THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, JANUARY 21, 1910. THE EXPANSION IN BRITISH TRADE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9696, 21 January 1910, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, JANUARY 21, 1910. THE EXPANSION IN BRITISH TRADE.

Mr Lloyd-George foretells a great i boom in British trade in the current year, and possibly the desire for it is to some extent father to the thought. British trade is distinctly on the increase, though there would have to be a far more marked expansion before it could be proclaimed to be booming. The imports of merchandise into the United Kingdom, whch decreased £52,854,000 in 1908. recoveri ed £31,563,000 in 1909, doubtless because the purchasing power of the country was greater. The total imports, therefore, amounting to £624,516,000, were still, £2,1291,000 below the record year 1907. All thes3 imports, however, were not for home consumption. A large international distributing trade centres in, the Mother-country, and that trade increased greatly last year. Thus £9l,- i 365,000 of the imports were re-ex- ' ported, leaving the value retained for home consumption at £533,151,000, showing an increase over 1908 of £19,863,000. The exports of British goods did not compare so satisfactorily, probably for the reason that foreign countries were not able to the same extent to expand their purchases. The exports of British goods in 1908—they nearly all

consist of manufactures—showed a reduction of £48,931,000, and the recovery in 1909 was limited to £1,160,000. Indeed, until Decembera reduction in the 1909 returns had been visible. However, a revival set m in the middle of the year, and it has made progress as the year drew to a close, and doubtless Mr Lloyd-George is right thus for that during the next six months the exports of British goods will show substantial recovery After that, if the trade of the world expands, there is no reason to doubt that the Mothercountry will secure a satisfactory share of it. But it must always be borne in mind that a country's exports depend greatly upon the ability of other countries to purchase, and in 1908 Australia was compelled to hold mucn of its wool for months, and in the end accept nearly £3 a bale less, not because we had less wool, or it was inferior, but because the world could not pay for it. Reasons there are that British exports should now I expand, and they are not wholly due | to the tact that in the first half of I last year exports were small. A cablegram the other morning conveyed the information that the "Economist" stated that £182,500,000 of new capital was raied in 1909, of which sum £74,750,000 went to British Possesions, the principal amounts being represented as follow: --Canada £26,814,000, Australia £11,380,000, South Africa £11,291,500. The United Kingdom's borrowings showed a decrase, compared with the previous year, of £31,370.300, the respective figures being':— 1908, £50,051,700; 1909, £18,681.400. The borrowing of foreign countries showed an increase of £5,415,500, represented by the following comparison:—l9oß, £83,501,700; 1909, £88,917,200. New securities floated in London last year totalled nearly £10,000,000 less than that of 1908, though far greater than in any previous years. But the' mam feature in the statement is that only £18,700,000 out of that £182,500,000, or hardly more than onetenth, was secured by hume enterprise, as compared with over £50,000,000 in the previous year, while nearly £164,010,000' was subscribed to foreign an i colonial enterprise. Of course, the £18,700,000 publicly subscribed to home undertakings was supplemented by private investments, as they always are. But it appears to us that the logical outcome of these returns must be a slow internal trade and greater eagerness to compete in oversea markets. England has not lent or invested all this money abroad without securing some equivalent in trade. Thus, she has herself taken steps which will serve to stimulate her export trade, but not to extend internal operations. Indeed, it at times happens that when trade internally is briskest it shows less external expansion. Another reason why the trade records should increase in the new year is the comparatively high prices of wheat, cotton, and wool, and even last year the import returns were distinctly affected thereby. We trust that Mr Lloyd-George may turn out to be a true prophet, but it would have been better it the evidences had been more strongly in support of his contentions.