THE HARDWARE EXPERT.

Greymouth Evening Star, 22 February 1911, Page 3

THE HARDWARE EXPERT.

VISITS THE COAST ON THURSDAY fBY TELEGRAPH —SPECIAL TO THE STAR.] CHRISTCHURCH, This Day. Mr. H. P. Cameron, the Government hardware expert, who is inquiring into the position of the engineering trade in New Zealand, will complete his work in Christchurch to-day, and will leave for the West Coast and Nelson on Thursday morning. He will then, go through the North Island. He states that he is confident that he will be able to submit a useful and valuable report to the Minister of Customs. It was suggested to him when he began his mission that he should call meetings of those interested in tin; trade. He preferred to consult employers individually in their offices, and he is convinced that in this way he has obtained a great deal of information which would otherwise have been closed to him. In Christchurch he has found that the business in agricultural implements and other specialities is good. This applies to trade done outside the Dominion as well as inside its borders, a sign, which he points out, is a particularly healthy one. As a matter of fact he believes that the depression in the engineering industry generally is a blessing in disguise. It has compelled manufacturers to seek for specialities and to use their initiative in that direction with marked benefit. He has found more specialisation in Christchurch than in any other centre he has visited. In Dunedin there is a good deal of heavy work, while in Christchurch there is much more delicate mechanical work, requiring highly skilled mechanics. His report will be of a strictly private nature, and it is improbable that any of the details he deals with will be published.