The Evening Star. WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News. and Echo. MONDAY, APRIL 11,1887.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 84, 11 April 1887, Page 2

The Evening Star. WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News. and Echo.

MONDAY, APRIL 11,1887.

! For the cauie that lack* assistance, 3F*r the wrong that n««da remstwwß, Tor the future in the distance And the food that we <«w do.

The ttatoment made by Mr F. J. Moss, JI.H.U., in an interview with our rcportor that Now Zealand products are held in disfavour among the Pacific Island ß because their standard of quality is low, (should etir our producers and manufacturers up to renewed exertions. The eamo Indictment might, we fear, be alleged as c, reason, in many instances, for the preferenco shown for imported over colonial-made goods. It Is all very well to cay that this preference arises out of prejudice and pure cftssedness or the vagaries of fashion. In some Instances we know it does, but t3i(sro is no use in shutting our eyes to the fact that in many cases it is because quality is not sufficiently studied by those who are catering for custom. Even within the colony wo know that this is true. For example, there is plenty of good Auckland bacon, and yet producers of first-class qualitios find such a "prejudice" in favour of Canterbury bacon that they are tempted to soil their wares with Canterbury bs'atttls. Now why is it that Auckland peoplo prefer Canterbury bacon? Is it from a, foolish love for anything that is not home made ? Some people will promptly answer "yes," but any practical provision merchant will tell tlretei that Canterbury bacon is held in esteem simply because tho average xA quality is good and can be relied Yipon, while Auckland bacon cannot. Wafioa cheese, for the same reason, for many years held the premier place in Auckland favour. The sooner manufacturers reatise this truth and draw the moral which it teaches the more rapidly will disappear the cloud of socalled " prejudice " which envelops the prosperity of many of our industries. Consumers are not such dolts that they cannot tell when they get a good thing. A maker whose brands are to be relied upon, rarely fails to find a good market for his waves, At the very moment when inferior or unknown poods of similar description an being slaughtered at a loss to everyone concerned. Aβ another example of this doctrine, we may quote the late disputo, Baltic v. Kauri timber. There was a great outcry. It did seem rathor rough on our local industries to find oar Kauri, a timber of proved quality, supplanted by an interloper with fewor virt*os from the far North. But when we came to face the question, what did it moan ? Why this, that Kauri timber, as it is supplied, is not to be depended upon. The admission was wrung from the very lords of the building trade themselves. It was not properly seasoned, or the treatment was scamped, and so forth. May we not quote here the old adage, " Heaven helps those who fevlp themselves," and Cromwell's maxim, " Trust in God, and keep your powder dry?" Here is "the little rift within tho lute that by and by will make the music mute." What is the use of talking about our kauri if We do our best, through want of energy and proper treatment, to spoil it. Obviously no one would go in for Baltic timber, if" the other superior timber growing at his very door would fulfil his requirements. It is the same with other things. Mr Moss, an ardent champion of Protection of local industry, tells us that we fail in the Islands because our butter, our biscuits and canned goods are not what they might be. We do not help ourselves. We scamp our work, or do not profit by expericnce_ and study the consumer, and so trade languishes. A higher standard of efficiency is what we really want, and without that we shall never achieve anything but failure. The Government may and should help the development of trade and industry by wise legislation, but it cannot do everything. Wβ muet help ourselves. Government interference and assistance is, indeed, too often bought at too high a price. In the past it has given us a few roads, railways, and other conveniences, for which we should have had to wait. But it has also been to us — is now—like the old man of the sea. Look at our tremendous debt, draining the life-blood from our workers to satisfy the claims of the foreign money-lenders. Nearly half our exports go in that way. It makes us shiver to discuss it. If we do not mind, we shall yet come to grief, and be a by-word amongst our fellows. But, having reached this unhappy position, what we really need now is strict economy in our public life, and in our private matteis, high efficiency. We want a public policy which will support the people in building up manufactories that will supply their own wants and make them independent of foreign labour and foreign capital. But individually and collectively we must also help ourselves. All round it is now a struggle for existence. But let us hear the words of a working man to his fellow workmen on one side of the question. " Competition," says tho speaker, "is not half so much in the masters' hands as in yours. I defy any largo manufacturer, and I have been foreman, journeyman, and apprentice among you, and know the little ins and outs — I defy any masters or any organisation of managers and foremen, even if there were ■ a foreman to every three of you, to make sure that honest work is being done. It depends upon you that the details of the work are honestly and well done, and it depends upon you if the competition comes to De severe, whether or not we are to give up and say, "We are done; the old country is worn out." AYe don't believe it ; but it depends upon you. You have the opportunity of seeing work that no foreman can see, and if you smother over that, and pass a bad or slovenly job, depend upon it, that competition will bring it back to you, eooner or later, tenfold. I adjure you as an old friend, who has tho working classes as much at heart as any man in the world—l adjure you with all my heart, and all earnestness, never pass a piece of bad work to your tnowledge, and use your exertions to find a bad piece of work out." Now, with certain necessary ehangos we may take the spirit of these words home to ourselves. We may be proud of our adopted country, but that is not enough. Let our pride carry us further still, till we resolve that we will make our colonial produce and manufactures equal to what comes from other lands. Comparison by means of such an exhibition as that which our Industrial Association is organising, mayhelpustothis. If we do it —and at present we are a long way fiom such a goal—we need have no fear, but may with a light heart enter upon the competition not only for the supply of our own wants but also to meet the wants of our neighbours in other colonies and the Pacific Islands.