THE WORLD’S TRADE.

Taihape Daily Times, 25 August 1919, Page 2

THE WORLD’S TRADE.

EUROPEAN NATIONS’ RELA'l‘IV];‘ POSITIONS. NEW ZEALAND’S Ol’l’Oß'l‘LTNl'l‘Y. Regarding trade conditions in Eng- “ land, Mr J_ B. Clarkson, who is at. pm. sent on a visit to Wungariui, says that Owing-to the increase in wages the cost of manufactured articles had risen enornlously_. and if we were going to support British manufacturers we must be prepared to: pay more tor their goods. ‘Unfortunately, owing to the effects of the war, the people Wciie still Suifering from ..Ir-ervoius lstraiiq, and had not settled down, )6.1-.11:.=.».-g the labour probleni an exceedingly dilii‘ cult one. The manufacturers were not uonly getting a small output as yet; the price of goods \\‘a:s high, owing to the enormous domestic demand, and the tremendous amount of money in circulation as a result oi the we". Italy was in a very serious position from the manufacturing point of view. Wages had ’[l'eb]9d_ Coal, which in pre-war times was bought in England at 11 ‘reasonable price, néw was obtained from America atia. much higher price, the coal itself being much inferior. l France was in a much better position, i the soldiers who, in pre-war times had been paid low wages, being anxious to get back to work while wages were high. France was likely to get back to normal much quicker than other continental countries, with the exception of Germany. America’s industrial position resembled that of B'rit«a.in in many respects, although wages had advanced trcuiezrdously, the cost'of living had t1(lfUlC(‘(_l so much that workers were not much better OE. New Zealand, said Mr Clarkson, should take immediate steps to place its produce on the American and European markets by the appointment of trade commissioners in, say, Paris and New York, with assistants in ‘Other principal towns. To take our proper place in the Continental and American markets We slinuld be getting nearly 100 per cent more than we are getting. To—day, if we were getting proper prices, our meat would be equalisingi 11d per~lb, instead of 55d, and our butter 2/. What was wanted was salesmen with suffieient energy to sell our produce-pm-ticularly lamb, butter, and cheeseand would take as much as we could send if it was only put in front of them. I