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been very rapid. Although the number of persons engaged in industry has increased at about the same proportion as the population as a whole, the actual per-man efficiency has very greatly increased over the period under review. The above figures are reduced to percentages of the total male occupied population in the next table : Table No. 94.—Table showing the Percentages of the Total Male occupied Population engaged in Secondary Industry at various Censuses from 1901 to 1936 Year. Percentage. Year. Percentage. 1901 .. .. 26-3 1921 .. .. 24-6 1906 .. .. 26-7 1926 .. .. 25-8 1911 .. .. 26-3 1936 .. .. 25-5 1916 .. .. 24-3 These figures are particularly interesting because they show that over the whole period practically 25 per cent, of the occupied male population of the country has been engaged in secondary industry. Figures calculated for another purpose and on another basis are given in the next table, showing the people engaged in factory production. The term " factory production" is not exactly equivalent to the term " industrial production "as used here, and hence the figures are not exactly comparable. The figures, however, in this table do show something of the trend over the period : —- Table No. 95. —Table showinq the Number of Persons enqaqed in Factory Production from 1910-11 to 1943-44 Number of Number of Year. Persons engaged. Year. Persons engaged. 1910-11 .. .. 45,924* 1936-37 .. .. 96,401 1915-16 .. .. 48,744* 1937-38 .. .. 102,344 1920-21 .. .. 69,681 1938-39 .. .. 102,535 1925-26 .. .. 78,708 1939-40 .. .. 108,722 1930-31 .. .. 77,914 1940-41 .. .. 113,999 1932-33 .. .. 68,921 1941-42 .. .. 117,214 1933-34 .. .. 72,651 1942-43 .. .. 114,590 1934-35 .. .. 79,358 1943-44 .. .. 117,864 1935-36 .. .. 86,588 * Productive employees. Subsequent figures are for total employees. In the following discussion an attempt is made to analyse trends in industry. Since a marked change took place in industrial production in 1931 it will be convenient to discuss this development in two periods, the first from 1901 to 1931 and the second section from 1929 to the present date. The factory production statistics include in the classification of " factory production " such processing of primary products as butter and cheese manufacture and meat freezing and preserving works. Apart from these semi-primary manufacturing industries, the remainder may be classified as true industrial production. The development of these two groups will be discussed separately. Since this study is concerned solely with the question of population it is not proposed to discuss either the value or the volume of the output of products, or similar questions which would be relevant in a study of industrial production per se. The question will be looked at purely from the point of view of the number engaged in a particular industry. This type of investigation may, however, hide certain real trends, particularly where there have been major advances in industrial techniques during the period, so that an industry employing fewer hands to-day may, in fact, be producing a much greater output than previously.

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