WOMAN THE BUYER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20902, 18 June 1931, Page 17

WOMAN THE BUYER.

PROSPERITY OF DOMINION

POWER OF FAMILY PURSE

PURCHASING ; LOCAL PRODUCTS

In (he creation of a healthy future for J\'ow Zealand's secondary industries •women, perhaps, play the largest part. Jt is the woman -\\ho controls the day-io-day household purchases, and unless fh</elects to buy New Zealand-made goods till the efforts of tho manufacturer must coma to nought. The factory may produce the goods, the distributor may circulate them and the retailor advocate them, but unless tho housewife buys tlicni their labour is vain.

1 There are many women, of course, who Teceivo a direct benefit from the establishment, of local factories in that such undertakings provide them with employment, but the number of women concerned with local industry through purchases only is infinitely greater. Actually, women employed in factories arc purchasers as well as employees, so that the buying of Xe.w Zealand goods is a matter affecting every woman in tho country.

Tho prosperity of tho secondary industries '? not a matter merely affecting vonien, but one which concerns them vitally. How Ait ally they are involved is a point, worthy of considerable attention in driving home to them. Usually their concern when shopping is to secure faro valuo for their money, and there their interest stops.

Employment lor Menfolk.

That is not true of all women, howTver, for many realise the differenco between face valuty and actual value, and they know that by insisting upon New Zealand-made goods they are stimulating local industries and ensuring employment for their menfolk and added spending power for themselves. When once all tho women of New Zealand realise that by purchasing New Zealand articles they are providing themselves with more money to spend the manufacturer's millenium will have arrived.

But the ultimate result is not merely to tho benefit of the manufacturer. That is a point incidental to the greater rationil aspect. The fact that the manufacturer benefits by the sale of his goods is an infallible indication that the whole country has benefited, for it follows that his s;.les have gone through the usual rhann;ls of distribution and retailing to the advantage of all concerned. The great and important point, however, is that the money which the housewife passed over the counter in exchange for the manufacturer's goods has remained in New Zealand instead of going overseas to btnefit some foreign competitor, and thus it is still available for use in industry* and the expansion of the manufacturer's activities. This means more employment for the New Zealand workman and more money for the workman s wife to spend. / Expensive Economy. It is extremely doubtful if the woman coulc. be found who would not welcome the chance of spending more freely, yet :.f women could be induced to give but brief thought to the matter they coulc be shown that by buying foreign goods they arc all the time restricting their own ultimate purchasing power. Inpatient, perhaps, for results, they might turn to the purchase of a cheap foreign article lor the sake of the penny they save to-< Jay. That penny saved, however, will result in a loss of two pence tomorrow, for the foreigner who made the article they purchased will spend his profit upon himself, in his own country. If a New Zealand article had been bought the Dominion manufacturer would have used tho profit in New Zealand, in the expansion of his industry or as a purchaser of other New Zealand goods. In any case, he would have usee, it to thp advantage of other New Zealanders.

Since the shopkeeper is the vital link in the chain between producer and purchaser his duty is clear. It is to lose not the slightest' opportunity of impreM.ing upon'his customers the merits of New Zealand goods, and thus bringing to the housewife's notice the fact that New Zealand goods cannot be excelled. She will discover that fact for herself when ■ once she has been induced to purchase. Having made that discovery she wil. in futuVe make a point of demanding Dominion products and the problem will have been solved.

There are, / of course, many women already who demand New Zealand goods, often to find that the shopkeeper does not stock them. That is a state of affairs difficult to understand, since the business training of the shopkeeper—as opposed to tne lack of business training in many a housewife —should have pointed oui; to him long ago that his greatest benefit, lay in fostering local industry.

The shopkeeper, as well as the housetvi it., n arousing to the importance to liiiuself of the country's secondary industries, but if every housewife were brought to that realisation the shopkeeper would 3>o forced to fall in line with the. rlemand for local products or go out of Itusincss.

Lot the women understand the simple fa-t that by buying New Zealand goods thov will have more money to spend and ;i. difficult obstacle to prosperity will have licen removed.

FUELLING AEIIOPLANES. SPECIAL PUMPING TOWERS. MANUFACTURE IN DOMINION. A decision'to liavc nil future petrol fuelling towers for aerodromes in New Zealand manufactured in the Dominion has been reached l>y tlm Vacuum Oil ('omjiany Proprietary, Limited. _ Pre.vicusly tneso pumps have been imported from France but as a result of a tour of iSPW Zealand l>y Mr. 15. Shcil, aviation officer of the company, it has been uetided that it is praclicable to make an improved pump in New Zealand. Plans have been prepared embodying certain improvements upon the imported nrlicle, making a pump inore suitable for local conditions, and 12 aerodromes in Sew Zealand will bo installed as soon as i lie towers are. constructed. The towers nil to be made of fabricated steel and will be 21ft..high. They will be fed from 500 to 1000 gallon underground tanks, and equipped with a long swinging arm enabling three aeroplanes to be refuelled without moving the machines from the pump. T he imported type of tower necessitates 1 lio attention of two men when a machine is being refuelled, but the. locally manufactured type will be capablo of operation by omg 'man. A specially evolved selffiltmng controllable nozzle will be a feature of the equipment. This nozzle will ynsure that the fuel is filtered at the very '.ast moment before it enters the tank of tlio aeroplane. It will also bo possible to cut off the flow of petrol by means of a valve in tlio nozzle.

Confidence was felt in (ho ability of New Zealand manufacturers to make an article better than the. imported product, nnd tho company decided to give the Dominion manufacturers tho opportunity of proving that that confidence was justified.