Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1920. TRADING CONDITIONS.

Hokitika Guardian, 1 December 1920, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1920. TRADING CONDITIONS.

Trading* conditions so far as the cost of I living prospects are concerned are not J promising of a very substantial reduction in prices. Looking to trade matters in America and Britain, whence so much of our importations come, prices do not show a special tendency to slump. Now and again there is a temporary fall in some lines, but this is more local than general. If we are expecting these outside markets to affect Dominion prices there is not much hope of relief in sight. But there is a possibility of internal action forcing down prices as the financial issue becomes more acute. The money for the latest loan is not coining forward as rapidly as hoped for despite the threat of compulsion. The fact is that the de-_ predation in our primary products, particularly wool and meats, is going to cause the inflow of money to be curtailed, and this restriction will have its tightening effect on trade. What extent that will have on prices remains to be seen, but it is conceivable that with pressure on traders, they must sooner or later unload their stocks, and if that oomes to pass, business in any volume can be done only at reduced prices. It will b© a g°°fl thing all round for producers and cpnsumers alike when prices drop. Many consumers have elected to do without goods, and this is not good for the manufacturer. With less money in circulation following the falling off of wool and meat prices abroad this compulsion of “doing without” will grow, and the manufacturer, and in turn the producer will be hit more and more. The “doing without” will create a depression in trade and before the recovery is possible ther.e will be a lull. It remains to be seen how trade and industry adjust themselves to the situation. The reminder to the Government of the tightness of the money market is timely if it will check the expensive form of administration which is going on. Whether it can check also the borrowing proclivities of the Government to carry on as comfortable as possible for the present, remains to be seen. Apparently so long as the burden of debt can be passed on, it is sufficient that the future should take care of itself. But the immediate future will have so many calls in the way of loan redemptions and providing moneys for public works and departmental expansions, that the Government must raise more money as the months go by. This mopey will be dearer, so that the hope of reducing the. taxation unless economies are introduced In other directions, is not promising. Also, there is a limitation in production of many commodities urgently required to assist in general production. This limit keeps up prices, and the high prices calls for a higher living wage and groater profit to the manufacturer, and so the cost to the consumer keeps up. These factors all count against any sweeping reductions in prices, which except temporarily and for special lines only, are not likely to show any material decline. 'Th© conditions call for forethought and judgment in all phases of administration, if the future is not to become too stringent altogether.