CRITICAL TIMES AHEAD.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 December 1920, Page 5

CRITICAL TIMES AHEAD.

BRITISH LABOR SI i CATION. PESSIMISTICALLY REGARDED. Some interesting observations on the industrial outlook in Great Britain were mude by .Mr. C. L. Duigan, who has just returned inta n. trip to chat country to a Press representative. "The labor situation seemed to be very acute," he said. "I arrived there just as they had finished the railway strike and were having considerable trouble with the coalminers, while the iron moulders and joiners in shipbuilding yards were out on strike. That large orders have been lost to British industry through these labor troubles there is no reason to doubt. When I was at Glasgow the City Council gave an American linn a large "order for steel tramway rails, for which British steel manufacturers were unable to give satisfactory quotations. The scarcity of labor during the war forced up wages in many industries to such an extent that manufacturers cannot now turn out goods at prices which would find buyers. America, Belgium and certain other European countries could undersell the British, in many lines Another serous factor was 'that th* quality of the labor was deteriorating; the "go-slow" policy was very much in evidence. The British ' manufacturer, therefor, was not able to guarantee delivery sithin any fixed time, owing to this insecurity in the labor situation. The results, as lefore mentionel, are that many important orders are being lost to British industry. SITUATION PESSIMISTICALLY REGARDED. "The opinion at Home on labor matters seemed to be very pessimistic, and the exposing of the' negotiations between the editor of Labor's organ, the Daily Herald, and the Bolshevik Government further increased that pessimism. It was not thought that the position was without hope, but it was very sur;ous and won 1 ' have to be very drastically grappled with. There was no doubt there was a very critical time ahead of the Government. Before I left it was predicted that there would be a tremendous increase in nnemplovincnt this winter, and even before' I left there was serious unemployment in the boot, woollen, and cotton industries." COST OF-LIVING. Discussing the cost of living in Great Britain, Mr. Duigan said that the general impression was that prices had passed their zenith. The cost of living there was much higher that it is in New Zealand, the rise above pre-war prices being 180 per cent., against SO per cent in this country. He quoted a few prices, which showed that New Zealand was very much better off: Ra- i tioned sugar, Is "d per lb; eggs, about 5s per dozen; ham and bacon, from 4s to 4s Cd per lb; and other prices were proportionately high.

EXTRAVAGANT EXPENDITURE.

"That fact is that the people at Home are demoralised by the enormous Government expenditure during the war," said Mr. Duigan. "The "Government seemed to have taken up the position that money was no object, and what was wanted was obtained irrespective of the cost. In many of the industries controlled by the Government, such as shipbuilding, economy and efficiency were discouraged by the system of paying the owners of the yards on a percentage basis instead of on a contract price. The present labor troubles in the shipbuilding industry are the aftermath of that Government policy. I saw a big C.P.R. ship, the Empress of Canada, 22;000-tonner, launched on J the Clyde. The chairman of the company at the launching stated that the ship actually cost the company £1,700,000, whereas its pTe-war cost would have been £560,000."