NEW ZEALAND GOODS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20520, 22 March 1930, Page 10

NEW ZEALAND GOODS.

The farewell advice given by Sir Charles Fergusson in the .closing weeks of his term as GovernorGeneral included a strong recommendation, indeed a fervent "appeal, to the people of New Zealand to give first preference always to New Zealand goods, as a powerful contribution toward the elimination of unemployment. In his first official utterance, Lord Bledisloe has confirmed his predecessor's advice. Endorsement has been given by a committee of citizens in Christchurch, which, advancing two .propositions, has placed first the recommendation of a campaign for the purchase of New Zealand goods. Sir Charles Fergusson mentioned that he had been informed of preparations for the launching of a great appeal to the people of New Zealand to support local industries by buying their products; it is obviously a campaign of this character. that the Christchurch committee contemplates. Such efforts have j been mfide in the past, and though i limited in both scope and duration, j they have undoubtedly been fruitful. ! Their results, indeed, encourage the j inauguration of a more comprehenj sive, more sustained and more systematic campaign that would not jbe content with merely awakening • public? interest but would be con- • tinued until preference for New j Zealand goods became the rule in all ' buying, whether by individuals or ! public bodies. Gratifying results have been achieved by systematic i methods in the selling of New Zealand produce abroad, where keen competition has to be met; their application here would have the advantage from the outset of public sympathy, of not only readiness to preference for the local product, but also of an intelligent appreciation of its direct relation to the solution of unemployment. The campaign cannot, however, be won merely by exhortations. Practical action must be taken, on a national scale, by organisations directly re-j presentative of the secondary industries.. Their first step will obviously be to enlist the co-operation of. all retail interests—from whom, as probably the numerically largest secondary industry, appeals for assistance should gain cordial response. In the past, they have readily made special displays of New Zealand goods. If the campaign is to succeed, New Zealand goods must always be placed in the forefront, so that the range and the quality of the products from the Dominion's industries will not be astonishing to the people of the Dominion, as Sir Charles Fergusson suggested would now be the case, but will be known and appreciated in every household.