The Mayor’s Message to the City

Evening Star, Issue 21720, 15 May 1934, Page 6 (Supplement)

The Mayor’s Message to the City

The statement that about onetenth of the New Zealand-made goods are manufactured in Dunedin has been made by the mayor (the Rev. E. T. Cox), who adds that the slogan, “ Buy New Zealand-made Goods,” can be replaced by a better one: - “Buy Dunedin-made Goods. In his message to the city, His Worship says:— The display of New Zealandmade goods that will bo on view in approximately 400 shop windows in Dunedin during the week should draw the attention of the public to the magnitude of the secondary industries, and the part that they play in the economic life of the community. That some £80,000,000 worth of manufactured goods are produced in the factories of the dominion, about one-tenth of which arc made in Dunedin, indicates that these are vital to the life of the dominion. Speaking in broad terms, about £40,000,000 represent the value of

the raw material used, about £20,000,000 is paid in wages, and between £15,000,000 and £20,000,000 is the added value that the goods acquire during the process of manufacture,. Reducing this to this city’s share, the position is roughly that £4,500,000 is spent yearly by the -manufacturers for materials, about £2,000,000 in wages, and from £l, 500,000 to £2.000,000 is the added value given to the goods through the process of manufacture. This meets the cost of buildings, machinery, power, despreciation, interest on the capital invested, as well as sales costs. Thus the added value given to the commodity in Dunedin is nearly as large as the total value of the wool sold in Dunedin during the season, and the wages paid to the employees is of equal value to that of the wool production. It will thus be seen that so far as this city is concerned, the slogan, Buy New Zealand-made Goods,” can be replaced by a better one: “ Buy Duncdin-mado Goods.”