ANOTHER SLUMP.

Shannon News, 2 June 1925, Page 4

ANOTHER SLUMP.

MR JUSTICE FRAZER URGES CAUTION. FREE SPENDERS WILL FEEL THE PINCH, CHRISTCHURCH, Last Night. During a discussion in the Arbitration Court to-day, Mr. C. Renn (representing employees) touched upon the position on the boot trade, saying that if the duty on imported boots were removed, the money available would be sufficient to give a pension to every employee in the industry. Mr. Justice Fraser said he had heard that statement before, but he had never seen it working out. “We 'should go carefully at present, as we are getting perilously near what looks like the next slump,” his Honour continued. “A further drop in wool probably will mean that the margin between exports and imports will not be sufficient to pay interest on our outside indebtedness. That means we will have to go slow on imports.” Mr. Renn said in many cases the imports were luxuries. • Mr. Justice Fraser said probably some of them were Many people were making a serious mistake, for which they would suffer later on. The trouble was that while people who bought things they could not afford would suffer primarily, working people would suffer indirectly through less money being available and consequently a slackening in employment. The position showed how everybody was linked with everybody else. If on e section of the community was hit through its own folly, doubtless the effect rebounded on others. Mr. Renn said that another serious danger was that prices for wool had soared to fabulous heights, with the result that land on Banks Peninsula, for instance, which sold at £2 an acre, had riSen in price to £4O or £45 an acre. His Honour said it was unfortunate that people would speculate