DOMINION-MADE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22476, 21 July 1936, Page 13

DOMINION-MADE

FACTOBY EXPANSION NATIONAL necessity SELF-HELP AND CO-OPERATION STIMULATING A DEMAND For the bulk of her supplies of manufactured goods tho Dominion depends on outside sources, ami for many years Britain and Empire countries will bo assured of a substantial portion of tho market. Manufacture here must develop, however —that is part of the policy of the Government, and is made imperative bv that policy.

There is as pressing a need as at any time during the past six or seven years for the creation of more employment, and it cannot be too strongly emphasised, particularly when the primary produce markets are glutted or restricted, that it is a much better business proposition to produce £IOO worth of manufactures in the country than to enlarge exports by a similar amount. We should do both if possible, but the former is the better proposition. If manufacture is to expand the goods nuist bo sold and the local market is practically the only market, for the great majority of factory units work on too small a scale to enable them to competej against mass production in bigger countries. W hat is tho outlook in the local market for increased consumption of locally-made goods?

Prices and Competition

Under the recent legislation that is increasing .wages and reducing hours of labour costs are bound to rise; indeed, have already risen, and the only function of the price control tribunal will be to prevent increases being carried to unjustifiable lengths, otherwise many plants would close down, aggravating the unemployment evil and smothering enterprise, facts of which the Government is fully aware, and obviously contrary to its aim. Seeing that prices must inevitably rise, manufacturers encounter at once the menace of keener competition from abroad. In some quarters it has been felt already, for, although the impending situation was clearly explained in a memorandum to the Government from the New Zealand Manufacturers' Federation toward the end of April, and emphasised by subsequent representations, nothing has yet been done to give the assurances that are especially necessary in the case of manufacturers whose business requires them to quote ahead.

Creating Wider Demand

Some groups appear to rely upon increased tariff protection to retain their market; others may be anticipating a system of licensing imports. Neither method will necessarily give to the manufacturer the guarantees against unequal competition he requires. Protection may be inadequate or it may be too long delayed. H« must, therefore, aim at creating a greater demand for' his products to help to bridge the gaps which show up ominously ahead. He must endeavour to make the public realise more clearly that in buying New Zealand-made goods they not only help their neighbour, but also* themselves. The purpose of this i article is to proclaim that truth. Under the conditions which are being established by legislation there will be painful comprehensive effects unless the public, by its purchasing, enables secondary industry to expand. From inquiries made in Auckland it would appear that the prejudice against the locally-made article is not nearly so strong as it used to be; less is heard of manufacturers, at the instance of the retail trade, disguising the origin of the goods by giving them a "British" or "Empire" trademark. "We Must Push Our Wares "

Publicity campaigns of the past have had a good * effect, but if prejudice is disappearing there is need, urgent under new circumstances, to cultivate here something of the Australian spirit in favour of locally-made goods. Mr. D. Henry, president of the New Zealand Manufacturerers' Federation, states: —"Prejudice against New Zealand goods has largely disappeared. The deciding factor to-day is price, for there is tftf question about the quality of most of our goods. In many directions it can be said that a bias in favour of New Zealand goods is in evidence, but that bias requires stimulating. We must push our wares." When Mr. Henry used the word "we" he was probably thinking mainly of the manufacturers themselves. But to achieve the desired end that "we" should embrace the whole selling community. ~ The retail trade and the salesmen and saleswomen must co-operate if there is to be created the enlarged demand that will enable the manufacturers to make good by increased output the rise in overhead. Recognising as they do the usual means of distribution, the having done their best to give their wares identity and make the public familiar with them, must then rely upon the retailers to perform their share of what is nothing less than a national duty. Failure to do so will recoil on their own heads and upon their employees. That is as plain as a pike-staff. If through a.lukewarm attitude toward New Zealand goods there are 10,000 less factory wage-earners than ther»» might bo, every business will lose jn consequence. If half a million pound" worth of goods that might be manufactured in New Zealand are imported. ' not only does that sum, plus exchange, leave the country: further funds must be found to maintain the men who in consequence are kept unemployed. The Australian Spirit Some time ago an Aticklander asked for an article in a Sydney shop and was shown one of Australian manufacture. "Haven't you any imported stuff?" he asked. "What is the matter Tv ith Australian?" came back the quick and somewhat indignant retort of the saleswoman. More of that spirit behind the counters of New Zealand shops is called for. "The public must respond to the progressive efforts of producer, manufacturer and salesman," said Lord Bledisloe, when opening the New Zealand Farmers' Union conference in 1&31, "by playing their part in supporting patriotically the products of their own land and their own factories so far as they are suitable and available, and thus reduce unemployment and the onerous financial burden which it.involves; 1 make no apology for addressing you to-day dressed entirely—from my tie to my shoes inclusive — in the products of New Zealand, made in New Zealand factories and sold in Zealand shops." That appeal is doubly strong to-day.