The Times. Published on Tuesday and Friday Afternoons. FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1922. BETTER TIMES COMING

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 736, 2 June 1922, Page 6

The Times. Published on Tuesday and Friday Afternoons.

FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1922. BETTER TIMES COMING

i “We nothing extenuate, nor aught set down in malice.”

Things are 'ooking up. There is a better “feel” about. The steady rise in wool is making (itself felt in town as well as country. We have still the worst of the winter to face, but there is reason to hope that it is not going to prove anything like such a hard winter as we feared a little while back. Cable news f;om London is decidedly heartening. It told of increasing signs of the coming of a trade revival, of the prevalence of cheaper money increased shipping activity, more lively speculative enterprise in stocks and commodities and encouraging market reports from worldwide trading centres. Ever Since 1914 the Mother Country has been up to the neck in a sea of tempestuous troubles and difficulties. But her people have borne the trials of the war and the ups and downs of its aftermath with wonderful patience and fortitude. They were, like their kindred overseas lifted up to the heights ii. the “boom” which followed the Armistice, and they have been cast down to the depths by the “slump.” They have never faltered and nevdr despaired, and now happily, they are being cheered and encouraged by the faint gleams of returning prosperity. As Lovat Fraser remarked more than a month agb, the real marvel is that things have been no worse in that stable old Homeland of ours. Only a year ago men ‘and women were whispering to each other of the possibilities of revolution. The “Reds” were pervading the land and stealthily spreading vague menaces and incitement. They have been utterly routed and British common sense prevailed. Britain is returning to hard work wherever work can be had_ and at any rate for some among the workless thousands fresh jobs are said .to be daily coming into sight. It was on .the 16th of April Mr Lovat Fraser wrote his Easter thanksgiving :

When I go to the war zone in Belgium and France and look upon bright villages rising amid the shell holes, and green corn beside the battlefield ; I sometimes ask myself whether what happened was a sword thrust at the world’s heart or only something resembling a pin scratch on a billiard table. It was of course, ■in reality a tremendous shock under which half the world reeled but Right triumphed and stability is returning. The things we dreaded are not happening. I think it was Lord Milner who said in the last year of the war theft he felt certain of eventaul victory, but he feared that the collapse of International' credit and of international exchanges might bring down civilisation with a crash. Those were ndt the precise words used but I believe they represent the meaning in plied All thoughtful men shared these fears, and rightly. They expected when credit went down there would be “ a universal social collapse ” such as was prophesied by Mr H. G. Wells in one of his admirable romances, Well, as Lord Milner and the ‘rest of us feared international credit has gone down, but not entirely. The exchanges have ragged but with most countries they still operate. The world gets along somehow. The risks remain but they are lessening. We have got to find a cure but I think it will be found afteir much groping in the dark. It i ! s undeniable that international trade is not so lifeless as lit was a year ago. We have touched roCk-bottom and are rising again. That was written and published six weeks ago > for the avowed purpose of stressing what Mr Fraser described as the almost universal conviction thrk better times are coming and that they were probably not far off.” “Our nation/ be declared, “is regaining its old poise. Trade •disputes arc less violent,, though still v) re valent. Most both in London and the provinces, report that they are doing more business. The V on and, steel trade is expanding. After long den?essioip the Loncad ire cotton trade is reviving. The wool trade is reducing its su ’plus stock's and is getting - in.o iliapr main. Cobiers;, hosiers and bootmakers wholesale and re tail r.re more cheerful with good leustu.

There is actually a mild boom in the motor car ‘industry _ and though people wonder where the money comes from to buy cars. I fancy there is still more money in the country than is sometimes supposed.” And now, on top of our own improving wool safes, there comes this good news from London: So let us keep on keeping on. The worst of the year will soon be over. Spifng, rich in sunshine and is coming again. Trade is looking up ! Things are better than they were and there are still better .times ahead.