"OUR OWN MAKE."

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 212, 1 June 1908, Page 7

"OUR OWN MAKE."

•i . GAINING HONOUR IN OUR OWN ' COUNTRY. AN IMPORTANT DEPARTURE. , This Week will see one of tho most lauda-' tory of schemes for .impressing the public, with the value and expediency of encouraging' goods manufactured within the Dominion put into operation. This will take the form of a "New Zealand Industries Week," to commence .oil Thursday next, during which a small army of manufacturers, shopkeepers, and warehousemen will make a special display of New Zealand-made goods of all sorts, from tramcavs to Crimean shirts, from.locomotives to flower potsl, That such a display is in the interests of the manufacturers and the commuility at large is undeniable, and the only wonder, is that the idea has not been hit upon bofore. .Only too often has it become tlio usage, the fashion indeed, to have, nothing but what is imported from abroad, even though tho local'production be the better article, and it lies with those interested to break down such old-fashioned prejudices and misapplied judgment. The public will not be left in any doubt as to what goods on view .in tho shop windows are locally created. With his customary energy and painstaking enthusiasm, Mr. 11., F. Allan; the secretary of tho Wellington Industrial Association, has been busy for weeks past roUsiiig up tho producer to tho knowledge that ho might do bettor than he is doing at present; and tho result is a pretty representative array of - manufactures, tho bulk of which compare favourably with similar goods, on which has to be paid long-dis-tance freights and duty—paid, of courso, by the consumer. Evory window or display of New Zealand-made goods will bo i distinguished with large posters announcing tho fact, and tho public is promised somo veryfine exhibits indeed. It is to be hoped that "New Zealand Industries 1 Week" of 190S will bo the forerunner of " New Zealand Industries' Month " in _tho years to come, until ,tho industrial millenium arrives,' when tho Dominion will stand by its own in everything.