New Zealand-Made Goods.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18924, 12 February 1927, Page 14

New Zealand-Made Goods.

1: is difficult to undci-ftand the workings of the mind of some of those manufacturers who arc crying out for heavy tariff protection for New Zea-land-made goods. They arc constantly saying that their goods arc as good as any in the world, and yet they arc very greatly adverse to proclaiming the nativity of their wares. Some of our best manufacturers do proclaim the origin of their products, and proclaim it loudly, and get business. But some of them go to a great deal of trouble to get their wares into the shops without advertisement or proclamation of the fact that they are made in New Zealand by So-and-So. Their excuse is that the retailers would not stock these goods if, they were branded with the name of the maker and the country of origin. The consumer, they say, is " prejudiced" against the locally-made article. There was a time, perhaps, when this prejudice in favour of the English or French or American article did exist in despite of the merits of the local products, but that time has gone by. People nowadays cannot afford, and are too intelligent, to be swayed by mere prejudice. They buy what they have reason to think is the article that suits their needs and their purses. It is not prejudice in favour of England or America that has enabled the English and American houses to sell their goods here despite the handicap of high tariffs and freights, but merit and the bringing that merit to the notice of the consumer. If the New Zealand manufacturer could persuade the New Zealand consumer that the New Zealand article is the best thing he can buy for the money, the consumer will buy it. He will ask the retailer for it. If one retailer .docs not stock it, lie will look about for a retailer who docs. Some New Zealand manufacturers have done this, and are deservedly reaping the profit of doing it. But others have entirely neglected to do what these have done, and what the foreign manufacturers long ago learned they must do. They have in some cases neglected to study the public's actual desires, and in more cases they have neglected to take the proper steps to let the public know very much about their products. They should take for their model the foreign rivals who are troubling their peace, and if they can do as well as these, they will have no need to talk of the consumer's "prejudices."