MODERN MATCH PRODUCTION

Evening Star, Issue 21720, 15 May 1934, Page 9 (Supplement)

MODERN MATCH PRODUCTION

ENLIGHTENING VISIT TO N.Z. WAX VESTA COMPANY'S FACTORY The common wax match is one of our absolute necessities of life, and it is so common that its constitution and manufacture probably never occasion a moment’s thought. And yet it is one of the marvels that springs from the combination of modern machinery and applied science. A visit to the premises of the New Zealand Was Vesta Company Ltd. at Caversham will convince the most casual of that fact. It is one of the really progressive and most interesting of the factories of the dominion, and affords a particularly happy illustration of the initiative and skill applied to the development of local industry. The first impression of these premises, before one pauses to study the intricate and remarkably interesting processes involved in the manufacture of a box of matches, is of the airiness •and general attractiveness of the surroundings in which the big staff is (obviously contentedly) at work. The make-up of the : various boxes in which the firm specialises is the first process to engage attention. This is performed hy a series of machines that carry ou

their respective duties with great precision and speed. A great deal of this machinery, incidentally, has been manufactured on the premises, and for all the materials used by the firm dominion, and if that is not possible, Empire, goods-are insisted upon. But it is the actual manufacture of the wax match and its evolution from its first stage on a huge cotton drum that is the most arresting treatment of all. The production of the taper, after the cotton threads aro firmly encased and passed through a stearine bath, and the subsequent process of feeding it into the match-making machines are both striking examples of an exemplification of scientific and mechanical knowledge. The automatic reception of the head of the match (in which there are an astonishing number of component parts) concludes this part of a sensitive operation, and the matches aro then ready for boxing. So many processes are involved, and each is so intricate, that it is quite impossible to describe them in a short space. But, seemingly insignificant as it is, each match is nothing less than a triumph of modern scientific production. The factory _ itself_ is an ideal one, excellently equipped in every way. The facilities provided for the social and recreational interests of the employees argue unusual thoughtfulness on the part of the manager and proprietors. There are croquet lawns and tennis courts, a most attractive garden, and dining rooms that suggest the atmosphere of better class clubs. The factory of tho New Zealand Wax Vesta Company is certainly worth inspection.

The very best wishes of the New Zealand Manufacturers’ Federation go out to the manufacturers and retailers of Dunedin in their “ Made in New Zealand Week.” Tho display of dominion-made products which will be exhibited in 400 shop windows will benefit the whole of the city. It will benefit the workers who made the goods, the retailers who sell them, and the people who buy them, and a wider value than the immediate wage and trade gain will result to the whole community through a stimulation of wage payments. The salaries and wages paid by the manufacturing industries alone —that is, exclusive of the semiprimary such as meat works, dairy factories, etc.—is for the whole of New Zealand £12,643,000 per annum. Of this £1,570,000 is spent in Otago. This is over £30,000 per week, nearly all spent in the city of ' : Dunedin. This large sum of money is put into circulation as soon as it is received by the wageearners. It flows each week into the shops, offices, professions, and business generally, and the measure of prosperity now existing is largely due to this continual outflow of money.

Wliat this means to all classes of the community can hardly be realised. What its cessation would cost the country has certainly not entered the minds of those who are urging the abolition of the relatively low tariff duties which make manufacturing possible under the present living standards of the country. If rates of duty were lowered or abolished manufacturing would still go on. People could not be turned into the streets to starve, but rates of pay would have to be lowered to meet the low production costs of other countries. If protection were withdrawn Dunedin’s weekly pay roll would drop enormously, and no possible compensating advantage would be gained in cheaper living. Although theoretically a country ''is not affected by low wages if the cost of living is relatively low, practically it is found that low wages go with poor conditions. The English labourer on 15s a week pays only 2s 6d for his cottage, but he lives very poorly. He never has new clothes, never a holiday. The cottage is a miserable affair, with no facilities for cleanliness and decency. Children go to-school poorly fed and sometimes verminous. That the mass of people in this country should come to this standard of living is unthinkable, but it is well