ALMOST NORMAL.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 934, 2 December 1933, Page 30 (Supplement)

ALMOST NORMAL.

Business and Industry in England. BOOM IN EXPORTS. (Special to the “ Star.”) AUCKLAND, December 1. Rubber will never again fetch the price that it did when the industry was in its boom days, according to Mr G. W. Skellerup, managing director of the Para Rubber Company, who with his two daughters arrived at Auckland by the liner Mariposa this morning after an absence from New Zealand of six months spent in Europe and the United States. Mr Skellerup belongs to Christchurch, and will leave for the south this evening. Referring to the many new uses to which rubber was being put, Mr Skellerup said that he had been particularly impressed with the way in which it was used for flooring in Great Britain. Almost every big building had rubber floors in every conceivable design. In this branch of industry Britain appeared to be a long way ahead of any other country. The use of latex thread for the manufacture of such articles as bathing suits was another recent development. The rubber business in Britain was better at present than it had been since 1929. World Trade. Speaking of world business generally, Mr Skellerup said that in England this year it was almost back to normal. It had been announced that in the woollen industry only one in every four men who were unemployed last year was now out of work. In the light steel industry unemployment had been reduced by 60 per cent. The main industries that were still in a bad way were coal, cotton and shipbuilding. It was claimed, however, that the radio business was now absorbing more labour than the shipbuilding industry had done even at its peak. The fact that Britain had been forced off the gold standard two years ago had brought about a wonderful boom in exports. Mr Skellerup mentioned that he had been much impressed with the obvious desire of British people to “Buy British” wherever possible. In England a most friendly feeling towards New Zealand was apparent. He had come to the conclusion that trading conditions in New Zealand at present were more difficult than in most other countries. lie had not noticed the sales tax to any extent, although it was in force in certain American States, where 90 per cent of the people were behind President Roosevelt who, it was generally agreed, would not stop until he secured ‘dollar American wheat,” which had been taken as the basis for his scheme. The number of unemployed, which at the beginning of the year had been between thirteen and seventeen millions, had been reduced by at least four millions.