INDUSTRY'S NEED

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 133, 2 December 1936, Page 12

INDUSTRY'S NEED

SOME DEFINITE ACTION

MARKET MAY BE LOST

OVERSEAS COMPETITION

Pointing out. thai without Government action the manufacturing industries would be unable to maintain workers in full employment, Mr. D. Henry, president of the New Zealand Manufacturers' Federation, in his address at the annual conference! today, expressed the hope that definite action to safeguard secondary industries would not be delayed. The past year, said Mr. Henry, had been probably the most critical—and almost certainly the most crowded— in the history not only of New Zealand industries, but also of New Zealand itself. "Our. last annual conference was held exactly one week prior to the General Election, and I suppose there were few, if any, of us present a year ago who had even the faintest notion of the far-reaching and fundamental changes into which, for better or worse, the Dominion was about to plunge," he continued. "This federation of manufacturers is, ol course, an organisation directly concerned in politics; but at the same time it should be emphasised that we are not in any way concerned with party politics. Whatever views we may hold personally and individually, when we meet here in our capacity as manufacturers we have only one standard by .which to judge the actions of any Government that may be in office, regardless of its political colour. We want to know if that Government is creat-1 ing conditions favourable to the furIher development and the highest welfare of manufacturing industries in the Dominion. "The Labour Government has been in office barely a year; and personally I am reluctant to express a decided opinion just yet. Many reassuring statements have been made, and we have welcomed the various pronouncements we have received from the Prime Minister and the Minister of Industries and Commerce. Nevertheless, we cannot make a final judgment on the strength merely of words and promises; we must suspend judgment until we are in a position to gauge their actual outcome in action. From this standpoint, the decisive year will probably be next year. "So far we have to acknowledge the manufacturing industries have, at any rate, on the whole, not been detrimentally affected by the actions of the new Government. Except in one or two industries, our factories today are nearly all working at full capacity; and, up to this point, we are enjoying a period of good business such as we have not previously known for many years. "There are three or four exceptions— industries which are already badly hit by competing imports—but on the whole our factories are getting as many orders as they can cope with, and the problems before us today are those of development and expansion. At the same time it must be recognised that, although most of our factories are now working to capacity, yet it is a reduced capacity. The adoption of the 40-hour week has meant that, with a given amount of plant and machinery, and a given number of workers, the capacity of an average factory has been reduced from 8 to 9 per cent. INSECURE FOUNDATION. "Moreover, the position at ths moment should not blind us—and it should not blind the Government—to the fact/ that the present business we are doing rests upon very insecure foundations. The simple and obvious fact is that our costs of producing goods in New Zealand have been substantially increased, while there has been no corresponding increase in the overseas factories with which we are competing. At; the moment we are still, in spite of this, obtaining, in most industries, a full volume of orders. But if. the existing price-advantage of the overseas firms continues, we cannot expect for much longer to hold our share of the market. I believe that we have been able to hold it so far only—or mainly—because most importers have felt that the Government was determined to safeguard New Zealand industries; and they have wisely been reluctant to break their connection and good will with New Zealand industries in order to snatch some merely temporary advantage by switching their purchases overseas. "But the lime is fast approaching when, unless the Government definitely acts, we shall be unable to maintain our workers in full employment; and I earnestly hope that definite action to safeguard our industries will not be much longer delayed. "We appreciate the fact that the whole question of safeguarding New Zealand industry is interwoven with the trade arrangements which are now being negotiated in London by the Hon. W. Nash. We have full confidence, however, that the Government will not sacrifice our manufacturing industries in making any bargain for the disposal of farm produce overseas. The Prime Minister has Repeatedly declared to the representatives of manufacturing industries: 'You may trust the Government absolutely; we will never let you down.' On our part, we have accepted that declaration and placed complete reliance ' upon the Prime Minister's pledged word, This year we have understood the difficulties of the Government, and the impracticability of doing anything until Mr. Nash has had a chance to explore the position in London; and we have therefore exercised patience in carrying on, with the Government's pledges to support us, but without any definite action, through an anxious and difficult year. . AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION. "Next year we shall be looking for those pledges to be redeemed, and for a real move to implement the Government's declared intention to safeguard and develop our manufacturing industries. . i "Perhaps the most urgently-required I measure is the adoption of a stronger and more effective policy to deal with Australian competition. I cannot see any reason in the word why Austra- I lian goods should be admitted to this market to displace either New Zealand goods or British goods. Our balance of trade with Australia in the first nine months of the current year was- New Zealand exported to Australia £1307,000, New Zealand imported from Australia £3,548,000. The imports from Australia (during these nine months) was 25 per cent, higher than they were during the corresponding period of last year. "So it is evident that there is room for the Government to make a drastic reduction of our imports of manufactured goods from the Commonwealth—without endangering our own exports to that market.'1