FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20495, 14 March 1932, Page 12

FINANCE AND COMMERCE.

WAlfo OUT OF THE CRtSis. v.. [ '■'-->. ' A SELF-RELIANT DOMINION. ■; . • ■ ' ; EFFECT OF ECONOMIES. A reorientation of ■■ New Zealand's industrial outlook, with more : attention; to secondary industries, so that; "he country would not be dependent. ouj primary produce as a so't-off: to its importations.of manufactured, ar-j tides, was proposed by Mr- C. L. Hollo.; in his address on "The Way Out of ; the ; Slump" to the For New Zealand' Society! ~r. Saturday evening. Another view-; point was put forward by the second; speaker for the evening, Mr C." Mpr-: gan Williams, who maintainedi that, .is! the present condition of the world- was; the result of over-production, it was: unsound to attempt to, remedy that con-; dition by "economy" measures whictii would lessen consumption. "It is a grave indictment of our economic system when the" economists of the country tell us that we are compelled to suffer a reduction in our .standards of living," said Mr Eollo. '•Considering present world conditions and conditions in England, there is no alterntaive to that reduction, so that farming may be carried on profitably, for as our system is now organised the inability of the farmer to make profits is reflected in the suffering of the rest of the community. I suggest that we might transpose the system somewhat and not have all our economic eggs in the basket of primary production. Self-Reliance. "If there must be a reduction m standards of living, let us get it over expeditiously. But never again must it be necessary for New Zealand to become entangled in the economic works when they slip a cog. Let this be the last time that we have to go through the painful process of deflation. Whv should New Zealand sacrifice itself on the altar of primary production, raerelv so that it can provide cheap foodstuffs for the London market J "The time has arrived for New Zealand to give increasingly greater attention to a more diverse national production. When we consider that in the last 35 years, although 10,000 people have gone off the land, the production has nearly doubled, we see the futility of bemoaning the drift from the country to the town." Work had to be found for 50,000 men, who could not be employed by the farmers except at starvation wages. The development of industry offered the only avenue for the successful absorption of the unemployed. Unemployed and Industry. Mr Rollo suggested that by a change in our monetary system—for nnemploy- ■ roent was a monetary and not an industrial problem—the unemployed could be j.ut on profitable public and other works at wages that would increase •pending power. This would give a breathing space in which reconstruction, a planned economy, could be undertaken to prevent the recurrence of such troubles- in future. He was indicating action along the linos of secondary industry. "It does not matter what we have fo do to bring this about, even if we have to put a wall round the country. Whatever it is, let us do it if it will solve the problem. If we fail the country will not be irreparably harmed, for it - is young and virile. If goods can possibly be made here, let us make them. How else can we provide work? So far as England is concerned, I submit, with all due humility, that this country hai been too patriotic." Consumption and Economy. "If the report of the Economists Committee is' intended as.a cure for the present troubles, and not merely as an. attempt to distribute the burden and give temporary alleviation, it has a fatal defect," said Mr Morgan Williams. "It proposes that spending power should be reduced all round—not only through wages, but through interest and rents as well, and raising the cost of living by raising the exchange rate. By reducing expenditure this will reduce the consumption of- commodities. Now if the problem of the day was a scarcity of commodities the proposals would be all right, but. far from that, jjt is universally admitted that it . arises from the superabundance of commodities. So any reduction of spending power merely makes things worse." What was the good of • producing things when the world is already overloaded with those thinga? The suggestion that the world had been living beyond its means was entirely baseless. ' How was such- a thing possible when there had been such a piling up of goods! From 1920 to. 1929 the world had not been living .beyond its means, it had not been living up to them, and it was now living on its "stored up fat." Examples could be. found in the fact that this season not a,single Norwegian whaler was going to the Antarctic because there- were already ample supplies of oil, and that the Islands had eeased to export. Copra. Every farmer in New Zealand was now living on his reserves, on the improvements he had made in good times. Rationalisation of Industry. Economy—by which most people meant the absence of. spending—was not the remedy. Such a step might be the most thriftless thing in the world. How then could the problem be tackled! Over-production, which arose from the increased productiveness of labour in modern times, could be remedied, not "by reduced production, but by increased •pending power and 8 reduction of the hours of laUour. nationalisation of in- . dustry, in the form of a system of national trusts in which Government and private interests were combined, was the only possible way under a capitalist system. The whole weakness of the capitalist system .was that it depended on the production of surplus value, on withholding from the producers a large part ■ of the results of th'eix industry. If they did not get all they produced, they could not consume it, with the natural result that' the piling up of surplus value had its outcome in periodic slump times, during which that surplus was consumed. Planned Production. There wis no need for poverty or economy, because, during the, world war period, when millions of men were withdrawn from production, and .a large part of the remaining energy was occupied in the creation of materials that were immediately destroyed, the world proved'that' it was able to produce more than its normal requirements. m The real remedy lay in the'direction ■ ef a planned economy i« place,of the ■ pretest haphazard system of producing

