The Daily News TUESDAY, AUGUST 10. BRITAIN'S WEALTH ABROAD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 169, 10 August 1909, Page 2

The Daily News TUESDAY, AUGUST 10. BRITAIN'S WEALTH ABROAD.

Mr. George l'aish, one of the editors of. the Statist, speaking to the Koy-.1l Statistical Society ia June, said that he estimated the amount of money which the British people had placed in other countries at £2,700,000,000, which obtained 0.2 per cent, return. Further, lie estimated Unit new capital to the extent of seven hundred millions sterling, Of an average of ahout one hundred millions a year, will have been placed abroad by Jlrituin in the years between 11)05 and 11)11. The Commissioners of Inland Revenue, recognising the importance of the great annual income yielded to Britain by her investments abroad, have set out in detail the amount of income derived from certain of these capital investments, but as their statement was far from comprehensive, Mr. l'aish undertook the task of endeam Ing to give a more complete accoum. The Commissioners gave particulars of the income w.hich British investors drew from their holdings in Government bonds —lndian, £8,708,237; colonial, £13,033,722; foreign, £8,338,124; being a total of £31,040,083. The income from this source has rapidly expanded in recent years in consequence mainly of new loans to the dominions and to Japan. In addition to the income derived from these three sources, the Commissioners also set out the income received from Indian, colonial and various foreign Securities, £10,017,000; coupons £13,707,000; railways' out of the Linitec Kingdom, £18,730,000—a total of £4B, C21,U00, which, with that received fron Government loans, amounted to £B2, 777,000. ihe income which the Com iiiissioners earmarked as coming fron abroad was that rcceivitl from Indian I colonial and foreign Government stock:-

municipal securities am! .aihvays, and the great additional income the country derived from its investment iu a vast nuniber of miscellaneous undertakings of all kinds was excluded. It is impossible, Mr. I'aish pointed out, for anyone to ascertain the income from the capital that merchants, manufacturers and others have privately placed abroad. He had, however, ascertained the in- ] come of 2172 of these miscellaneous companies of which the capital had been supplied by British investors, and found that its income amounted io no less than £58,000,000, obtained as follows:—'Breweries and distilleries, £732, 000, an insigniticanC sum having regard to the amount of capital invested; canals and docks, £1.174,000; commercial and industrial companies, £5,000,000; electric lighting and power companies, £321,000; financial, land and investment companies', £0,000,000 (two-thirds from the dominions and one-third from foreign countries); gll s companies, £1,200.000; colliery and iron ore undertakings. £50(1.000; various mining en-lerpri-cs, £211.(1(111,0(111; nitrate coin-

P'.nic. Cl.til 111,011(1; oil companies, .C'lili.nnO; rulilier companies. .C44(1.0(10; tea ami collcc plantations, .CI,7(14.000; table companies and telephone companic... £2.000,000; tramways, £1,800,000: and waterworks, c 400.000. Thus ; f the Commissioners were to bring together all the income of companies trading abroad and distributing interest and prolils at Home, the total would be about C 140.000.000. This great sum docs not include the interest upon money deposited in Indian, colonial and foreign banks by persons resident in England, nor the large amount of income derived from capital privately placed abroad. This huge income, it is estinmleil. is derived from the investment of capital totalling no Was than £1700.0110.000. Of Uiat sum. nearly £1,70(1.000.000 lias been expended o';> railway construction. Mr. I'aish directed attention'-to what he called the ;inmeii.-c advantages to Britain of the investments in other lands. The investments in the last sixty years of about JC2,500,000,000 of Jirili.s'h capital had occurred (oojultaneously with an immense growth of trade and prosperity, and, in his opinion, this growth of trade end prosperity was largely the result of the investment of British capital in other countries, fly building railways for (lie world, and especially for tile voting countries, (Ireal Britain had enabled ¥ the world l» increase its production of wealth at a rate, never previously witnessed, and to produce those thing* which the .Mother Country wan •specially desirous of pure-having—food-stuffs and raw material. .Moreover, by r.tejslim; other countries to increase their output of commodities they were specially lilted to prod,;.;. Ivilish investors' had helped tiiwu countries to .-ecure the means of purchasing the goods that tlreat Britain luamilai-1 tured.