POOR TRADE.
Our foreign trade returns themselves have shown some of the lowest figures on record, and although by reason of the great fall in imports what is known as the visible adverse balance of trade has been reduced, it is known that our invisible exports in the shape of shipping freights and interest on foreign loans have suffered a severe decline, Never in the history of the country has the shipping industry been in so deplorable a condition, and those who have visited some of our ports round the coast have witnessed the melancholy sight of great ships lying idle. We have had during the year some of the- easiest money rates experienced for nearly forty years, but, apart from helping a rise in Government stocks, the only effect has been seriously to reduce banking profits, while the cheapness of money has been quite useless in .stimulating trade activity.
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