INDUSTRY EXPANDING

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 100, 22 January 1936, Page 5

INDUSTRY EXPANDING

English Manufacturer Surveys Conditions

BRITISH IMPROVEMENTS

“Industry is expanding, not _in a temporary boom, but with consistency and steadiness,” Mr. Leslie Walton, for two years president of the Society 01 British Motor Manufacturers and leaders, declared in an address be sa\e yesterday at a luncheon of members of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Walton said that in Great Britain, India, Australia and New Zealand he had noticed a steady upward trend in all trade.. Dealing with the motor industry, he said motor transport touched all sections of the community. Modern Ute was founded largely on the modern motor-ear. Homes were built at some distance from the centres of business and industry and the residents depended on motor transport. In Great Britain the motor industry was the fourth largest The future lay largely with the overseas market, and, whatever they may have been in the past, makers were now more ready to meet the requirements of their overseas customers, such as those jn New Zealand. British manufacturers bad been rather too prone in the past to make ttieir product and say the customers should buy it because it was British. There had not been a close enough regard for local conditions and requirements. He was convinced that a polite form of blackmail was not the way to get business or make friends. New Theory of Business. It was more generally appreciated now that British manufacturers should make goods which compared in price and quality with those of competitors, and then, as a make-weight, urge buyers to purchase the British article so that British people could buy more from New Zealand. This theory of business, however, had an opposite application. If New Zealand wanted Great Britain to buy its produce it should see that the article was what was wanted at a price that was competitive with other sources of supply. He knew that in Great Britain there was a widespread desire to buy, if possible, from the Dominions. In Great Britain, although it was evident that business was much better, there was still a large register of unemployed. He considered that however prosperous the country was, there would always be a high unemployment register, because there were so many who were unemployable, and many who would take only temporary work. Another reason why unemployment figures had not fallen as sharply as might have been expected with the returning tide of prosperity was that many employers did not, in the depression, put off their hands, but kept them on and worked them shorter hours. In consequence, though many of these men were now working full time, this improvement in industry was not reflected in the unemployment register, because the men had never been registered as unemployed. There bad developed a much better relationship between employer and employee. It was being realised more than ever before that the fortunes of both were wrapped together, and for one to exploit the other or seize a temporary advantage through a strike or a lock-out did neither any good and did both a great deal of harm. Labour to-day participated In some form or other in the profits it helped to create, and in his own firm that arrangement was working very satisfactorily. Manufacturers to-day took employees into their confidence more than ever before, telling them what the firm planned to do and what lay ahead, rather than using their services without regard to their interest in' the business.

Production and Selling.

In addition, manufacturers were making real efforts to level out tbeir production. At one time the ' motor industry used to be notorious for the taking on of many men in the spring and disposing of them in the summer when the rush was over. That was now being avoided. Manufacturers had concentrated in the past on production till they were very efficient In production. What had to be done now was to develop selling rather than producing. He touched on the sale of New Zealand produce in Great Britain. New Zealand wished to see British people buying from New Zealand some of the produce they now secured from other countries. It was easy to say, for instance, that Great Britain should buy from New Zealand before buying from the Argentine, but there was considerable British money invested in the Argentine, and tbe only way those investors could secure interest ou their money was in the sale of goods to Great Britain.

The British Empire, to be independent of tbe rest of the world, would have to work harder than ever before, reduce costs and increase sales or else have many disappointments. Mr. M. G. C. McCaul, proposing a vote of thanks, expressed pleasure at tbe news that British manufacturers were seeking Dominion markets in tbe spirit of understanding Dominion requirements, seeking to discover what the customer wanted, and then to satisfy that want. It was also pleasing to hear of the happy co-operation oetween employers and employees in Great Britain.