SURVEY OF TRADE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21019, 7 May 1930, Page 20

SURVEY OF TRADE.

REMARKABLE INCREASE. HOW SECONDARY INDUSTRIES MAY HELP AND BE HELPED. By MR W. B. TAVERNER (Minister of Railways). Hardly anything con be more heartening to the average New Zealander than a calm retrospect of the progress made up to the present time in the trade of his country Such a retrospect is the best guide to judgment regarding the future. It offers .the soundest grounds for confidence to investors, manufacturers, and other national producers of every grade. A 60-years survey of New Zealand’s total trade, taking in the'figures for both imports and exports, shows the following yearly averages, in decennial periods:— Yearly Average Years. Trade. 1809-1878 .. .. £12,000,000 1879-1888 .. .. £14,000,000 1889-1898 ~ .. £16,000,000 1899-1908 ~ .. £28,900,000 1909-1918 .. .. £47,000,000 1919-1928 .. .. £95,000,000 Even after making all due allowance for the decreased purchasing power of money due to war disturbance, the rapid trade increase in the last three decades proves that New Zealand is just settling into its stride in the race for prosperity Ajfeady, of all the countries in the world, the Dominion leads in the value of trade per inhabitant in both exports and imports, Australia and Canada com ing second and third respectively in €he order of total per capita trade.

Although during the last' 10 years there has been a average excess of ex ports over imports amounting to £4,000,000 annually,«l think that the time has come when a greater effort should be made by the people of the Dominion to reduce the proportion of our imports through greater attention to, and support of, our local industries. I would like to see the Government’s balanced Budget repeated in regard to all the trading relationships of this country with overseas. The more firmly our secondary industries become e^afilfßfeei,’46e"-le‘^S”’^ , flf be our dependence upon other countries for manufactured goods, and the greater will be the benefit New Zealand can reap from her wonderful capacity for primary production. Not long since, the Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward) advanced the opinion that we were at a stage, so far as total population was concerned, where big de velopments might be expected. He drew this opinion from the experience of coun tries like Australia and Canada, which were helped after reaching our pfesent stage by the greater opportunities for intercommunity trade that subsequent increases in population made possible I believe that opinion to be a correct one, and recent developments amongst some of our principal manufacturing concerns bear me out. A wise land settlement policy will encourage the growth of our rural population, thus providing a larger market for local manufactures at the same time .as it increases primary production. • The recent appointment of trade commissioners for Canada and Australia will do more than stimulate trade between these countries and New Zealand. The gentlemen appointed to these positions have for long been associated with 1 the New Zealand,manufacturers through their activities in the Department ol Industries and Commerce; They are thus equipped to obtain valuable information for transmission to New Zealand manu facturers, whicl will help in improving the methods of manufacture and market ing of New Zealand-made commodities But our own people as a whole must be educated to appreciate the high quality already attained in most of industrial’products of their own country, and to ask for New Zealand goods when fill ing their private requirements. How many housewives at the present time ever ask the assistant behind the counter for “New Zealand-made, if you have it,” or walk along to another shop because “ New Zealand-made ” is not stocked? It appears to me that much education along these lines is required before local manufactures reach the mass-selling stage they deserve in view of their present quality. I think this point should bo stressed not only by every public man but also by every manufacturer and re tailor on every suitable occasion. My own experience in shopping confirms the belief tliat neither the average buyer nor the average retail seller pays sufficient attention to the importance of dealing as much as possible in Now Zealand made goods. Here lies an opportunity for concerted effort to.instil the : de« that the buying of New Zealand goods is not only a patriotic duty but an economic advantage of far-reaching con sequence. As Minister of Railways 1 have Ministerial control over the largest New Zealand industry, with a capital approximating £(10,000,000, a staff ol 10,000, and a pay roll of almost £5,000,000 annually. The security ol this local industry is bound up with that of all other local industries, and its value to the community, like that of every trading, manufacturing, and producing organisation within the Do- , minion, is dependent upon the use our own people make of it. but it lias also a I special appeal to make to them as shareholders in the enterprise.