During the week the Daily Mail has been publishing reports
on the extraordinary prosperity of trade. In almost every industry the accounts are extremely good, and in many of them quite enthusiastic. Retail trade is very brisk, and bears out the impression of the healthiness of the productive industries. As for unemployment, it has fallen to the lowest point recorded since official statistics became available, the unemployment among trade union members being only two per cent. In the great trade boom of the early 'seventies in last century the percentage was less than one, but it is doubtful whether the figures were kept scientifically enough to be of much value. The only dark spot in the picture appears to be the building trade. That is languishing amid a riot of prosperity. The reason, we cannot but believe, is the sense of insecurity, nay panic, in regard to land caused by Mr. Lloyd George's system of land taxation. No one dare invest, much less speculate, in anything which involves dealing with land.
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