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Hokitika Guardian, 29 March 1921, Page 2

It says something for the general prosperity of the district, that our prospering shop-keepers can close their promises for four or five days on end over the second most important holiday period of the year. We are wondering whether it is a sign of the times, or a phrase of the change created by the war period. This year will probably test whether it is a sign of the good times, for the lean months to come might have a more deciding effect on the eagerness to do business twelve months hence, than do the easier conditions to-dav. The prosperous air the district wears in regard to matters at present, hears out tho opinion expressed as to the general solvency of the district. It is said with a good deal of authority that there is far more money in the banks to credit than there is in the way of hanking accommodation; also that per capita of population (and omitting large monetary institutions), the district has done its plain duty by the war loans very thoroughly. Certain it is that the trials of the bank balance period have lost their importance in this quarter, and that the tradespeople generally are able to meet their business obligations with readiness' and despatch. This degree oi affluence is very satisfactory, and is the best evidence of the general prospering 1 conditions which have marked the course of events of late. It is an asset for the immediate future. The stringent times which are ahead should not prove as acute here as in many other places. The production going on here is in lines which cannot fall unduly and the main industry of employment—sawmilling—should not he seriously curtailed. The decline in timber prices apart from white pine, should not he very marked, nor long sustained ; it is only a, cessation of building operations which cannot affect the market, and if the prohibition on building operations is removed, as soon it must be to meet the demands -for employment, the timber trade wjj| find itself very busy

again. The general prospects ahead arc such that here we will feel, probably least of ali, the stringency and effects of the slump, which is rather threatening the Dominion at present. This good fortune will be helpful for the development of the Coast, for it will mean that enterprise will not he dulled, but will carry-on buoyantly. No doubt the approaching months will see a fall in wages. The drop in commodities will have their effect in that respect, and as labour becomes more plentiful, competition will enter into the industrial world, and the conditions will move towards those of prewar times. They were much more stable than the late period Tins been. Hut whether it will lie possible quickly to return to the more pleasant and better ordered days of the past, remain to bo seen. Suffice* it to remark that the district is fairly well equipped financially and industrially for the changing order of things, and will he able to regard the future with a good deal of security in its own ability to carry on successfully' and pull through satisfactorily.