The Dominion WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 1920. SECONDARY INDUSTRIES

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 230, 23 June 1920, Page 6

The Dominion WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 1920. SECONDARY INDUSTRIES

This country, .no doubt, has a good deal to learn from Australia in regard to the promotion of secondary industries, and there is some apparent justification for the complaints on this score made by Me. C. J'. Ward at the meeting of the Industrial Association on Monday evening. New Zealanders, generally speaking, are not by any means as keen as they ought to be on buying goods of local manufacture in preference to imported goods, and our Government certainly seems to be less sympathetic and helpful towards manufacturers than the Commonwealth Government and those of some of the Australian States. A'still'more striking contrast might bo drawn between conditions attending the growth and. development of secondary industries in this country and corresponding conditions in Canada, which easily leads the Dominions in manufacturing progress. _ All this being admitted, however, it must bo said that New Zealand manufacturers have themselves largely to thank for the. atmosphere of indifference and neglect in which they work, and, furthermore, that they cannot expect to secure any material improvement in these conditions by complaints and' appeals cast in general terms. In order- to gain a full measure of public support and State encouragement they must make it manifest that they deserve to be supported and encouraged. The successful development of secondary industries in Canada and Australia is due very largely to well-organised effort by the manufacturers of these countries in which they have combined sound business enterprise with an effective appeal not merely to public opinion, but to public interest. Even more in Canada than in Australia, a persistent campaign iri favour of local manufactures has been carried on by the manufacturers themselves and their agents The utmost prominence is given to the merits of the goods, and tho question of supporting local as against foreign industry is plainly and definitely raised. In New Zealand, on the other hand, comparatively little prominence is given to the fact that New Zealand manufactures as much as exist Tbis is a stato of affairs for which manu-

facturcrs themselves arc chiefly to blame, and which they must take, the initiative in amending. Apathy in the Government and the public certainly must be overcome if secondary industries are to develop freely in the Dominion, but it is perhaps the first and most essential condition of a change for the better that manufacturers should enlarge their outlook. It is particularly necessary' that manufacturers should engage actively in a campaign to promote better industrial relations, since it is evident that until material progress is made in this direction no secure foundation will be established for the extension and development of secondary industries. A national effort to promote improved,industrial conditions might very well go hand-in-hand with a national campaign designed to popularise goods of local manufacture. On the whole the outlook for our manufacturers is a hopeful one._ They have a right to expect definite assistance and encouragement from the Department of Industries and Commerce which was separately constituted under the Board of Trade Act of last year, and may derive some advantage also from the impending readjustment of the Customs tariff. The increased costs of manufacturing abroad and the permanent rise in shipping freights are likely, however, to do more than can be done by the imposition of protective duties to facilitate'the extension of local manufacturing enterprise. Tho manufacturers of the Dominion are faced by undoubted opportunities; their future succcss in extending and enlarging our secondary industries will depend not a little upon the enterprise and energy they display in showing tho general public how much it has to gain from assisting to make the most of these opportunities.