The Daily News. FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 1922. TRADE PROSPECTS.
The latest review of British trade, while not over-optimistic, is decidedly encouraging. It is officially stated -bat since the tarn of the year “there has been a steady, if restrained, extension of a more optimistic feeling . . . with a continuance of the movement towards normality, though slow and gradual.” This state of affairs is reflected in the actual amount of business done, whieh shows only a moderate improvement. The outstanding feature of this brighter outlook is the falling cost of production, the effect of whieh is demonstrated by the greater security on the part of both manufacturers and buyers, as it indicates that progress towards normality without which stability cannot be reached. Practically the same process is at work in the Dominion, for although the market values of primary produce denote improving markets, they are not so satisfactory as could be wished, and it is in the direction of increased output and cheapening the cost of production that farm ers must centre their hopes of weathering the depression until it passes away. That the output is developing is a matter of certainty, but not at the rate which is not only possible but, under the circumstances, imperative. At present quotations on the Home market, butter ranges from 135 s to 140 s per cwt., which would enable the factories to pay out thirteen pence a pound for butterfat, ■while in the ease of cheese, at 92s to 102 s per cwt., the payout could be fourpenee per lb higher. As New Zealand producers are dependent on the people of Britain to purchase the output exported, trade conditions in the Homeland directly concern the farmers of the Dominion in two ways. Firstly, as regards their primary produce, and, secondly, as to manufactured goods needed by the people of New’ Zealand. Hence the more prosperity there is in the Old Country the better will it be for the Dominion, particularly if the costs of production are brought down to normal. There is really nothing new in the position of affairs, merely that the march of events has conclusively proved the conclusion long since arrived at by economists and those who closely watch these matters. The increasing activity in the piece goods section of the fabric industry in Britain may be taken as a reliable sign of the advent of better times, and whether this steady improvement will develop into lusty growth depends on the absence of acute labor troubles. Apparently there is an all-round movement in the I right direction, though it varies j in different centres, but no definite ! and durable progress can be exi pected until the burden of taxation is reduced materially. If the economies in the various departments of the Imperial Government. as already outlined, are allowed to materialise, there will speedily follow a lessening in the cost of production and a large expansion in trade. There is no ignoring the fact that, for some time to come both producers and consumers will have to exercise economies. Both will be receiving less money, but as the purchasing power of the sovereign wilt increase by degrees there need be no actual hardship, merely a readjustment of views as to what are essentials and non-essen-tials. The majority of dairy farmi ers can, if they take the right steps, so increase their production that the lower prices will not. cause them over-anxiety. The spirit a' those indomitable pioneers who have converted the forests and waste lands of the Dominion into productivity still exists. With similar courage, enterprise and determination the difficulties that face the present generation can be overcome with
a fraction of the effort involved in the pioneer work, and the time is not far distant when the period of stress will fade from memory, but its ’essons, if rightly utilised, should be of immense service in guiding future operations, and enhancing the reward of those who know how to wait for good times by ceaseless vigilenee, sound policy and an abstention from luxuries that undermine prosperity.
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Taranaki Daily News, 10 March 1922, Page 4
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675The Daily News. FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 1922. TRADE PROSPECTS. Taranaki Daily News, 10 March 1922, Page 4
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