goods in tbe expectation of a market—; a market that might, as at present,; cease to exist. 'lf New Zealand was; suddenly cut-off from the-rest .of the world "the people of the Dominion would certainly not starve, -though the financial system would "go smash," and 7o; per cent, of the farmers would find; themselves with nothing to do. Then, under compulsion, the country would reorganise,; and though for a time many: things would' have to be gone without,, stability would,"be reaehed. It was useful to. apply that example to. present' circumstances. ' The only hope'of reorganisation' was to start in 'time; and the trouble of ouv democratic system of government nvas that if took so long to .move,, : while the economic forces of the world waited-for no man. The only way ,was, to start.in good time and not wait, until, ■the final; breakdown came ' BRITISH TRADE. OFFICIAL RETURNS. (f SITED-' P?P.SS ASSOCIATION'■--B3T EI.ECTBIC TELEGRAPH— COP KRIGHT.) (Received March 13th, 0.5 p.m.) LONDON, March 11. '' 'JJhe. Board of Trade returns for Feb-! ruarv are as follows: — £ Imports increased by .. 6,j06,000 Exports decreased by •• 1,781,000 Principal Increases. Imports. Grain and Flour .. 2,126,000 Drink, non-dutiable .. 1,501,000 Drink, dutiable ~ •• 970,000 Oil Boe4s/ etc. ' • ..' • • ' 696,000 Non-ferrous metals and man- '. ufactnrbs thereof ... 59,4,000 Oils, fats, and. resins .. , 98,000 Principal Decreases. Imports. '" Meat - ■ 1. .- •• ' . 754,000 Cottons, yarns, and the manir- ' •' faciures-thereof .. : 576,000 Woollen manufactures .. 829,000 Apparel ' .'. '.: ' 864,000 Exports. Coal . .'... .. ?.29,000 Vehicles . .. .. \ 988,000 WORLD SUGAR PRODUCTION. DECREASE LAST YEAR. (VKIT£D PSESS' ASSOCIATION ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH— COPTBIOHT.) (Received March: 13th, 5.5 p.m;) LONDON, March 11. The International Institute of Agriculture, Rome, estimates tho cane sugar production for 1931-32 at 17,911,000 short tons, a decreaso of two per cent., on the;•previousyear. .... , - Beet sugar production; wasr 9,400,79$ short tons, a decrease of:..'-26"-per cent, j MOTORCAR SALES FOR LASId ■■'■■*■ ■ '■' PRODUCTS : Qp GREAT, BRITAIN. ' MAINTAIN LEAD. /'C ;. j The' record«. sales [* established by. British''cars in. January;ofthis year— '■ 58 the, total—^w.ere,' up' until | that month, Ja record'since registrations) were ; Jfept, accurately in this* Dominion.' In thp mbntit of 'February,; this record -was .\ again'.tjeatei, : the:increase being niore than > 10' per /cent; over January;" Of a'total of 371; ears sold, of a# - makes,, from' all; no fewer than••2s4,*or 68.464.:.p>r r cent,; were first,, second,,- ;g(s&s).,^^ , j»|x|h, ' seVenthi eighth, ninth' aria tenth'positions all filled by, carsvniade, 4 in .ore«t Britain' Lait' October; the/ -percentage of British cars > Bold on this market had reached •40 per cent.; in November it totalled per. cent., and" in Delcember( 47 per - «,ent.; Iri;- two months of 1932 -preference for cars has been'placed-beyiond donbt. WHEAT TRADING. CARGOES, PARCELS, AND FUTURES. (UNITED PRESS ' ASSOCIATION—BT ELECTRIC THWOBAPH—COPYBIfffIT;) . (Received March 13th, 5.5 ,p.m.) LONDON, March 11. Wheat—Cargoes opened firm owing to Winnipeg' advices that the demand would still advance because of the vagaries of sterling; ex Killoran 28s 3d; ex York City 27s 7id. Parcels are in, moderate, demand. Manitobas and Plates showed a quieter tone. Western Australian, May, 27s I<WL ■-, - . Futures are quoted as follows: . Per Quarter. , s. d. . London — . June .♦ ..26 li September . ... 26 o| Liverpool— Per Cental. March .. ~ 5 3J May .. .. 5 Si July .. .. 5 74 October .. .. 5 10i CHICAGO WHEAT. (Received March 13th, 5.5 p.m.) NEW YORK, March 11. Chicago wheat futures are quoted as follows: — Per Bushel. Cents. March. .. i. '571 May .. ... 60* JHily .. .. 62| September .. ... 64$ New York, cash 70* cents.