There are several gratifying features in the speech made by Mr. Neville Chamberlain, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, before bankers and merchants of the City of London fon Tuesday. British export trade for the frst eight months of this year was £20,000,000 above the total for the similar' period of last. veal despite the fact that the difficulties fof international trade were increasing, rather than decreasing, while—and this is another important fact—shipping under construction had doubled, while the volume of shipping laid up had been decreased by half, Indices showing the improvements effected in various trades since last year prove that substantial progress has been made, particularly Inthe cases of engineering and shipbuilding and iron and. steel, while the Chancellor also. insisted that the improvement in trade was greater than was evidenced by the change in' unemployment figures. That is quite easy to understand. It {is apparent that though a large number of workers had to lose their employment as depression swept over Britain, but it is also ele that large numbers were retained in work, who were doing less than would normally be required of them. It was not un ill these latter became fully engaged and the necessity for increased assistance became apparent that " inroads were made into the ranks of the unemployed. At the same time it has to be remembered that, gratifying asthe present prospects undoubtedly are, a great deal will yet have to be done before will be possible to reduce unemployment figures much below the 2,000,000 mark. And it will be done in the field of internat trade, The examples of Britain the United States seem to indicate possible has been effected in the direction of improv-Ing domestic trade, but the question bettering foreign trade is still something which not only has not yet been tackled, but which is becoming graver every week.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.