IS TRADE REVIVING?
I wish that I could be more enthusiastic about the figures of our foreign trade, for I feel in that respect to be very much out of harmony with the tone adopted by most of my confreres. The actual facts are that the value of our exports for the month of February increased in value by about 25,000,000. So far so good. In the first place, however, I am bound to point out that, owing to Leap Year, the month contained one working day more than in February last year. In the second place, a year ago, when commenting upon the returns for February, excuse was made for very miserable results on the ground that we were still feeling the full effects of the coal stoppage. Are we, then, to have it both ways ? Are -we to console our- selves for the decreases by recognizing -exceptional circum- stances and then, when comparison is made-with those same exceptional conditions, are we to become tuddenly satisfied because some increase has been achieved ? That is not quite all. If the value of exports for last month is compared with the same month in 1926, not an increase but a decrease of 17,000,000 is shown and that decrease cannot, in the main, be attributed to lower prices, as the general decline in the price level of wholesale commodities has been very small. I must confess, therefore, that I prefer to see in the trade figures not so much a cause for satisfaction as a clear call for investigation into the causes of the prolonged depression in our key industries.
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