DOMINION PUBLICITY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 4 November 1942, Page 2

DOMINION PUBLICITY

MANUFACTURERS’ PRESIDENT CRITICAL “RIGID, UNIMAGINATIVE CENSORSHIP” Christchurch, Nov. 3. “One thing we have not done has been to ‘sell’ ourselves to ourselves,” said Mr C- V. Smith, president of the New Zealand Manufacturers' Federation, in his address to the annual conference to-day. Compared with other countries, said Mr Smith, and with certain exceptions such as the national film unit, New Zealand’s publicity had been very poor and uninspiring in its production, probably to a large extent due to a censorship that had been far too rigid and unimaginative. The average man or woman who read in newspapers what other countries were doing, who saw films or examined the propaganda put out by these countries and who did not know what his own country was doing could not be blamed for thinking that this country was doing very little.

Nothing succeeded like success and nothing impeded progress more than an inferiority complex. A united war effort must involve each man knowing what the other man was doing. It must also involve knowledge of the part in the war effort that he was playing himself. The United Kingdom High Commissioner, Sir Harry Batterbee. had said in Auckland recently :“I have no hesitation in saying that of all British countries overseas New Zealand has a record second to none, one has a record in the contribution of manpower to the fighting forces, to primary production and to the making of munitions within her capacity which she has a right to p i’ ou< *-” How many people classed that statement as diplomatic politeness, while in actual fact it was the simple truth, asked Mr Smith. The annual report stated that the federation council submitted representations to the War Cabinet covering the whole question of publicity as it related to the war effort. The present lack of propaganda among the public of New Zealand was stressed, as also was the unsatisfactory position which permitted the continuance of a censorship which was aiso a propaganda medium. While no direct approval of the suggestmns had been given by the Govthere had been a greater amount of information given to the public recently and the federation could undoubtedly claim material success in connection with its representations.