London, Nov. 20. In the course of observations on the general trade position, the President of the Board of Trade, Mr. Oliver Stanley, at a dinner of the British Electrical Manufacturers Asso: ciation, said that after exceptional industrial prosperity last year, there had been, during the spring, a decided recession, one cause of which was the economic collapse in the United States.
Yet in August, there was a number of signs, unconnected with that cause which showed that the recession was flattening out. There came the crisis, which had on most industries an immediate and paralysing effect. That crisis had passed, and the October figures were a decided improvement upon any monthly figures for the present year.
There was no doubt that in many industries excessible stocks—built up in 1937 in anticipation of a boom which turned into recession—had been largely reduced, and in some cases eliminated. Signs pointed to a potential recovery of not in consider. able kind in the industries of this country. It all depended, however, upon the recovery of confidence. No industry could prosper in the spirit of tension such as existed in October.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.