We are glad to see that there are plenty of
signs that if work is resumed at the mines and coal is no longer produced at impossible prices, there will be an immediate revival of trade. The manufacturers in all trades and the men in most are eager to begin work, and orders are already coming in from a great many quarters. This, of course, is very largely due to the fact that in the last three weary months of non-production stocks have been steadily reduced. This is true, remember, not only of the home but of the foreign market. Lord Emmott, who is a very sound and safe guide in such matters, speaking at the opening of the World Cotton Conference at Liverpool on Monday, declared his strong belief " in the coming of better times and at no distant date." A writer in the Times also states that a leading merchant in the China trade has informed him that stocks of textile goods in China are now very low, and that orders will be offered in abundance if Lancashire would accept a lower price basis. That, of course, is an essential point. Our traders must remember that there is no such thing as a " natural," or a "necessary," or an " essential" price. The price must be that at which buyers can be secured and nothing else. It is no use for the sellers to talk " wisely and sadly " about what it cost them to produce their goods. That is a matter which does not interest buyers any more than a fairy-tale or a sermon. They have so much to spend in the market and not a kenny more. Lower prices are in these days a condition of business.
