ENGLAND’S SOUND HEART

Hokitika Guardian, 13 August 1927, Page 4

ENGLAND’S SOUND HEART

STILL V .10 Oil OILS AM) HEALTHY. " Wo limy take it lliiit England is as vigorous ami sound at heart. to-day as over she was,” said lYufessor G. \S . Daniels, Dean of the Fatuity of Commerce and Administration, ami Stanley devoirs, Prolessor of Economics at the .Manchester University, who arrived in Auckland hy the Purr Hunter from

Liverpool. The professor added : “Ally ot those who are obsessed with the idea that England is finished tile, on the wrong lines.” i ont.iimiiig, he said that .Manchester was undoubtedly suffering from industrial competition aboard and that the war had given factories overseas the opportunity to push ahead. They had made fui'l use of that opportunity and

.Manchester had suffered a decline in exports from which she had not yet recovered. It was still, however, ttie world's cotton manufacturing centre. In DILI its exports were 7.075,000.000 yards of cotton. The characteristic tiling about trade was its large proportion of exports. From 70 to SO per cent went Lo the countries of the Far Fast, mainly India.

STEADY RELATIONS NEEDED. '■ The prosperity of the industry depended upon the maintenance of steady relations throughout the econ- 1 oinie world.” Professor Daniels said. “ The war dislocated the trade. Exports between 1014 and 1018 would he only about 50 per cent annually of what they were in 1011 b” He explained that the price boom of.-102ft did not raise the output of the industry above 04 per cent of its pre-war volume. Then there came a .slump in 1921 and 1022. Since that time the exports appeared to have .settled at about GO per cent of the 1011! amount and a great deal of the decline could he attributed to India’s development of her home industries. The disturbances in China, too. bad upset the markets. Regarding the trade with ihe Keltgoverning Dominions, Professor Daniels said that the pre-war demand for cotton had been very well maintained, but* the total did not loom very large in

the whole of Manchester’s exports. He explained that the cotton industry was divided roughly into three branches. The first was that of spinning. The spinners of American cotton had suffered heavily by the slump. The second branch was that cl weaving or manufacturing, and the third was that of finishing or printing, dyeing and bleaching. The second and third had not been affected to the extent of the first, but the slump had re-acted to some extent upon them. AMERICAN AND EGYPTIAN. Another division of the industry was between the American and Egyptian sections. The American section was concerned with the manufacture of coarse and medium cottons and the Egyptian section with tlio.se of the finest qualities. In the American section sime 1922 the workers had been on short time, ami in .June when the Professor lelt England, the position was practically unchanged. The -Manchester worker is n singularly optimistic person, like ihe average Lancashire man.” said Professor Daniels, "and has a tenacity of purpose. 1 ioel confident that he is justified in believing that the cotton industry will regain its former position. The cotton goods from Manchester reach practically every market on the taj’e ot the earth, and the present movement of concentrating upon the finer qualities should continue so that the industry will gradually specialise in them. That is a desirable movement as it means that more highly skilled workers will be required, and j also more elaborate machinerv.” j DEMAND FOE SUBSTITUTE. j At the present time the American-

l I section was about two-thirds of the industry. From {lie Egyptian sections the finest goods are sent to European countries and to the self-governing Dominions, including Xew Zealand, as well as to the Home market. This demand had not been affected to tiie

same extent as that for the coarser by recent economic changes. Tt appeared that tile purchasing power in the Far Eastern countries had lagged somewhat behind the rise in prices and the people had been compelled to make use of cheaper substitutes. These were being produced in increasing quantities by factories close to their markets. C oncluding. Professor Daniels said that he was at present on a tour round

the world and hoped to spend a short time in Xew Zealand and also in Australia. He Imped to he hack in Manchester to resume his work at the beginning of the Now Year.