As the Report points out, at the very time when
the prices we charge have risen so considerably owing to the high costs of production purchasing power abroad has diminished. At the same time local manufactures abroad have developed in order to meet the demand for low-priced articles. It is a consolation, however, to learn that the loss of purchasing power for British goods abroad is less marked than it was. This is accounted for by the general but slow recovery of most countries. As regards the local manufactures abroad which are now successfully competing with us the following figures are significant. In 1913 the number of cotton spindles in Japan, China, India and Brazil was about 10,000,000, but in 1924 it had risen to nearly 18,000,000. Before the War the annual production of steel in Japan, China, India and Australia was 360,000 tons, but in 1922 it was 858,000 tons.
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