BUY NEW ZEALAND GOODS

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 59, Issue 47, 27 March 1930, Page 4

BUY NEW ZEALAND GOODS

\The development of the secondary industries of New Zealand is a ma-tter of the greatest importanee. TJnless steady advancement is made iu this direetion upon the most moderri and progressive lines there ean be no great advance in the deyelopment of our towns and cities- In saying farewell to the people of New Zealand, the retiring Governor-General, Sir Charles Nergusson, made a fervent appeal to them to always buy New Zealand goods wherever and whenever possible, He made this appeal more particularly as an aid towards minimising the unemployment difficulty. Our new Govenor-General, Lora Bledisloe, in one of his first utterances, has eonfirmed Sir Charles' statements by issuing a similar appeal. Thus the ideal of buying .New Zealand goods is continually before the country in one way or another, but is it put into praetical effect"? To a large extent the people do not concentrate their purchasing power upon the homemade product. Therefore, preparations are in hand for launohing a great appeal to the people of New Zealand to support local industries by buying New Zealand - made goods- Efforts of this natpre inthe past have undoubtedly been fruitfjul, and the results certainly encourage the carrying out of a oampaign on a fairly comprehensive scale th^t will be persisted in until preference for New Zealand goods becomes the general rule in the pnrchase of- requirements, whether by indiyiduals, companies, institntiops or publiq hodies. A wise campaign of newspaper publicity along modern lines conducted with the eooperation of the retaii interests opens up the most suceessful means of enhancing the value of our seeondary industries. We have had excellent examples of this in the past where the best results ■ have been obtained by ".eo-operation between the newspapers and the r'etailers; "the latter being supported •by the varipus manufacturing interests. Nor is it desirable to merely awaken publie interest iu the need for developing the country by purchasing New Zealand-made goods- That interest has to be mafntained, and if the campaign suggested meets with the success it un^ubtedly promises the manu'facturing- seetion of New ^Zealand commercial life should reeeive an impetus that will mean much in •advancing the ipterests of the Dominiou, as a whole. Another aspeot of the question^of fostering New Zealand industries and th.ereby minimising uneuiplo.yment suggests itself. • There- is undoubtedly ahnosfc limitless scope in NeW Zealand to-day for raising the staiidard of production of many of our manufactures. We do not wish to infer that these are Uot as good as, or even better than, the imported article, but we do believe that our methods in many instancesrequire reeonstruction and overhaul. This matter was. brought before Parliament during the last session, when a Parliamentary Oommittee was set up to consider the whole question. This committee was authorised to consider means for increasing the efficiency ahd promoting the development oi some of' our most important industrial enterprises — engineering, flax milling, hoot manufacture, coach and ixiotor body building, rope and twine making, jam making and fruit preserving, woollen and clothing industries. The committee is to visit factories and to observe the special features of work bearing on hours and wages, marketing and any other phases of industry having relation to the objects of the inquiryOue of the most important avenues for inve.stigation will he the question of protection. agafnst outside competition, and it may be necessary in many ■ instances to grant a greater measure of protection tban that wbi'cb, in many instances, is now enjoyedTo Hawke's Bay, where the woolgrowing industry is- of paramount importance, the investigations that are to be cohducted into the wool manufacturing industry wiU- ereate perbaps the ' greatest interest, "for undoubtedly- this Bominion is not producing a , fraction of . what it should' turn out in this dfrectionWe were reeently given au excellent, example of this. One of the leading mills of New Zealand reeeived from a foreign country an enormo.us order for certain. wo.ollen goods, all of wbich had to b.e woven , to • a particular design. An effort was made to concentrate the mills of New Zealand upon the order, but this was found impracticable, and the order had to be- refused. This instance alone suggests possibiliiies for reorganisation of' our woollen manufacturing interests on a basis of co-operation.. - We. believe' there is much scope here for investigatien by this special committee and for a recommendation on the iines we

suggest, Beorganisation would possibily mean the eoncentration of the respeetive mills upon the manufacture of exclusive lines- Eor instance, one mill might manufacture blankets, another rugs, another hosiery and garments, and so on. At present some of the mills are dabbling in " all these. The same methods are operating in the boot and other industries. If New Zealand is to one day beeome a great industrial country it will have to enter a period during which there will be established as a basis a spirit of eoncentration and co-operation. So far as the great wool-growing interests of the country are concerned, they will at once recognise the great benefit this would bring to# their own industry. The publicity campaign to be inaugurated will do., much good in creating a demand for New Zealand goods, and likewise the recommendations of the Special Committee we refer to will be most helpful in increasing the efficiency and promoting the development of some of our most important industrial enterprises) Not the least important is co-operation between the manufacturers and eoncentration.