DEVELOPING INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20950, 13 August 1931, Page 12

DEVELOPING INDUSTRY.

establishment of board* NO APPARENT VALUE. attitude of manufacturers. The decision of the Government to appoint a Development of Industries Board is regarded as "absurd," "ridiculous" and "farcical," by one of Auckland's prominent manufacturers. "If it were not for the fact that the board will cost money the taxpayers can ill-afford I would call it amusing," he said. "It reminds me of the theorists who occasionally offer suggestions without a tittle of data. They imagine that they have discovered a new idea for New Zealand industry, when the fact is that a dozen manufacturers have quietly investigated the subject and found that it is impractical if for no other reason than that the article could not be produced at a cost that could compete with that possible under mass production methods in Europe or America. Our volunteer advisers nearly always forget the fact that the population of New Zealand is 1,500,000 and that elsewhere factories manufacturing the goods they suggest .are catering for a market many times greater. Personnel Difficulty. "As to this board, where is the Government going to get the personnel ? I doubt if there are five men in New Zealand not already engaged in manufacturing business who can tell secondary industry anything it does not already know. Possibly the Government has manufacturers in mind, but if my judgment is correct, no manufacturer will have the time or tho inclination to associate himself with this 'goose chase.' "Assuming that this board offers suggestions for new industries, whafc then ? The Government is not going to try to start them so back we come to the private individual who must first be convinced that there is a profitable market and then must find the capital. And already, probably, the proposition has been carefully investigated by men more competent than the board to make a sound judgment. The Manufacturing Instinct. "You cannot force the pace in manufacturing industry unless the Government follows the example of Australia and by all sorts of State aid and protection creates factories which are contributing to the present chaos. In the first place, manufacturers are born, not made. They must be men with the manufacturing instinct upon which they build practical knowledge that is not confined to the intricacies of the technical side, but. also embraces business ability. This means that manufacturing industry must grow naturally to be sound. With the opportunity comes the man. "There is nothing that the board might do that is not already being done by the Department of Industries and Commerce. I* have a high opinion of that department, and also of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. There is no industrial problem that the officials of these departments will not attack on behalf of the manufacturers. And in their case there is the advantage that their work is continuous, 110 matter what Government is in power. These two departments could handle any work which might be deliberated upon by the board, but as far as developing industry is concerned they can only advise. The private individual must have the final word.. Other Scopo for Energies. "For tho life of me I cannot understand the Government's purpose. Possibly it is electioneering, but seeing that it must know that the electors are in a highlycritical frame of mind, tho electioneering value of the board's appointment is questionable. If instead of this the Government employed its energies in devising schemes for the eradication of gorse and blackberry, for the regeneration of land that has 'gono back,' it would be doing something worth while. The future would benefit. The only development of industries board of any use is that which exists. It does not meet. It is not a corporate bod} - , but, nevertheless, its members are scattered over the country and are always vigilant, always investigating. Whun a practicable scheme appears it will be tackled."

Reference to the last report of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research shows that its activities had embraced research for practical purposes in respect of dairying, wheat, seed and plant growing, the pig industry, the oar: bonisation of coal, which has now become an active industry in the Waikato, the tanning industry, wool and flax production, weed control, and the problems of cold storage and transport. Already the work in regard to tanning has had practical results in existing factories! and in regard to many other processes the knowledge gained is paving the way for further developments. "But," said another manufacturer, "no State institution can do more than investigate and point the way. It remains for the private individual, armed with the highly-useful knowledge which is at his command in the records of the departments, to make the vital decisions The board that is to be set up may marshal a lot of the information already gathered «ind reissue it, but that is all. I doubt if it will be able to stimulate initiative."