labour Governments, they have already discovered that they must get back to a 48 hour week, not from choice but from sheer necessity. It is not just or wise for any section of the community to claim for itself certain privileges tliat cannot be shared by the workers in the unsheltered industries.

“New Zealand is a great little country. It can get back very quickly, pcmarkably quickly, but a good deal of sanity lias to be exercised in choosing tho way out. More wages and less work will not do’ it.. It is ordained that a man cats by the sweat of his brow, and legislation cannot ■niter that. 1 Fort tunately, Labour in'this country is not ftogressivc. It is, on tho whole, sane. It could be made a great deal saner

with a little more • responsibility. It the present Government can reduce ex*, penditure at the earliest possible mo*, ment and reduce income tax it will help the workers perhaps more than the employers, and this is what Labour must recognise if it wishes to rule in New Zealand. “Possibly our position is better than -that of most countries' in the world. We have a great deal more food than any other country and the living conditions of tho workers in this country are, without doubt, the best ruling any-, where. In America, wages may ’be high, but the conditions.are very .hard. The ordinary rank and file cannot afford, anything but cotton clothing, even. iii j buying suits. In Central Europe, the longer hours worked tend to cheapen the food supply ,and though wages are low, the conditions of many of the people are rather better than they are in some of the colonies, especially as regards tho amenities of life—riiusic, art, education, culture, etc. But in no country would, you find such an abundance of high grade food products going direct from the farm, to the consumer as in New ’Zea’land.

“Possibly tho only exception in our food supply is the dear, loaf. We certainly seem to have the., dearest loaf in tho world) That, possibly, can b® remedied to a certain extent. Ca:nada can supply bread at a little-more than half the price in New Zealand, and London about three-quarters." The price, of bread in Europe is' equivalent to 9d or 19d for the • four pound loaf. . Tho high price of bread in New Zealand must surely have some bearing on labour costs in our secondary industries.”