New South Wales.

Hokitika Guardian, 26 August 1922, Page 1

New South Wales.

srirpprxG, trade, and industry AUCKLAND, Aug. 23 Some impressions of shipping mul general trade conditions in New South Wales are given l»y Mr G. H. Scales, Wellington, shipowner, who was a passenger from Sydney by the Moeraki. Shipping, Mr Seales said, did not exist. There was nothing doing. A large number of ships were tied np in Syd-

icv Harbour, among them being the E

R. Sterling, Mnheno, and the old Wakatipu. As for Newcastle it was empty. No coal was being mined, and no shipping business was being done. One of tlie finest coal connections in tlie world had been lost. Industries in New South Wales were up against the same problems as everywhere else. The cost of production was so great that- trade outside their own borders had become practically impossible. New mnnufacturies which had been started owing to imported goods not being available found themselves unable to compete now that imports were coining in freely. Newcastle was in a state of complete destitution. Referring to the stool trouble there, Mr Scales said that tlie manufacturers showed that unless they could get coal for from (is to 8s a ton cheaper and had a 48-hour week instead of a 44-hour week it was impossible for them to make up the difference of 3s a ton lie. tween the cost of making their own steel and the cost of British steel landed in Sydney. They claimed that with the improvements they sought there would be no profit, lint on the other hand a small loss. A capital of about 07,000,000 was involved, so that, apart from interest charges, the overhead expenses were very large, and it would he better to sell at a loss than to stop altogether. In the meantime no work was being done, and poverty reigned.

On tlie subject of exports from New Zealand to Australia, Mr Seales said the balance of trade Had been so much in favour of the Commonwealth that the rate of exchange had gone greatly against New Zealand. It used to he J per cent, and now it was 1 per cent, and constituted a considerable handicap to trade. As a result of the new tariff it was anticipated that the exports from the Dominion would increase substantially, and thus establish a more equalcondition of frnde. A distinct impetus should he given to the timber industry in both countries consequent upon the tariff alterations, and shipping would derive a benefit.