TRADE RECOVERY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 November 1938, Page 4

TRADE RECOVERY

THE OUTLOOK IN BRITAIN VOLUNTARY CO-OPERATION NEEDED IN MEETING REGIMENTED COMPETITION By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. RUGBY, November 19. In the course of some observations on the general trade position, the president of the Board of Trade, Mr Oliver Stanley, at a dinner yesterday of the British Electrical Manufacturers’ Association, said that after the exceptional industrial prosperity last year there had been during the spring a decided recession, one cause of which was the economic collapse in the United States of America.

Yet in August there was a number of signs unconnected with that cause which showed that the recession was flattening out. Then came the crisis, which had on most industries an immediate paralyzing effect. That crisis had now passed, and the October figures showed a decided improvement upon any monthly figures for the present year. Signs now pointed to a potential recovery of a not inconsiderable kind, which in turn should lead to a permanent improvement in the industries of this country.

It. all depended, however, upon the recovery of confidence. No industry could prosper in the spirit of tension such as existed in October. Mr Stanley referred to the unification, regimentation and control of competing industries in other nations, and continued: “I believe that, even today, man for man, firm for firm, and industry for industry, we can stand up to any competition from any country in the world. But it is not the case today of firm against a firm, but of a firm against an industry and of a firm against a country. “Very often you are competing against the resources of 80,000,000 people, and no firm, however great its resources, can hope to do that. We do not want slavishly to adopt the technique of these countries, but surely we can find some intervening method for some form of voluntary co-oper-ation to give ourselves a chance of meeting competition of that kind on a fair basis. “What we would like to see is an arrangement between those countries which would be fair both to them and to us and would give both a chance to trade in the neutral markets which would give a fair return.”