SECONDARY INDUSTRIES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18374, 14 April 1923, Page 11

SECONDARY INDUSTRIES

REVIEW OF OPERATIONS.

LOWER VALUE OP OUTPUT.

{AUCKLAND PROVINCE LEADS.

RISE OF ELECTRIC POWER.

The statistical report on industrial manufacture in New Zealand in 1921-1922 has been issued by the Government Statistician. It deals with the operations of 4180 establishments, which employed 70,316 persons, paid £13,677,376 in wages, and from materials, valued at £40,044,325 produced a total output valued at £67,146,269. Land, buildings, machinery and plant 'employed in these industries were assessed at £41,384,219. Direct comparison with the statistics of previous years is not possible, as certain classes of small establishments have been excluded from the latest compilation. An indication of the changes in industrial manufacture is, however, given by returns in which adjustments have been made to permit, direct -comparisons. Thus the number of employees in industries (excluding administration and distribution) was 61,068 in 1921-1922, as against 63,616 in tho parallel industries in the previous year. Tho cost of materials used or operated upon was £39,909,824, as against £53,426,649, while the value of the products was £66,847,837, as against £78,473,569. The Leading Industries. Among the principal industries, the leading position in. respect of output is taken by butter, cheese and condensed milk manufacture. In this class, 436 establishments are enumerated. They employed 4138 persons, paid £813,489 in wages, and produced an output valued at £15.003,958. The meat-freezing andj preserving industry with 50 establishments, employed 8245 persons, I among whom £1,649,650 were distributed j In wages and salaries. The output was j valued at £10,530,107. Sawmillihg and I Fash and door making, comprising 397 establishments, employed _ 3066 men in felling, hauling and delivering logs at mill; 3754 persons in the production of sawn timber from logs; and 1603 persons in manufacturing from timber. The wages bill of the whole industry was £1,970,571 and the value of output £4,772,322. Printing, publishing and bookbinding are credited with an output valued at £3,464,224, clothing manufacture follows with £2,225,042, while engineering, tanring, fellmoneering and wool scouring, motor and cycle engineering, furniture and cabinet-making, woollen milling, and boot and shoe making are all shown to have produced output* exceeding £1,000,000. Industry by Provinces. The distribution of industrial manufacture is shown by the following summary of the returns for provincial districts:—

The outputs in the other provinces were: Nelson, £914,378; Westland, £732,527; Marlborough, £472,386. .■ -\ . ■;■ , According to tho return, the Auckland Province provides employment for 31 per cent, of the persons engaged in the industries comprised in the enumeration; nays 31 per cent, of the total wages; and produces 33 ; per cent, of the total output. ; ! '' : ' ''.' ;. " ''; ■ ,';. ' , "' ■'•'■" ' Coal and Electricity. The motive power employed in 1921-22 was 219,700 horse-power. "As regards kind of power used." says the statistician, "the most remarkable development is the large increase in electric motors. Where electric current ia, available, new installations of power are almost invariably of this type, and i with increasing facilities no doubt will become correspondingly preponderant." - A table• shows ■ that of the total motive power, 101,083 horsepower is derived from steam engines, and 49,571 horse-power from electric motors, coal gas engines furnishing 10,294 horsepower and suction gas engines 14,181 horse-power. ;''■-'. '•■■,• ■• ' ' •' -' J '•More than 67 ■• per cent. N of the coal used in manufacturing industries is j consumed in the North Island," says the statistician. "This is accounted for largely by the extensive use in the two main centres of the South Island of hydro-electric power. The most remarkable differences appear .in tramways, electric sulpply and gas works. Tramways use in the North Island, 67,858 tons, as against '-. 2-534 tons in the ' South Island; electric supply 79,174 in the North, as against 14,066 in the South; and gas 6upply 170,506 tons in the North Island, as against 76,965 in the South Island." The contrast may b & further illustrated from the general summary. ' Industries in the Auckland province employ 82,262 horse-power, of which .15,400 is derived from electric motorsequivalent to barely 19 per cent. V Canterbury employs 30,557 horse-power, of which no less i >nn 11,273 horse-power is electric proportion being &i per cent. In Otago. there is a similar position, 9913 horse- | iwer out of a total of 26,072, being electric—the ratio being 38 per cent.

Province. Employees. "Wages. Products. AitoWand .21.814 4.293.067 22.287.178 Wellington '. 14 017 3.051.375 13.572.042 CMterbUCT . 12.665 2.437.173 11.916.895 Canterbury 1.851.646 7.514.251 TarlSaki' 2.325 459.696 8.999.789 Hawked Bay" : " 2.587 510.414 8.001,692 Southland .. 2.644 509.969 2.735.133