BETTER TIMES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 112, 14 May 1931, Page 11

BETTER TIMES

READING THE SIGNS DEPRESSION PASSING A LONDON VIEW. British. industry after nearly two . rs of the most disastrous slump in history is reviving, says the Daily ; il. On many’ occasions previously .4.. re has been talk of signs of a trade ..■xival, but the Daily .Mail has been ersistent in its statements that there as little or no foundation for his prei.iature optimism, and events have provi d we were right. On this occasion, however, in the opinion of tho paper, i here is every reason to believe that uie bottom of the depression has been i cached. From all over England and from all lands of industry there are reports that the “economic blizzard’’ has blown it-s-*lf out and clearer skies are beginning to be visible. The first confident announcements of Ihe long-awaited improvement are connected with the British Industries Fair, the main exhibition at Olympia, the cotton section at the White City, and the midland section at Birmingham all proved successful beyond the hopes of the organisers and far beyond the ex pectation of many’ of the exhibitors. Much Work. “Everywhere in Olympia,’’ said an official of tho Department of Overseas Trade to a Daily Mail reporter, “you could bear exhibitors saying, ‘I have enough work to keep me going till October, ? and, as everyone knows, the orders actually taken during the fair are only a fraction of the total business which ultimately results from it. “Throughout Olympia, especially in the second week, there was not only a feeling of optimism, but also a levelheaded conviction that the revival has begun. ’ ’ In the cotton section the success was just as marked. The orders taken totalled more than £5,000,000. This is important, chiefly because it proves that Lancashire is solving the problem which pessimists were recently saying she would never solve —how to produce more cheaply than countries with lowwage labour. In the Birmingham section of the fair, according to an expert estimate, business was initiated which will bring -20,000,000 worth of orders to the Midlands during the next twelve months. Of -26 European countries 21 sent more buyers to the London sections of the fair than last year. Denmark sent ; hree times as many’ as in 1930, and i zecho-Slovakia twice as many. Near ;:nd Far East representation was up by 50 per cent., Arabia and Afghanistan being new countries in the list. Of the Latin-American States 16 were represented.* as compared with 12 in 1930. A Symptom. But the exceptional success of the British Industries Fair and the confidl ence felt by all who took part in it were only’ a symptom of the definite improvement which has taken place in business throughout England. While orders were being taken for •otton goods, the unemployment figures n Lancashire were already going down. I’hc rise in the price of cotton is a woof of returning confidence quite as significant as the taking on of more employees. Similar encouraging reports come from the woollen industry in Bradford. The Clyde is feeling the benefit of rhe giant new Cunarder being built at John Brown and Co.’s yard at Clydebank. This £6,000,000 liner will give direct employment to an additional 2000 men in the next six months. No small part of the return to confidence is due to reports of annual company meetings which have been published recently. Many of them show that British industry is reacting powerfully against its difficulties, and that the leadership is as resourceful and resolute as ever it was. The revival of British industry is being assisted by developments abroad, trade being dependent more than that ( af other nations upon international conditions. The number of unemployed in the w United States was estimated at 5,770, 000 in February, compared with 5,870,000 in January—the drop of 100,000 being at least an indication that the unemployment curve has begun to fall. The Argentine exchange is of growing importance to England, and is likely to be of still greater importance when the effects of the Prince of Wales’s visit to South America and of the British Empire Trade Exhibition at Buenos Aires begin to be felt. It is encouraging therefore that the Argentine dollar is quoted at 37 7.32 d, compared with only’ 33 13-32 d at one time this year. Already the fact that the tide has turned is having a stimulating effect on trade. With the assurance that prices are rising again it is only commonsense to buy now. Once the confidence becomes general the movement will be accelerated. Those who have been holding back orders, waiting for prices to fall further, will hasten to place them when they know prices have touched bottom and are rising. This will spread the revival further and further afield, so that by* tho eml of 1931 many of our financial and industrial troubles will be over come.