The Pottery Industry

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 301, 17 September 1934, Page 11

The Pottery Industry

Sir, —Some time ago it was announced that certain nurserymen were exporting New Zealand flax plants to Japan for the purpose of enabling the Japanese to establish this plant there, thus making Japan independent of New Zealand supplies. For some considerable time past the Japanese have been purchasing scrap iron in the Dominion in order to get return freight back to Japan. The supply of scrap iron having been exhausted, the Japanese are now looking for some other kind of freight in lien of ballast with which to load their ships on their return to Japan, after having delivered their large shipments of cheap goods. And now in your issue of the 15th inst. we read in large headlines, “Japan Interested. Vein of Clay for Pottery in New Zealand. Shipment Requested.’’ .nd the article goes on to state that as China clay is diminishing in Japan the Nagoya Pottery Guild is keenly interested in an offer received from New Zealand for the exploitation of a newly-discovered vein

of clay on the cast coast of the Auckland province. Perhaps, Sir, you would be interested to hear that the importation from he United Kingdom of crockery and chinaware has dropped from £154,185 in 1931 to £111.343 in 1932, and in 1933 amounted to only £93.543, a drop of £60,642 in three "cars, while at the same time importations from Japan of the same class of goods have increased from £SSSB in 1931 t £10,212 in 1932, and in 1933 amounted to no less a sum than £2C,257, or an increase in three years of £17.729, or 300 per cent. Similarly, glassware from the United Kingdom shows a steady decrease, while importations from Japan are steadily increasing. Of course, it would be very nice for a few speculators to sell their clay to Japan and so reap some unearned increment from the land without any effort. But would it not be much better if the offer of this clay, site and shipping facilities were submitted to an English firm of pottery manufacturers on condition that they establish a factory in New Zealand for the manufacture of their - roduets, even with a subsidy from the Unemployment Board to encourage them and subsequent tariff protection? This seems to me a much better way of getting rid of surplus unemployment levy moneys than by giving it to wealthy companies to erect new buildings. What New Zealand wants more than anything is more population in order to provide a market within New Zealand for our primary products and thus make the country more self-contained and able to absorb its own products. This "an only be achieved by fostering secondary industries and cutting up large farms for closer settlement. If all farms were of such a size as to comfortably provide for an average family, the number of people thus settled on the land would provide the customers for our secondary industries, who in tprn would provide the customers for the farm products. But we do not want five-acre farms where the occupier of which would be reduced to the status of a Russian serf, depending on the caprice of his wealthy neighbours for a bare existence. Selling clay to Japan is as bad ns selling military secrets to the enemy when at war. Surely New Zealand is not going to supply Japan with the sinews wherewith to further weaken the purchasing power of the Mother Country?—l am, etc.. . OOH AYE. Wellington. September 15.