OFFICIAL OPENING

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 103, 3 May 1937, Page 9

OFFICIAL OPENING

INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

WARM EULOGIES

The importance of secondary indus-[ ( tries in the economic life of the Do- j minion was stressed by the -Acting ( Prime Minister (the Hon. P. Fraser) ■ and the Minister of Industries and i Commerce (the Hon. D. G. Sullivan) in ( their'speeches at the official opening of the Coronation Show on-Saturday evening. Both speakers _referred to the ] problem of placing young people in ! employment, and suggested that the j expansion of New Zealand's manufacturing industries might be found to be a solution for that aspect of the general J unemployment problem. The ■ president of the Wellington J Show Association (Mr. C. J. B. Nor- j wood) presided, and in addition to the t Acting Prime Minister and the Mm- ' ister of Industries and Commerce, i there were also in the official party the Postmaster-General (the Hon. F. Jones), the Rt. Hon. Sir Michael Myers (Chief Justice), .the Mayor of Wellington (Mr. T. C. A. Hislop), and members of the committee of the Show Association. The show was declared , open.by Mr. Fraser. .■: . '.■'. ' . Mr. ■ Norwood expressed the Show . Association's appreciation'of the pre- 1 sence of the Ministers, the Mayor, and the Chief Justice. He pointed out that the show was really the commence- ; ment of the Coronation celebrations in ' Wellington, and he hoped that the ex- ' hibition would give a lead to the other Coronation ceremonies. ■:.■'. , Mr. Norwood commented upon the high1 standard of the exhibits, and, on ■'. behalf of the association, thanked the stall-holders for their work .'in assisting to make the show a success. He l regretted that on account. of the re/strictions imposed on the congregating ! (of children, the juvenile portion of the 'programme for the show would probably have to be omitted. ! , Mr. Norwood drew special attention ' 7 to the Nelson court, which, he said, j gave, surprising'evidence of what was produced in the Nelson Province, and '■ ■of the spirit of progress of the district. , The horse.show, he said, had expanded considerably, from 150 entries-to 360. In conclusion Mr. Norwood paid a , • tribute to the efforts of the Show Association Committee, and to the ■{ work of the manager (Mr.:G. Mitchell). ; FAVOURABLE COMPARISON. \ The Minister of industries and Com- 1 merce (the Hon. D. G. Sullivan) con- < gratulated Mr. Norwood on the posi- ' tion he occupied in this, the Coronation 1 year. It was a high honour to .be 1 president of the Show Association at « such" a time. ■He had had the'oppbr- <■ tunity of attending a good many pro- < vincial shows in various parts of the ' Dominion, and he could say that Wellington's compared more:than favour- .$ ably with those in other parts of New j Zealand. "During this year one .could ' have forgiven you if you had found I it impossible to rise to previous 1 standards, because,, after all, most. of our manufacturers and retailers are ■} very busy in meeting the requirements i of an expanding internal market," he ' said, ''and one could have understood t if they h^d'been too busy to give the c time on this occasion. There must '<■ "have/beerf'a'gobd deal of thinking "arid c r work done outside the limits of "the 40-hdur week to. enable this to have been achieved in the existing circumstsnees." Mr. Sullivan said he wondered whether the people of the Wellington district had any adequate idea of the t part played in the economic life by the } manufacturing Industrie's. In.the Wei- i lington district 20,000 people were mak- i ing their living from the manufacturing, industries^ and that number could be taken as a great tribute to the de- : velopment that had taken place. Wei- 1 lington Province produced over 20 per ; cent, of the manufactured, products of ] New Zealand, the value last year being ' just on £19,000,000, and over £3,000,000 ; being paid in wages. That was a great achievement, and was something that . the .pioneers of industry had to be proud of. ■' 'J\ ' GREATER RECOGNITION. But the road'had not been an easy , one, continued Mr. Sullivan. In past • years the manufacturing industries had ( not. received as much support from the Government as ■ some people . had proposed . they: should have, but he was hopeful that in the years to come greater recognition would be given to the value of manufacturing industries in their relation to the economic life of the country, and in relation to the opportunity they presented to young people and adults to earn, a living. ■ A large number of boys and girls were coming out of schools every year; they were entitled to an opportunity, and must receive it; and it was only by adequately developing the manufacturing industries that the young folk could really get their ; opportunity/ There were some things, that had to be done, but the first essential was that there should be an adequate market. Something would have to be done in the direction of internal organisation. Mr. Sullivan went on to point out that in the great, manufacturing countries much attention was being devoted to research. Some work was being done in New. Zealand on those lines, and in the past year the Government had.made some effort. Another, matter to receive attention was the extension of the principle of standards. By •taking essential factors into consideration and placing industries on a firm foundation the way would be open for a development '. which • would give people the opportunity of getting a living and winning prosperity out of the industries. A REAL PARTNER. The Mayor (Mr. T. C. A. Hislop) said that the Wellington City Council was a partner in the enterprise in a real sense, because the land on which the show was held was Town Belt, leased for fifty years, and the Corporation was represented on the management of the association. He felt sure that all felt gratified with the progress the association had made. It had had its period of great difficulty during the past few years, but it was now making progress again as formerly. Such a show gave an opportunity to everybody to see what local enterprise was doing, and from seeing, to supporting, by buying the products of local enterprise. On behalf of the citizens he congratulated the association on a very fine exhibition. The 1940 exhibition was not very far ' away, continued the Mayor, and the degree of support that had been received for that project was very encouraging. A stage of developnv/.it had been reached which was in advance of that reached for the Dunedin' exhibition ,at a similar stage, and he was certain that the 1940 exhibition was assured of success. £100 DONATION. The Mayor said he would like to take the opportunity of furthering the appeal for the King' George V Memorial Fund, and he could say that promises of support of a most encour-j aging nature had been received. He | thanked Mr. and Mrs. Norwood for a donation of £100. (Applause.) He thought that when the time came Wellington would be found to have lived well up to its reputation. Tha Acting Prime Minister (the Hon. j

