“INVESTORS SCARED”

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 March 1939, Page 6

“INVESTORS SCARED”

ADDRESS TO STOCK EXCHANGE ASSOCIATION. VIEWS OF RETIRING PRESIDENT. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. “Investors are thoroughly scared, and it will take some considerable time for them to recover,” said Mr Henry Kitson, president of the Stock Exchange Association addressing the annual meeting of . the’association in Wellington yesterday. “We have had to face a very difficult period, full of disturbances and anxiety. Steady trading is now only a vague memory, and one wonders if we shall ever know it agfim. 'The volume of recorded business transacted has decreased. There will, of course, come a time when capital must come out in the open again, and those who are bold today will reap the benefit. Apparently surplus money for investment has almost vanished. “A great deal of the falling away in business is because of the utter uncertainty of the financial position in the Dominion today,” Mr Kitson said. “It is impossible to get any clear and concise statement as to the Government’s future .policy. For some months now an internal loan has been in the offing, and the public are naturally anxious to know when this loan and the conditions attached to it arc to be announced. “Uncertainty breeds rumours, and rumours are unsettling. Unsettled conditions clog the wheels of industry and commerce. If those in power would only make straightforward statements and announce the policy they propose to pursue, business might recover. “The people in New Zealand are entitled to know the truth and are getting tired of vague contradictory statements. Mr Harman Reeves, Dunedin, was elected president, succeeding Mr Kitson. who had resigned and had given three years’ service to the association. The meeting expressed its highest appreciation of the work Mr Kitson had done on behalf of the association over his period of service. Mr P. C. Savage. Auckland, was elected vice-president.