The Timaru Herald. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1930. THE PASSING YEAR.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 18764, 31 December 1930, Page 8

The Timaru Herald. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1930. THE PASSING YEAR.

No one who turns a listening ear to the most solemn and touching peal of the bells which ring out the old year, will experience any feelings of regret that a trying year lias speeded into history; nevertheless no one ever regarded the first of January with indifference. It is that from which all date their time and count upon what is left. The opening of the. New Year is in reality the nativity of our common Adam, and the peal of the bells or the shouts of the carnival revellers are never heard without a gathering-up of the mind to a concentration of all the images that have been diffused over the twelve months that have closed. For the moment, the human family reflects on all that has been done, or suffered, performed or neglected; indeed it was no idle fancy that prompted the poet to speak of “catching a glimpse of the skirts of the departing year,” since all but the thoughtless feel some sense of insufficiency at the leave taking of another year. But the purpose of contemplative self-examination is invariably actuated by the highest motives and indeed the almost universal feelings of j enlightened peoples are in tune with Aristophanes, who offered this New Year prayer: Prom the murmur and the subtlety with Which -we vex one another Give us rest. Make a new beginning and mingle again The kindred of the nations, in the alchemy of love, And with some finer essence of forbearance and forgiveness Temper our mind.

It is interesting to mention in view of the sagacity and sincerity of the Ancients, that there exists in Germany a very beautiful custom, which might be imitated elsewhere. On the first day of tlie New Year, whatever may have been the quarrels or estrangement between friends and relatives, mutual visits are exchanged, kindly greetings given and received—ail is forgotten and forgiven. It is generally recognised that the season is one for deep heartsearchings for all who realise that a New Year is upon us with new duties, new conflicts, new trials, new opportunities. With the birth of another year at hand, there is a natural impulse to pass in review the events of the preceding twelve J months just coming to a formal j close. In New Zealand affairs, there has been perhaps more intense consideration of the economic side of the national life than anything else. The country has passed through a jiei'iod full of difficulty. Depressed worldwide conditions have been, reflected here and have seriously affected the life of all sections of the community. It has been a period of sustained anxiety, and the departing year, if the omens are in any degree favourable for the future, will find few who wish it to stay. The lessons that experience has taught should be useful in the coming year. The year has had its great days and its many days of disappointment, as exemplified in an examination of the principal events that might be mentioned in a review of the year. There are no real grounds for pessimism, if the people will but be true to themselves. A country which marched through terror to triumph in a worldshaking cataclysm need not tremble in the face of _an unfavourable economic situation. The future is in their own hands, and if they possess that faith and efficiency in themselves that carried them through the war period, they will not go down in the battle against any reappearance of the mountains of difficulty that seemed to loom up so menacingly during the year that is now speeding to a close.

INDUSTRY’S BIG BURDEN. In view of the increasing burden of taxation upon productive enterprise that has been imposed in Britain, it is not surprising that the Federation of British Industries has become gravely concerned at the failure of the Imperial Government to more seriously, regard the British Commonwealth of Nations as a fertile field for the development of trade. From time to time, the federation has reiterated the views and the circumstances that have led to the presentdisquieting state of affairs in Britain and in its opinion, _ a direct consequence of the policy of successive Chancellors of the Exchequer, who in framing their Budgets and in particular, the estimates for the current expenditure have had little or no regard either for the conditions of British national production or the needs of those responsible for its efficient operation. In particular, no account appears to have been taken during recent years of the cumulative effect of the burden of taxation on a decade of industrial depression, accompanied by a falling price level and credit stringency. The federation believes that comparative figures can be produced to afford conclusive evidence that the limits of industry’s taxable capacity have

been reached, and that the present volume of national production is insufficient to provide the sums at present being expended, and under contemplation, by the State on unreproductive purposes without grave injury to Britain’s national productive forces. So long as J trade is continuing to make progress and the national income increasing, an annual increment accrues to the national wealth which can, if it be so desired, be taken from industry by taxation and devoted to social purposes. Exactly the contrary situation appears to face us at the moment. Unemployment is at its highest level for the past three years, industry and prices are declining, and in addition the Stock Exchange collapse of last autumn not only swallowed up directly ail appreciable proportion of the profits made in that year, but also, through the disorganisation of important raw material prices which- it entailed, converted the working profits of many firms | engaged in industries consuming j those materials into balance-sheet . losses. In the circumstances the I federation insists that it is , imperative that industry should be given time to recuperate and adjust itself to the new conditions. In order that this may be easily effected, it is above all desirable that industry should be left with the maximum of accumulated resources. Until this adjustment has been accomplished and the present period of trade depression surmounted, it is nothing short of disastrous to venture on still further expenditure for unproductive purposes. It is with this object in view that the federation has proposed the establishment of an Empire Development Board, with General Smuts as chairman.

Moreover, the federation, in a New Year message makes pointed reference to the failure of the Imperial Government to appreciate the vast possibilities that are offered within the Empire for the development of trade. It is quite certain that Britain is being forced from many markets that have been held for long years, and it ought to be patent to all who will look facts squarely in the face that the development of the Empire’s trade and industries offer Britain the best solution of some of her most baffling and persisent problems.