P. Fraser) .briefly reviewed the growth of the association from the time it held its early shows in the Harbour Board sheds, and said that all had, taken a great interest.in the association's position throughout the years. He was pleased to learn that this year the show was likely to" be. a greater success than in any former year. The association had done great work in encouraging local industry and in bringing home to the people in the most attractive way the achievements of the manufacturing industries. Mr. Sullivan had stressed the importance of manufactures in our economic life. As a result of such shows industries had been "discovered" about which one knew very little, said Mr. Fraser. In; particular, he would like to direct attention to the stall displaying work done by disabled soldiers. , A PLANNED ECONOMY. After reviewing the progress made, by New Zealand as the result of the invention of refrigerating machinery, Mr. Fraser said that important as the dairy, agricultural, and pastoral industries were, no country could progress in one direction. A planned economy was needed, and it was not possible- for all the young people to be absorbed on the land itself. Secondary industries must assume importance, and become more important in the future. If a high standard of living was to be maintained the question of the most efficient and most economic production of commodities and their equitable distribution must be,the concern ; of? the Government- and the people/1 It was impossible to maintain the present high standard of living and to progress still further and provide people. with : the necessaries of life and such luxuries as were for the benefit of the people generally unless wealth production and commodity production were as efficient as possible and used to the fullest extent. The fundamental object of producing goods was to satisfy human needs, and the object of.any nation's economy must be to provide the necessaries of life. A country would be successful, first, in regard to.the amount of the wealth that was produced, and second, in regard to its equitable distribution, so that, everybody would be adequately provided for., IMPROVED CONDITIONS. Mr. Fraser said that the Dominion was in a better position today than it was a year or two ago. Exports had increased from £49,676,000 in 1936 by £10 500,000 to' £60,235,000 in 1937/ and imports had increased from £37,440,000 to £47,621,000—an increase of; over ten millions. : . ■. . . Though the country was emerging from the depression, there was still a great deal to be done. There were I still too many, unemployed, and the young people were coming on, and one read every- day of 'the, difficulties they had-in finding places in industry and commerce. These were problems that must be faced up to, and the young people must be' given an opportunity to a-full and useful life. "That can be done, but we must look in the direction of finding-new industries and developing that we have now. After'the speeches had been delivered the visitors inspected the stalls, and witnessed the marching competition in the stadium in which teams .of girls from commercial and industrial houses-participated. ' . The show was well patronised by the public till a late hour. The marching competition proved a spectacular and popular item, and: this feature^ is to be presented on three further occasions. The stalls, ars well- dressed and there? are many sideshows and other attractions -for young and old.