BRITISH TRADE BOOM.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4381, 22 February 1922, Page 2

BRITISH TRADE BOOM.

: —O —• OPTIMISTIC VIEW OF 1922, Mr k. B. Gowan, managing director of the Palmer Shipbuilding Company, at takes an optimistic view of 1922 in a recent article published in the Newcastle “Daily Chronicle.” “Trade being interdependent, the prosperity of one branch reacts favourably upon others,” he says, “and as our export trade generally is steadily increasing we may reasonably expect to see this reflected in greater shipping activity, absorbing slowly, but surely, the tonnage now lying idle in our ports. This must sooner or later bring about a recovery in shipbuilding and allied industries. Much of the tonnage at present Sus'-! pended or delayed will be proceeded with to meet owners’ requirements, which will mean more prosperous times for shipbuilders, even though—which is Improbable—fresh orders are not placed. “It can be said with confidence that the financial position of dur country Is intrinsically sound, and, despite the great burden of debt] we carry, our credit remains good ; and credit means much in promoting trade. It is certain that if we keep our heads, and all classes pull together, we shall see this present depression pass away more rapidly than many people think, and we will enter upon a period of prosperity as great as any we have enjoyed in the past.”