THE NUCLEUS OF MILTON.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21019, 7 May 1930, Page 21

THE NUCLEUS OF MILTON.

THE BRUCE WOOLLEN MANU- • FACTORING CO. _ °. Qa .sees nowadays so many of New Zealand s smaller agricultural towns receding from the world of affairs and commerce—inevitable with the progress of the .country and the corresponding, cen•tralisation of manufacturing' industries. . Refreshing then— novel one might almost say—is it to find in the heart of the agricultural district of South Otago at least one town which the inexorable trend of commerce to the larger cities has not desolated, and which can.yet point to a flourishing and important industry operating within its bounds as being the mainstay of the district and the livelihood of its workers. New, Zealand can boast 12 woollen mills, and the town of Milton lays claim to the oldest of them all in the Bruce Woollen Co., .whose 34-years of productive effort have been: inseparably, bound- up with the developmental progress of the town, and have earned for the mill a lasting fame, both for the excellence of its. productions and for its practical contribution to the true spirit of ** New Zealand made,” Of course, it is at once obvious that unless the quality and, general standard of the goods manufactured appealed to the buying publics of. the Dominion, there could be no such stabilised industry such as there to-day. Better imagined ( than described may be the initial struggles of the Bruce Mills to establish themselves n a market. Yet despite the initial handicaps of a new . industry,' coupled with heavy overhead charges and the struggle to, break into a hew field of endeavour, those who founded the mill and those who ave carried its activities up to the present stage have been loyal in their adherence to the letter of the axiom “ Buy New Zealand Made.” Not from them ■ should money flow into the coffers of competitive countries, but by strict adherence to their policy of using New Zealand materials and employing pnly New Zealand labour have they carried:out truly a “New Zealand Made” programme. The_ force off this is at once apparent when it is explained that the Bruce Mills employ about 300 persons in the manufacture of woollen garments of all descriptions. Add to that-- number the wives, families, and dependents of these workers, together with those trades people necessary to the ministration of their wants, and it will be at once obvious why Milton, with the advent pf the Bruce Mills, has, not sunk into the soporific oblivion so common in many parts of New Zealand. And incidentally a splendid example is set to every industrialist throughout the country as to the method whereby’ New Zealand can be made self-contained and self-supporting—that is, by following rigidly a policy, of using. wherever possible only. New Zealand labour and materials. To the laymen doubtless the 1 conception of a woollen mills as being a manufactory of ladies’ fashion apparel would at first sight appear paradoxical. Yet with the advent of modern machinery and coinciding with the expansion of the Bruce market (attributable directly to the persistent manufacture of quality goods), it has-been found possible latterly to embrace what might be termed the ** fashion ” side of woollen 'manufacturing, and to produce garments which, in. New Zealand, have the approval of the women • foils-in the- (to-them) all -important essentials of appearance and durability. Bruce garments are, it is no exaggeration to say, now stocked by every retailer throughout the country who studies popular demand—proof that New Zealand and Its workers can produce that class .of