SECONDARY INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21116, 25 February 1932, Page 17

SECONDARY INDUSTRY.

pAIDING THE UNEMPLOYED. ill f OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH. EXAMPLES FR9M AUSTRALIA. The problem of unemployment, with particular reference, to the absorption of fco'vs and young men who are now idle, dealt with by Mr. John Storey, vice-president of the Chamber of Manufacturers of New South Wales, in a recent address. Many city people are continually advising parents to ' put their sons on the land,' " said Mr. Storoy. " These folks mostly tender their advice from the shelter of their city offices, yet. freely state that the other fellow is causing the city to be overcrowded. Let us consider their advice and examine the prospects of the lad who goes on the land. In the case of those parents who have the necessary capital to give their sons a start i» wheat-growing, dairying, sheep and mixed fanning, the outlook for a .healthy aiid happy life and one of independence is excellent if the boy likes the life anc ' ' s adapted for it. " Many parents, with the means to do this are doing so, and ii- must be commended. But, few'parents have the capital to give their sons a start like this, and if parents \vho have not the necessary capital put their sons on the land, what prospects/lie before the lads? The majority can look forward to no better ]if e than that of a farm labourer. Alternatively, of course, by saving diligently and working hard, they may, in course of time, manage to become small farmers of the peasant type. Some will succeed and prosper. But the brightest prospect before the majority will bo either to remain farm labourers or £o develop into a class similar to the European peasant, Tjho, by working from daylight to dark .. from one year's end to the other, manages ; to drag out an existence from four to five acres of land." " Unlimited Opportunities." Mr. Storey said it was to the secondary industries, and io them alone, to which Australia must look to maintain her high living standard and to afford opportunities for her youth. In contrast to the primary industries, which offered nothing but a dead-end occupation to the majority of youths unfortunate enough to be compelled to seek employment in them, the secondary industries afforded almost unlimited opportunities. " I will give you some instances," continued Mr. Storey. " Most- of you may not know that Aspros were first mads in Melbourne by t\yo young chemists. They had no capital, buj. they had knowledge, and when the outbreak of the war stopped the importation of aspirin to this country, they started to make Aspros in one room of a Melbourne city building. Nicholas' Aspros are now well known the world over, and the poor but enterprising young chemists of the early war years are millionaires. / " You have all heard the story of Mr. MacPherson Macßobertson and the nail can with which he started the industry which is now Maeßobertson's sweets factory, so there is no need to repeat it. Many of you will say that these are exceptional cases. Admittedly every manufacturer cannot expect to become a Nicholas or Macßobertson, bnt in hundreds of case the backyard industry of yesterday is' the flourishing factory of to-day and the great industrial concern of to-morrow. You have all heard of Berlei Corsets. Well, when Berlei. Limited, commenced manufacturing, they were not even a backyard industry, but rather an apstairs. industry, established in the rooms of ail old-fashioned living-in quarters, marble mantel-slielves and all. To-day, the firm employs 800 hands and its products are known throughout the Commonwealth and the United Kingdom, for the firm has established a branch in Britain. 1 Well-known Engineer's Rise. " Twenty years ago, Mr. John Sonnerdale, then commodore engineer of the Huddart-Parker fleet, walked down the gang-plank for the last time, donned the greasy overalls of an ordinary working engineer and started in a one-man repair shop. To-day he employs 60 hands, and Sonnerdale gears are known from Thursday Island to the Leeuwin. " In 1913, Mr. J. Schartl, now managing director of Electricity Meter Manufacturing Company, Limited, borrowed a r £SO note. With the friend who lent the £SO and another man, he bought a lathe and a few tools and started work in a small cellar in Dixon Street, Sydney. For the first year, £1 per week covered the works expenses. The three pioneers made their goods and then went out and sold them. The Dixon Street cellar has now changed to a factory site of 140,000 square feet and the £1 per week expenses of 1913 has given place to £4OOO a week for wages to-day. These are only a few of the many instances which might be quoted. They are not romances of a past age, but are typical of similar instances actually happening in every city in Australia to-day. Again, of course, I do no|, say that every boy who goes into secondary indnstries .will become a factory proprietor, but I do say most emphatically that the secondary industries offer those opportunities which every parent seeks for his children."