The Press WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 1940. Enterprise with the Brakes On

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22908, 3 January 1940, Page 6

The Press WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 1940. Enterprise with the Brakes On

A Dunedin manufacturer, a few days ago, complained that, having received official encouragement and official assurances, he had formed a company to produce rubber plastics but had, in the end, been refused licences to import the necessary plant and materials. The Minister ; for Industries and Commerce, yesterday, replied that the licences asked for would have used up “ a substantial amount of overseas funds,” partly in dollars; that “ other more important “ industries diready, established . . . have a , “prior right” to' such credits as can be made available; and that the Dunedin company, moreover, had been'given no assurance that its application would be granted. If this were the whole story, it would be sufficient to note • it as one more illustration of the fact referred * to, in . a leading article yesterday. Driven to the expedient of import and exchange control,, the Government proclaimed that It Was foundr . irig a long-term policy of industrial, develop--ment; but many manufacturers soon learned that ) import restriction worked against them as well as for them. If it reserved- the local market for local manufacturers, it also debarred them from obtaining the, plant and the supplies to expand or to commence production. When these facts and even graver possibilities have, been represented to .the Minister,' he has been obliged to plead the necessity of rationing and conserving oversea funds and has spoken .of present difficulties as transitional. But .the answer is, of course, that this necessity existed a'year , ago, but the manufacturers who were offered their grand chance arid implored to “fill, the “gap” were not warned that it must affect them. The. Government hoped • and expected - that it would not*, the import and exchange control -system was designed both to repair the London balances and to ■ contribute to New Zealand’s industrial expansion: but obstacles too great have been encountered. Such plight bethe Government’s defence.. But Whether the manufacturers have been the victims of the Government’s crude opportunism or of .its. miscalculation .makes little practical difference.* -i The result, in. disappointment, disillusion, and anxiety, is the Same; and, the . Dunedin, complaint is characteristic .of it. But there is rather more in the story than that. The Dririedin manufacturer insists 'on the complete- ■ ness-of the assurance given to him. .If he can prove that; the Minister’s reply collapses. But 1 even ff he cannot, he still leaves the Minister -■ certain- difficulties ■to get over. For. example, the^Government,’.Mr- Sullivan says, has given ; “very serious consideration and much thought” • to tHe applications- of-this company, Yef he V stresses theVbbjection that dollar exchange w as „ askedlfor,- while Mr Mcßae 'quotes a letter, i n r which^MrSullivan's department was . advised, •six week#, ago, that dollar, exchange was /.no ’ longer-required,-: Second, thd Dolfite 'Company’s application- was finally refused just before. Christmas; - yet in a . statement' issued several ■ days later Mr Sullivan cited among the new enterprises “in Dunedin and the south ’’ the manufacture of “rubber flooring ; ; arid mats.” Finally, though Mr, Sullivan denies that the company • was. promised import. -■- licences; he does not 1 defty that it was encour- ' [‘aged .to 'proceed - to. the, ]?oiht when it would require' them; nor does he explain why decision 1 pn a question pf allocating exchange should be. :-| so long delayed as it'appears to have been. It },fa difficulty resist the imprpsaion that ” serious * ' • thoughthav.e neither * smogthed avmy'confusion in the Minister’s de- - 'partriient'nor secured prompt and efficient cooperation-’ between' it and that of the Minister for Custom^, ’■; \ . r - '