NEW ZEALAND GOODS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21019, 7 May 1930, Page 15

NEW ZEALAND GOODS

“CANNOT BE SURPASSED" r'. s V - ■ NEED FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION SYMPATHETIC SUPPORT ESSENTIAL , , By MR J. B, DONALD (Minister of Industries and Commerce). . I have much pleasure in complying with your request for a message from me for inclusion in the special industrial supple- v ment which you arc issuing in conjunction with the “ Made in New,Zealand Week*’ that is being organisd by the Dunedin Manufacturers’ Association. I understand that.a similar Week was held last year, when « ■ very praiseworthy displays were made by retailers and manufacturers in the shops of Dunedin. I. understand, also, that : your paper, in conjunction with the displays last year, undertook ’ the task of issuing a special supplement calling the attention bf the public to- the merits of New Zealand-made goods and urging' • upon them the desirability and the necessity of supporting local < industries wherever possible. Your, effort last year and your initiative in undertaking the issue of a special supplement this year are to be greatly commended, and I heartily congratulate you upon them, In my capacity as Minister of Industries and Commerce I have had the opportunity, and I have made it my business, to familiarise myself with industry in New Zealand, and particularly with our secondary industries, I have been very-favourably impressed with the products of those industries, and I can honestly say that as regards both price and quality they cannot .be surpassed by any similar commodities produced overseas. ' The claims and merits bf the locally-produced articles must, * however, be continuously brought to the notice of the .buying public, because many New, Zealanders have formed the habit of purchasing, similar, goofla imported from abroad. Constant effort v is, therefore, needed to educate our people so that they may realise the benefits to be derived from pursuing a definite policy. of buying New Zealand-made goods wherever possible. As an influence in aiding/ and encouraging the development of our Secondary industries, in enabling the yearly increase in populsition to be absorbed by those industries, and in preventing unemployment such a policy whole-heartedly carried out by Now Zealanders can be of great avail., , Our manufacturing industries, indeed, play a very important part in the economic life of the Dominion, but without the sympathetic support of the public they must experience difficulty in competing with goods imported from abroad. I, therefore, wish yohr special supplement as well" as the efforts ' which the Dunedin Manufacturers' Association ia making every success, and I sincerely hope that they will result in a greater measure of support being given to the goods made by our own people and by our own New Zealand industries. ,