THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 1934. PLANNED PRODUCTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22269, 23 May 1934, Page 6

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 1934. PLANNED PRODUCTION

It may appear a little curious that the idea of “planned production” should be suggestive of the introduction of something like a new era in New Zealand industry. Such, however, is the case. The Dominion has been so busy producing certain products up till now, and so fortunate in having a market overseas available for them, that, broadly speaking, her producers have simply concentrated on the output of these commodities. But conditions are changing: in fact they have changed. The capacity .of the overseas market is shrinking. Quantitative regulation of exports looms ahead, and for all the righteous abuse hurled at it on behalf of the New Zealand and Australian producer the spectre refuses to be affrighted. Therefore the facts of the position have’ to be faced, and it is for the producers to adapt their outlook to the altered . circumstances. Regard for their own interests demands, it. “We will get nowhere unless we have a plan,” declared Mr Coates a few weeks ago at Auckland; “we must have our policy and our programme.” At New Plymouth this week the Prime Minister has been saying very much the same thing in rather different terms, taking as his theme the “ long range ” planning of production and industry in New Zealand. In the main Mr Forbes was concerned to emphasise the importance of scientific and industrial research as a factor in industry. Obviously longrange planning in respect of industry must be particularly concerned with the possibilities of industry, and to a very large extent these are discoverable only by experiment. Included in the order of reference of the Dairy Commission are such questions ns “ the economic practicability of the utilisation of raw dairy products for purposes other than the manufacture of butter and cheese,” and “the desirability, or otherwise of reducing the total output of dairy produce by the utilisation for other purposes of lands that are now being used, or are intended to be used, for dairy fanning.” Clearly such directions of inquiry come more or less within the sphere of scientific determination.

Realisation of the necessity of a plan for industry is a much simpler matter than the formulation of a plan. As Mr Forbes has observed, the organisation of industry and the providing of a policy require much thought and many data. There must be something definite and promising upon which to work. Perhaps the exigencies of the situation will provide the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research with ■ a peculiar opportunity for assisting the country along the lines under consideration. In times of depression, we have been reminded, scientific services are called upon in order to assist industries in the increasing difficulties which they experience in maintaining production and in endeavouring to provide an output at reduced costs commensurate with the lessened spending power of the community. The argument in support of the utilisation of scientific research for the benefit of industry is valid at all times, but it is clearly strengthened in the present circumstances of the Dominion by the factors creative of a marketing problem. Such research has already proved of value to industry in New Zealand, if to a less extent than in some other countries where the impulse for inquiry and the field for it have been greater. The assistance which the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research is capable of rendering the producers is likely to correspond to the demand for its services. Its readiness to play its part has been demonstrated. The Department has already carried out a great deal of useful work. Mr Forbes has detailed some of its activities that have related to the. building up of the industries of the country. The natural resources of the Dominion are great, but the exploration of them still presents a wide field of inquiry, which must include, of course, . the problems of production. It may be suggested that long-range planning is all very well, but an immediate plan is needed. That is true enough but it must be a plan that is part of a policy in which the importance of the discovery and adoption of the means of placing industry on an improved footing is recognised. The occasion for the diligent application of scientific research with a view to the discovery of -means of bringing about the development, expansion, and increased efficiency of the industries of the country was surely never more apparent than it is at the present time.