The Daily News. FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 1915. BRITAIN'S REMARKABLE INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 240, 19 March 1915, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 1915. BRITAIN'S REMARKABLE INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY.

One of the most notable features of the national life of the Empire at this time of war is the remarkable confidence of it» business men, all the more striking because instead of trade activity there was expected a trade convulsion and commercial disaster, so that for once the prophets of woo were out in their reckoning—not as to the arrival of a trade convulsion, for that has taken place on a scale that the mind of the world lias hitherto never conceived, but as to its elleet. Between five and six millions of mercantile shipping have been swept from tlie seas, and trade to the annval value of at least £500,000,000 has automatically ceased between the countries at war, and yet everywhere in the United Kingdom as well as in the overseas Dominions there is tremendous activity. "Our enemies taunt us with having engineered a 'trade war,'" says the Manchester Guardian, "but it is sufficient answer to say that on the day war wadeclared by Britain nine-tenths of her traders believed themselves to be fftc-d with irreparable disaster. There bus. | however, been no economic disaster, mildoes it appear at all likely that there will be any during the war. As to wlnit may happen niter {he war, no one e,ia tell, but, at the Worst, it can only he depression, differing perhaps in intensity IVoni pnwious one--., but, at least sofleaed by our present comparative imitiuiiily. Moreover, the very fact of ia,lietrial and ci'inineivial condition- licing so buoyant during the time of stress will materially lighten.any depression should it set. ill aft ■ r hostilities cease. S(, i !i:i.t confidence in the future is well justified.' 1 If v.e compare the 1 "nit. .1 Sfales of America with the United Kingdom. :h.> re-lilt of till' war so far is exaetlv lie-oppo-itc of what was generalh- -i(iii.-i----thai the I'liiied Mates, being at |oce. whiM all its meat competitors wore u'-|

I in.-- all their resour. e- in (he ,;:roatc : ■ iconic ilejav- -ion in 1 he li'-!!i;e r nf. con, I f ri-s. So strung was tii- fear (hat Bni j ai:: v.ould suller t-e'.erep,- that pmvo for nil! ions 1 relief. i:„i a,-,,,,-,] li'V- of i he newsp:.p. rs have -;,ow f hat I lie e'cnno'idc fovoia-!. i]i,. (■-. j countries (hat has b'-en aii'li.-S-d v.-1; the Brili-h Tde: !i ■ h-> ! ■ •'■ O: !'■! I was M-I'.ii,.;- ~,,, I '!> '• auric. for (.he rnonth of | ! I'-r ••!.< v. .1 thai the imeoiis for (!,, i yen: 1 amounted to nearly seven huie.livi c whil" won ,t;t! h (.!■!',*, l raclc in 101". ft n.'sulf, h not only intensely -miti-

fyiiig, but it afTorda evidonce that Britain can stand tho Btrain of war as no other nation in Europe could ever hope to do. Contrast this with what lias happened to Germany. Her shipyards closed, her harbors practically idle, her sirps driven from the seas, sheltered in ports, internei or captured. Germany had 2090 vessels, of which she has lon 1221. Meanwhile British shipbuilders and marine engineers are busier than they have ever been in times of peace, ami the prices obtained are extremely high. The war has completely revolutionised trade conditions, and converted a period of anticipated depression into one of unparalleled activity, so much so that the workers have taken advantage of the opportunity to demand higher wages, and this element of trouble is the only drawback to the situation, but it is to be hoped that common sense and patriotism will save the much dreaded strike at a time when it is so imperative that tho output should be the very greatest possible. In Sheffield the makers of armor, guns, projectiles, and cutlery are working niglit and day not only for tho War Office and Almiralty, hut for the Russian Government. In other trades, such as the woollen, worsted, hosiery, leather, boots and shoes, and wholesale clothing similar activity is evident so that unemployment is reduced almost to zero. Moreover, manufacturers are entering into new branches of industry so as to supply the goods heretofore made in Germany and imported into Britain. The industrial position is one that should be viewed with much satisfaction both as to the present and the future, and it a right course is taken by the workers they will lay tho foundation for permanent betterment for themselves and a large expansion of trade in the future.