TRADE OF TARANAKI.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 September 1935, Page 6

TRADE OF TARANAKI.

The monthly returns of Customs duty, petrol tax and sales tax, though perhaps of not great general interest when published in tabulated form, are in fact extremely important, for they have a very definite relationship with the trade of the district. For that reason the returns for last month and for the year to date are particularly interesting, for they reveal Taranaki in an extraordinarily favourable light. Last month, for instance, the Customs revenue for the port of New Plymouth showed an increase of over 17 per cent, on that for the previous August, and for the year to date the increase is nearly 20 per cent. The sales tax increase for the month of August is over five per cent., and for the year nearly nine per' cent., while the petrol tax increase for August was seven per cent., and for the year to date over 20 per cent. Most Other places have experienced all-round decreases instead of increases. The figures for Wellington are not available, but Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin all report a steady falling-off in Customs revenue for both last month and the year to date.. Auckland experienced an increase in sales tax, and Dunedin a substantial decline in both petrol and sales taxes. The petrol and sales tax figures for. Christchurch are not available. Realising that the prosperity of Taranaki is so largely dependent on the price of butter and cheese, which has not been high this year, the figures quoted above are difficult to explain, but they are irrefutable. One explanation given some months ago was that stocks had been so depleted by cautious buying that merchants were finding it imperative to replenish them, and this accounted for the rise in Customs revenue. A brief increase might be explained by such an argument, but not one that extends over the whole year. Such a definite expansion of petrol consumption is also difficult to account for except as an indication of increased activity in motor vehicles. The signs of the times are encouraging, and it is to be hoped they will put fresh heart into the people.