NEW ZEALAND TO-DAY.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 January 1920, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND TO-DAY.

MORE PROSPEROUS THAN OTHER COUNTRIES.

"New Zealand is more prosperous than any other country I have seen," aaid a Christchurch business man to a Christchurch Press reporter, summing up his observations after an extensive tour through Britain and America. "My experience at Home led me to the conclusion that the people are still war-weary. Business men are not yet displaying the initiative that must accompany a true expansion of trade, and for that there are three or four reasons. The most important is heavy taxation on profits from the first year of the war. Where" a firm made, sar, £IO,OOO instead of the usual of £SOOO, a tax of 80 per cent, has been levied on the extra £SOOO. And that in addition to ordinary pre-war taxes. The result is that, with labor gravely unsettled, no one is trying to beat the £SOOO mark. Business is sluggish in consequence. The leaders of commerce are marking time until Labor'settles into a proper groove. When things are tranquil, then British industries can be expected to forge ahead, and our commerce will cqmpete more favorably on foreign markets. "Wages are very much higher in America than in England, and that is a handicap to the United States. During 1920, if all goes well, I expect Britain to open her gates for commerce, and the country will then be in a much better position. She is such a great producing country that all Europe is looking for her goods. From the views of different men I met, I assume that the year will be marked by a great improvement in the methods of English houses, though the interference of the Government in industrial matters has left an unfortunate legacy. The shipping bungle has been the cause of a heavy blow to British commerce. The. Government tied upBritish shipping to 25s a ton, while fro-eign-owned vessels secured up to r>os. You can imagine the disastrous result, and how difficult it will be to catch up the leeway unless the labor situation becomes more favorable.