MANUFACTURING POLICY

Evening Star, Issue 21284, 13 December 1932, Page 5

MANUFACTURING POLICY

N.Z. LIMITATIONS SUGGESTED WHOLE MARKET FOR LIKES SUGGESTED [Special to the ‘ Star.’] CHRISTCHURCH, December 12. The opinion that the New Zealand manufacturers should be given the entire dominion market for such articles as they could turn out in considerable quantity at reasonable prices, and that Britain should be permitted to send to New Zealand articles that could not be produced economically in New Zealand, ,was expressed this afternoon by Mr A. W. Beaven, the speaker at the luncheon given by the Christchurch Businessmen’s Club. “ 1 may be accused of inclining to free trade,” said Mr Beaven. “ That is not so. What 1 have always advocated is that what we manufacturers have to do is to get together and select those articles that wo can make a considerable mini her of at a reasonable price, then claim such duties as will allow us the whole market for them here. We can thou allow Britain to send many articles produced in her factories in large numbers that we cannot hope to make in large enough numbers here. We cannot make small quantities of any article economically, and be fair to the rest of the community in competition with the same article procured by the million in the immense establishments in England—but see you say England every time.” As an illustration he quoted the case of 1,400 disc harrows being manufactured in New Zealand at a time when 1,700 disc harrows were imported. If the manufacturers could have made 3,000 disc harrows, instead of the 1,400, they could have manufactured them 10 per cent, cheaper. It was the small quantity that manufacturers could make of any one thing that was the trouble. He suggested that they should be able to go to the Government and say they could make a certain article as well- and as cheaply as it could be imported, and that they should be given the market. As long as Christchurch made things and Auckland brought things in, they were not going to get that. The line of least resisfcance lay in getting together those things they could make, and they might to have a market to themselves when they could make the article as well, and at same price, as the imported article. “We could with advantage to ourselves throw off the duties in some lines where mass production in other countries effectually prevents ,the making of the few we require here, and increase the duties on the articles we do make,” Mr Beaven concluded.