CLIMBING BACK

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 100, 30 April 1930, Page 18

CLIMBING BACK

GREAT BRITAIN'S TRADE

BALANCE ON RIGHT SIDE

(By Telegraph.) (Special to "The Evening Post.") DUNEDIN, This Day. That Great Britain was gradually climbing back to her pre-war supremacy was a contention elaborated by Mr. L. A. Paisli, British Trade Commissioner in New Zealand, in the course of an address before the Dunediu Chamber of Commerce yesterday. Mr. Paish said that one thing had impressed him since he had arrived in New Zealand —and he was sure it was a, wrong impression—and that was that New Zealanders seemed to think there was something wrong with the Old Country. The Old Country did not profess to be perfect, but she was not ou the down grade, and he would give them a few facts about the situation. Taking the imports and exports at Home, they would find that the Old Country was the biggest importing country in tho world, her imports amounting to £1,200,000,000 or £1,300,----000,000 worth of goods every year. Her exports amounted to something like £926,000,000 a year. That gave an unfavourable balanco of trade of £306,----000,000 a year. That looked a pretty bad proposition, but it was not as bad as it' looked, because Britain had an enormous invisible export trade, and it was the iuvisiblc export trade that really balanced the National Budget. Britain had enormous investments abroad, and she was one of the ,few nations in the wprld that knew how to run ships. The shipping industry brought in some £60,000,000 or £70,000,----000 a year, and generally speaking her invisible export trade was ono of the most profitable businesses she had. It brought in £517,000,000 a year, ' and that was about ten times the total export trade of New Zealand. If they took away the unfavourable balance of £360,000,000 from £517,000,000 they would find that Britain had -a balance on the right side of £151,000,000 a year. NEVT ZEALAND'S POSITION. When they' heard people saying that Britain was on'the down, grade,, he wanted them to remember that ' she was ono of tho few countries that had a favourable trade balanco of £151,----000,000 a year. He was rather astonished to hear soino New Zealanders talking about the decadence of the Old Country, for they in New Zealand could not show anything like such a favourable balanco of trade as the Old Country could. New Zealand's exports, continued Mr. Paish, amounted to some £50,000,----000 and her imports ,to about £48,000,000, which looked like a favourable balauco of about £7,000,000. But unfortunately New Zealand was in the position of having an unfavourable invisible iuiport trade, as she had to add something like £ 8,500,000 a year in interest and loan charges, and that brought the impart total to about £56,----500,000, Taking away th c £55,000,000 export trade, that left New Zealand £1,500,000 on Ihe wrong side. Mr. Paish wanted his hearers to rcaj Use that although Britain was a very i old country it had a favourable balance !of trade of £151,000,000. Yet New Zea- | land, a very young country, had an unfavourable balance. He did not I mean that as a criticism of New Zealand, because that was only one-half of 'the story, vbufc ho just wanted to show that tho Old Country was not iv so bad ■ a condition as her detractors would like ito think. •