BUSINESS DEPRESSION.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4438, 10 July 1922, Page 4

BUSINESS DEPRESSION.

BETTER TIMES AHEAD. SIR ARTHUR WORLEY’S VIEWS. Amongst those who have been staying at Wellington during the past week or two are Sir Arthur Worley, C.B.S, and Ihis daughter, Miss Worley, bath from England, who arrived on the Niagara from the United States quite recently. Sir Arthur Worley, who was knighted for his war services in connection with t'he Ministry for Munitions, is the general manager of the North British and Mercantile Insurance Company, and he is at present making’a business tour of; the principal offices and agencies of. his company. From here Sir Arthur and his daughter arc proceeding to Sydney, returning to England by way of Panama Canal, as soon as their engagements in Australia shall have been completed. The matter which, primarily, is> responsible for Sir Arthur's present visit to Australasia is the purchase by his company of. the chief interest in the insurance corporation known as the Insurance Office of Australia, which Sir Arthur hopes to develop in connection with colonial policies and methods suitable to the tastes and proclivities of local business and possibilities. “Rosy” Ti,in.es Gone. Insurance companies, all of them, said Sir Arthur, have |had fairly rosy times during the past few years ; but those times had now gone, and the insurance world to-day was undergoing a considerable reaction —he might almost call it a reverse. The reasons

for this were several. Bad trade conditions were, to a great extent, responsible for their present lack of business, and the reports of practically al! 'the British insurance companies would furnish very depressing reading at the present time. As an example of this slate of. affairs, Sir Arthur referred to the extremely unprofitable nature of pre-sent-day marine insurance, t'he condition of which branch of business was causing much depression and conce: n in ,the city of London, especially in connection with, the matte;.’ of reinsurance companies Several of these., he said, lhad recently failed; but, since most of. the lines were, in the aggregate, fairly safe, Sir Arthur did not apprehend that the stability of any of the larger British companies would be affected to any material extent. However, continued Sir. Arthur, bad as trade conditions were in the British Isles at the time he left there, he had received certain advices since wlhich inclined him to think they were by way of improving. Cotton quotation's were better, the tin-plate industry was on' the mend, and the Bradford wool market h.ad a very much healthier look of late. New Zealand’s Credit High. Referring to the Dominion, Sir Arthur stated (hat New Zealand's credit ranked very high in the city of London ; higher, he declared, than that of. any other Crown colony. That, he continued, was entirely due to the confidence felt by t.he British investors in the Dominion’s Government policy; and there was, besides, nothe least doubt as to .the great productive possibilities existent over.

here. Sir Arthur paid a handsome tribute to the .Dominion generally, and to Wellington in particular, where the developments which hai occurred since his visits in 1909 anil 1915 have struck him very forcibly.' When the N.Z. Times representative called, on Sir Arthur Worley he found him a very busy man, much rushed, and with only a little time at his disposal. He was going, he sail, to have lunch with Mr, Dalton, the British Trade Commissioner, and with the Hon. Mr. Dpwnie Stewart. Sir Arthur paid a. tribute also to the State insurance business in the Dominion, which, he said, was managed excellently, and was conducted with harmonious relations as regards other insurance businesses. So tar as 'her State insurance system extended, Sir Arthur thought. New Zealand appeared to be very successful. Improvitfiiient Looked For. During tlie war, said the general manager, insurance business, for the most part, had been quite profitable ; but since then Were had been a bad reaction. He was afraid the present year was not going to turn out any bettor than last year, when premium? came down, losses increased, and expenses became heavier, to a large extent. Like all the rest of the world, however; Sir Arthur smilingly asserted, he was inclined to look ahead for an improvement, not only in his own particular lines, but. in trade conditions generally.