MORE WORK FOR FACTORIES

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22661, 16 March 1939, Page 12

MORE WORK FOR FACTORIES

EFFECT OF IMPORT RECITATIONS MINISTER PROPHESIES BUSY TIME IN INDUSTRY (PRESS ASSOCIATION TXLIGBAU.) WELLINGTON, March 15. “Never before in the history of New Zealand has such a major step been taken in the manufacturing industry as the adoption of the Government’s policy of import selection,” said the Minister for Industries and Commerce (the Hon. D. G. .Sullivan) in a statement. The Minister said that the clothing factories in the Dunedin district were working to their full capacity because of rush orders received from local retail houses. Individual factories were training new operatives to take their places in the factories to meet demand for their products. One factory had reported that the new business already received would keep the factory in full operation during the normal slack period during May and June. Never before in the firm’s history had the factory been busy at that period. “Two Shifts Daily” A tanning factory had reported for the first time in many years that the tannery was- working two shifts daily, and the staff was nearly double what it was a year ago. Woollen mills have experienced a greater demand for products. One firm was taking new hands as soon as they became available, while another was erecting a new factory, and still another was starting to manufacture a new line which previously was all imported from abroad. Another concern was preparing to invest approximately £20,000 in a factory and plant to make a new product. The Minister also quoted increased activity in the radio industry, footwear industry, and the development of silica products. Hardware and farming requisites would also be made in New Zealand in greater quantities as additional productive facilities were brought into operation. There were reports that an overseas concern was contemplating the erection of a large factory in New Zealand to make toilet preparations and soap, and another overseas concern was arranging to have its laundry products made in the Dominion. Brushware manufacturers had had to increase staffs, and good orders were being received by the biscuit and confectionery industries, with a consequent increase in employment. The Minister mentioned a number of instances of the expenditure of capital on the initiation and development of industries in New Zealand.