WELLINGTON NOTES.

Hokitika Guardian, 26 April 1924, Page 1

WELLINGTON NOTES.

EXPORTS AND IMPORTS.

(Special to “Guardian”.)

WELLINGTON, April 22.

The trade of New Zealand was referred to by the Prime Minister at the Diamond Jubilee festivities of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce. The exports for the financial year ciidwl March 31st, were valued at £51,614,918, as compared with £45,548,700 in the previous year, an increase of £6,066,218, and tho imports for the year wore valued at £44,376,156, compared with £36,975,583, an increase of £7,400,573. The exports increased by 13i per cent and the imports by over 20 per cent. In the year just ended the exports exceeded the imports by £7,233,762, while in the previous year the' excess was £8,573,117, so that we really did better in the financial year ended March 1923 than we did in the year just closed. It is to be feared that the export figures for tho past year must lie' discounted to some' extent, for a fair amount of butter, cheese and fii.zen meat is exported on consignment, and it. is doubtful whether the consignment, values set down in the export returns are being realised. For instance, butter, cheese and meat shipped in February and March is not realising tip prices anticipated, nor did the earlier shipments. THE BALANCE OF TRADE.

Being a debtor country, it is essential for New Zealand to have an excess of exports over imports,, and our indebteiidiiess is. increasing. We have to pay a very large sum in interest on Government loans and loans raised by local bodies in Australia, and London. Then we have to pay for freight, for insurance, and for a variety of other tilings, and tho total of these amounts must now aggregate to about £7,000,000 annually, and any sum in excess of that becomes available for investment locally, or for improvements ot one kind and another. The financial year, however, is not tho most suitable period for dealing with the trade of the country, because all tho available produce does not got away by the end of March, nor for some months later. The year ending. September 30th is the best period for this. It may be said that tho business people hero are gratified at tho volume of Hio exports. The increase was largely due to the higher prices obtained lor wool, fn the two months, January and February, the value of tho w<o! exported was £5,052,293, as compared with £2,386,185 in the corresponding two months of lust year, an in.-.ease of £2,666,108, or in other words the value of the wool exported during too first two months of this year was more than double the value of the wool shipped in the corresponding two months of last vear.

TOUR fSTS AND THE EXHIBITION. The President of the "Wellington Chamber of Commerce estimates that hettveen 10,000 ami 20,000 people will he leaving New Zealand for the purpose of visiting the British Empire Exhibition. and lie estimates' their expenditure at £SOO each, which he regards as a moderate estimate. Taking the number at Co,ooo, this tourist traffic will cost 07,500,000 and, to some, extent, the hanks will welcome this, for it will mean making (ha exchange problem a little easier. Those going to London will imluaradv take letters of credit. They will deposit tlie money with the hankers here and get credits in London, and thus tlie hanks will lie aide to secure £7,500,0ii0 here and got rid of a similar amount in London, quite a simple way of transferring credit. The President, however, used this as a peg for direeling attention to the need for luting steps to attract tourists to N?.v Zealand, and in that he is quite r'ghc. In the United States there is an unlimited supply of, tourists, liuL tii-v’ need a lot of information, and a lot of convincing reasons to induce them to visit this country; it would! he well worth the trouble aUemlihg to thrurequirements. THE RAILWAY DISPUTE. Naturally the railway dispute >s .he topic of conversation everywhere m Wellington. Will there he a strike? is what everyone has been asking ior days, and now they know. The men come in for a good deal ot sympathy because £3 10s Khl per week is not a living wage, at least, not in Wellington. Tlieie is not, so much said regarding the hours of work except aiming unionists, who see the thin end of the wedge of a universal US-hour week. Both parties have been indulging in publicity, at least so it is believed, hut the Government advertisements are resented because of tlie want of candour. Apparently the Government is afraid to admit that the Railway Department is responsible for the expensive advertisements. A question that is being asked is why does the Government object to meeting the demands of the railway men, when it did not lic-titate to impose a bread-tax in order to give fi.ooo wheat growers in the south and the miller a handsome subsidy of £500,000 a year for two or three years in sueession .*