CONTROL OF INDUSTRY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 119, 22 May 1941, Page 8

CONTROL OF INDUSTRY

In the course of a lengthy comment on the reply of the Minister of Industries and Commerce to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce^ "Manufacturer" writes:—

"As a manufacturer and knowing ether manufacturers and their views, I can say quite definitely that the implication that manufacturers generally look with favour on the activities of the Industries and Commerce Department is very, very wide of the mark. Above all else we want to be left alone to get on with our jobs in our own v/ay. It would be very interesting to knov. the percentage of those enjoying the blessings of licensing who wish to continue this particular kind of bliss. ... It is high time that the implication made by the Minister at every possible opportunity that manufacturers are solidly behind the Government in its efforts to control industry is finally debunked. Another of the 'great illusions' which have been so painstakingly built up is the great success of our system of price control. Much has admittedly been done by the tribunal in spite of the impossibly cumbersome system. No other 'free' country in the world has attempted the positive control of all prices. Such a task is utterly, impossible. It is a tribute to the patience and tact of officials and to the good sense and public spirit of manufacturers and dealers that so much has been done. Fortunately our business people are not—as the regulations suggest—potential profiteers. In actual fact, any competent business man who was not handicapped by a political programme could devise a scheme which would be effective and non-irritating and which would put into harness the good judgment and sense of fair play which actuates the great majority of business people. ... It is by no means established that the principle of imposing a time-lag on inevitable price increases is basically sound. It certainly does not square with the accepted fact that consumer spending must be limited to th- volume of available goods.

"On the subject of import control the Minister is on very shaky ground. He speaks of its 'benefits'! If there are any people sufficiently disillusioned who still cling to the belief that the Department has mastered the art of so-called 'import selection,' they must be people of extremely simple tastes. Until the war took a hand the scheme was not even well enough managed to achieve a real reduction in imports. . . . There might even be some division of opinion as to whether some ot our new industries are worth the sacrifice of certain imported articles which a Minister in his wisdom arbitrarily decides are non-essential. Too many of our 'industries' are mere converters of semi-finished goods and all kinds of such semi-manufactured article., masquerading as raw materials which are admitted merely provide employment for female workers who are already in short supply. The goods are put up into packages and flood the shops to the exclusion of articles which are a real feature of our living standard. The war has little to do with this and it is time that New Zealanders had a voice in choosing the kind of goods they may buy. The comparative absence of genuine basic industries working with genuine raw materials might also prompt them to ask if we are really 'planning' our industrial development or just hoping that the right ones will happen.

"This lack of planning applies also to labour. Where is the survey of labour we once heard about? If it was ever made what has been done about it? When are we going to make plan_. to keep our workers on the job? Junior workers drift from job to job seeking a better mai'ket—and ti-ades-men too. With war at the time looming ahead any country which imported bulldozers instead of machine tools can hardly be accused pf planning industry and yet the Minister is filled with complacency. We want more honest criticism and less self-admira-tion.

"It is high time the pseudo wartime regulations which are cramping and crippling the efforts of people who have the 'knowledge and judgment