The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 1911. THE INDUSTRIAL OUTLOOK.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3125, 23 January 1911, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 1911. THE INDUSTRIAL OUTLOOK.

There is one feature of the banking returns for the year which is bound to attract widespread attention. We refer to the large increase in the amount of free deposits, or capital lying in the banks without earning interest. One would have thought that in a young country like New Zealand such a state of affairs would - have been regarded generally as very unsatisfactory. It wili, therefore, come as a surprise to many when they learn that none other than the Prime Minister himself views the situation with equanimity. Speaking at St. Hilda the other night this is what he said: ‘‘Yet there were some people who declared that the accumulations of money in the country were indicative of stagnation and of a want of confidence in the Dominion. Of course the country could not go on year after year adding to its industries by leaps and bounds as it had been doing for the last fifteen years. If New Zealand were to double its factories to-morrow, what would they find. The proprietors would be tire first to declare against over production. It would be impossible to sell the goods, and consequently they would not be able to pay the recognised .scale of wages to their employees/' Coming as these remarks do from the occupant of the most important political office in the country, it will be of interest to contrast them with the opinions of other gentlemen whose qualifications to speak on the subject will not be gainsaid. Here, for instance, is what Mr. Beauchamp, chairman of the Bank of Now Zealand, said at the annual meeting of that institution in Juno last: “In New Zealand to-day there is an abundance of loanable credit, and yet I am bound to say there is want of confidence in the community. Money is not flowing into those channels which should exist in every new country, and winch do oxist in New Zealand. The financial situation is infinitely better than it was a year ago, but that in itself is not sufficient. We want the capital available in the country to seek ah outlet in industrial and other enterprises. The spirit of enterprise is, however, wanting. . . New Zealand is a nation In the making, and requires all the capital at our command for its development. It should be careful to do nothing to make capital shy of entrusting itself within its borders.” On many occasions, especially during the session, the Prime Minister (it will be recalled) endeavored to answer criticism on the subject, but all in vain. Returning to the matter at the half-yearly meeting of the bank last month, Air Beauchamp said: “Unfortunately there is still a lack of industrial enterprise, and money is permitted to lie idle in the banks, or, to put it another way, people are throwing upon the banks the responsibility of finding an investment outlet instead of undertaking it themselves.” There can, of course, be no doubt but that there has been a great expansion of trade as a result of the development of the producing industries. But was Sir Joseph Ward right when lie inferred that the position was equally satisfactory with reference to the manufacturing industries? “As a matter of fact,” remarked Air. Frostick, president of the Canterbury Employers’ Association, at the quarterly meeting recently, “nearly al] the important manufacturing industries are show'ing signs of decay.” He went on to quote figures dealing with sixteen industries all more or less affected by the competition of importations. It would be seen, he said, that during, the past four years eleven, industries had failed to keep pace with the increase of population. - These were as follows: Biscuit (including bread), tailoring; boots and shoes; agricultural implements; blacksmiths and coachbuilders; cycle and motor engineers; engineering ; furniture and cabinet making; soap and candles; brush and broom; and printing, bookbinding, and stationery. Two had just held their own—rope and twine, and woollen mills. Paper mills and lime and cement had considerably improved. . In regard to the'other one, biscuit and confectionery, no figures for comparison were available. To account for the present very unsatisfactory condition of affairs, the “Christchurch Press,” for example, speaks plainly and to the point. “The English want of confidence,” our contemporary remarks, “is due partly to our supposed fondness for Socialistic legislation, and partly to a feeling that we are borrowing too much. The want of enterprise in the development of local industries is due partly to the taxation policy of the Government, which not only induces its victims from sheer disgust to seek other fields of investment, but, as we have frequently shown, actually penalises many who, alter selling their land, would be willing to invest the proceeds in the Dominion. This applies to ’landowners. The general investor, as every lawyer and sharebroker knows, is apprehensive on the subject rf labor legislation, and steadily avoids enterprises which employ much labor. That spirit hits with especial severity the engineering trade, which-depends for its prosperity on the activity of other branches of industrial,

enterprise/ Until these facts are recognised and a remedy is applied, want of confidence in industrial enterprise will continue, industries will stagnate, and those who will suffer most will be the , „ v workers.