OUR TRADE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 284, 23 April 1913, Page 8

OUR TRADE.

WELLINGTON CHAMBER OF COM- < MERCE. AN INTERESTING ADDRESS. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright. Wellington. Tuesday. Speaking at the annual meeting of the Chamber of Commerce to-day, the Presig dent, referring to the tiade outlook, said money stringency was all that New Zealand had to fear and commercial men ! Wire necessarily acting with caution un- ■ til the position became more settled. Fortunately there was some indication J that an improvement had set in, for the i Bank of England had reduced the rate of interest last week, and if'the political 1 outlook improved .no doubt the rate t would be brought down another half . per cpnt .presently, j He quoted figures showing the favs ourable progress made in New Zealand r produce. If the present prices were y maintained he said it was safe to say that New Zealand exports, to Septem--1 ber 30 next, bade fair to exceed last J year's total by something over £1,000,000 or £1,250,000. The increase was a ' large one and would bring the year up i 'to the level of the best previous years 1909-1910. The price of wool had ad- • vanced the value of the season's clip by , about £1,000,000. Wellington lvad be- , come the leading selling centre in New : Zealand. For the first time dairy produce had now passed the three million , mark in exports and was running close • to frozen meat for second place on the ' , list. I To sum up, the position of export lines , was satisfactory, but it would have been , more satisfactory if the increases had been quantity increases, as the former were the result of increased productive- I ness and might be considered permanent; the latter were subject to market fluctu- I ations. « The fire loss rate in New Zealand was referred to by the president, who said the losses had amounted to £4,500,000 in the past eight years. The amount per head last year was 12s Id, which was about the world's record, against 10s 2d ! for the United States ami Is 4d for ' Europe. Wooden buildings must be largely responsible for the heavy loss, but many of the fires occurred in the best risks and blocks. Overinsurance or full insurance might be a contributory cause, and was one that was to a ' certain extent in the hands of compan- I ' ies to remedy, though insurance was I largely a matter of good faith on tliei part of the assured and the insurance • companies could not always be blamed in cases of overinsurance. The moral hazard in New Zealand, he added, mav | not be low but the inducements to carelessness should be avoided. The direct monetary loss to the Dominion was now so severe that it behoved all interested to find a remedy. The most practicable one appeared to be the compulsory holding of an inquiry after every fire. ■ Wellington, Last, Night. M:. Mabin. Chairman of the Welling ton Chamber of Commerce, in his annual address, stated that for months past the money market had been stead- ; ily tending upwards, and various reasons were assigned for the movement, ' the most potent being the huge expendi- , ture of the nations upon defence, in- ' creasing the scarcity of gold. Owing to , the flow of that metal to Egypt and India, where it was hoarded, and the j demands due to higher prices and increased trade generally money was dear [ and promised to continue so. Dealing ; with produce, he regretted the falling off in the quality of hemp. According ! to the grading returns G.F.A. 2 Grade r seemed to be getting less and less. Many J millers, especially in the Manawatu dis- ' trict, blamed the blight for the low qual- ' ity of the fibre. lie advised the mil--1 lers to keep up the quality, as it payed. 1 The exports of frozen meat showed a 5 considerable shortage, owing to the ces--1 sation of work by the slaughtermen. ® Those, with fair weather, might be • partly recovered during the remainder of the season. Referring to new markets j for New Zealand products, Air. Mabin ' said that whilst they were getting good f prices for their exports they ought not. to neglect their opportunities to widen . their markets. They had been too con- * =ervative in using London as the chief distributing centre. There were other large ports, serving vast populations, in which the products of New Zealand were little known. They would welcome a 2 line of vessels to Japan and the East, as it would provide another outlet for wool and meat, which is now obtained from Australia. With regard to New Zealand and the Panama Canal, be asked: "What effect is the opening of this great highway to have upon our trade? Taking Great Britain as_i.be centre of the world's commerce as it is we stand just in the position where it is difficult to decide, except by experience, which route will prevail. The dis- ' tnnce homewards will be lessened by some 000 miles, and 1900 outwards, but Ibis mav be counter-balanced from a ship's point of view by the Canal du<s. which on one of our liners would amount > Ho £2500. and possible delays in tnnsit through the Canal and the disadvantages of nolntermediatc trading. The absence of anv suitable coaling station at present 1 :\vill also involve the carrying of corVo the exclusion of cargo. / 'fc