The Evening Star TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 1926. SECONDARY INDUSTRIES.

Evening Star, Issue 19318, 3 August 1926, Page 6

The Evening Star TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 1926. SECONDARY INDUSTRIES.

There was a note, of jubilation, at last night’s meeting of the Dunedin Manufacturers’ Association. This was entirely due to the satisfaction over the fin© showing made at the Exhibition by the Secondary Industries Court. It was indeed a great effort, and the praise bestowed on those chiefly responsible was thoroughly deserved. Certain aspects of trade development in New Zealand indicate that some such demonstration of what is being done and what it is possible to do in the future in the way of providing for our own daily needs came not a whit before its time. Had it not been for this particular section of tho Exhibition the importing habit would have become further ingrained in us as a community, with no better corrective than the occasional discrepancy on the wrong side between the values of our exports and our imports, and tho seasonal outcry concerning unemployment. But tho Secondary Industries Court at the Exhibition must have convinced the public that manufacture has taken root among ns, and that with reasonable attention and encouragement it can be developed to a degree that will keep our trade balance right and provide the employment which a growing population and the dwindling amount of suitable land available cannot find scop© for in primary production. The Exhibition may he regarded as the impressive opening of a big publicity campaign, but it needs to be followed up systematically. The annual report of the Manufacturers’ Association contains a clause which deals with future propaganda, and stresses the need for consistent effort henceforth.' It is only tho natural sequel of tho initial announcement, graphically backed in many cases by the practical illustration of tho process of their manufacture, of the motto “ Buy New Zealand Goods” blazoned forth at Logan Park. The principle of “ Catch them young ” is being adopted, and arrangements have been mad© for pene- 1 tration of the schools, with the sympathy and co-operation of the Head Masters’ Association. Before long the tangible proof of this publicity movement should be in the hands of the school children, whence it should gain l widespread entry into the homes of the community. And it is there that the lesson must be absorbed. It, may not he a rapid process, nor yield immediate fruit. Mr Hainsworth has stated that business is not likely to respond to tho publicity stimulus given by the Exhibition until two years have ©lapsed. Probably it „ will take longer than that to perceive any growth of a feeling corresponding to that which impels manufacturers in the Commonwealth to stress tho tact—and, whenever possible, imprint- it on the goods themselves — that they were made in Australia. For there, as the result of years of cultivation, those few words convey at once an appeal to patriotism and a guarantee of quality to which the purchaser readily responds. Here, however, it is quite otherwise. It is, at any rate, the exception rather than the general rule, Mr Sutherland Ross has indicated that present-day conditions do not tend towards an easy success for the education of the community for a preference for tho local article. Competition from overseas is keener than ever before, because business has not >een following a normal course since

the war. Because of lowered purchasing power, there has been an invasion of markets in some lines by relatively low-priced goods of correspondingly low grade. His advice to local manufacturers is not to meet such competition by lowering their standards of quality. In that case, along with tho “ Buy New Zealand goods ” propaganda, there should be instilled into tho public mind the lesson that in the end the cheap article often proves the dearest, and possibly this might be accompanied by a departure from the ad valorem system as applied to Customs duties.

The vexed question of Customs tariff ■was not pushed into the forefront at yesterday’s meeting. It has been said with great pungency that in some countries manufacturers, having Jailed to secure the tariff protection they desired, have had recourse to efficiency, and with the best of results. W© would far prefer to see our secondary industries win through on their merits than be subsidised by the State out of the community’s pockets. Nevertheless, there has to be borne in mind what Mr Ross said about tho present intensity of competition; also the public’s ingrained habit of baking the imported article as a matter of course. This may not be a prejudice, but in effect it amounts to the same thing if no effort is made by the distributor to suggest an alteration in that habit. In some lines of trade the local manufacturer sells direct to the consumer, and cornea face to face with him. But in the majority of cases there is not this personal contact, and probably the greatest hurdle these manufacturers will have in their “ Buy New Zealand goods ” campaign will bo the co-opera-tion of tho middleman, who handles both imported and locally-made goods of tho same category. Mr Ross mentioned another handicap to local industry in the rapid growth of the “ cash on delivery” form of importation through the parcels post. Our Post Office figures dealing with this comparatively recent innovation are illuminating. Tho value of goods thus handled rose from £4,200 in 1923 to £31,952 in 1925. It is, however, not necessary to allow a rival exclusive use of a now weapon. A couple of months back “5.L.8.,” a noted English contributor of Press articles on British farming, referred to the small holder being so often beaten by the eternal problem of marketing. Town folk of modest means could not obtain the produce they needed, though the small holder could produce it in abundance. The complaint of the small holder was that, if he sent his goods to market, lie risked receiving an account showing that he was in debt to the consignee; while, if he sent them to a private customer, ho risked hearing no more of the transaction. But now the c.o.d. system is eliminating those dangers. New Zealand’s experience of the c.o.d. system only corroborates that of other countries as to its rate of growth and its permanence. It is firmly established in Central and Northern Europe. The c.o.d. turnover in Germany, for example, now exceeds £1,600,000 a week.