LOCAL MANUFACTURES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1092, 11 August 1880, Page 2

LOCAL MANUFACTURES.

Jn an article on the recent exhibition of^ local industries at Christchurcb. the Timarii Herald writes thus :— One of the main reasons why local manufactures do not flurishmore than they do, is because .' those who engaged in them have no means of introducing their productions into general consumption. The i well-known English makers have an enormous advantage over them in this respect. They have had this market to themselves ever since the country was first settled. Their names are household words. Their brands are familiar to everybody. They advertise largely,: for next to nothing in every newspaper. \ They have agents in every town. The merchants push their business for them. jfTh«'fa r ncy of the public Js .all. in. their ',*^Now, it is just this publicity that; the* local manufacturer needs above, everything.. He wants a fair trial for his go;ods. ' He wants the gener&l con-sumer!-to; know that he has thisi.-that ok the other^ article for sale; 'and- : to^>uy it in preference to. an inferior and perhaps a dearer imported article of precisely the same Sjass? We hear a good deal about the! prejudice against colonial goods, but we I do; not. think there is much in it. We' believe that most' people would just as soon use colonial goods as imported oneself they could, depend upon getting then! #8 easily and as cheaply — that is to say, of as good a quality at the same price. What they lack is confidence. They know iliat the ordinary brands of English goods are to be trusted; but they do not know anything about the colonial goods, and they have no means of finding out anything about them. Now, it was just this much needed confidence in the products of colonial industries, that the Exhibition atOhristr church was calculated to inspire. There were the colonial goods in almost endless variety, freely open to sight and touch and in some cases -to sample, and distinguishable atypnce from imported goods by their superior quality." The absurdity of buying imported goods at an exorbitant, price, when colonial goods could be obtained at a reasonable price, was thus made strikingly apparent. ; . For instance, a large quantity of linseed meal is imported every year, necessarily of an inferior -quality because linseed meal needs; to be fresh to be at its-best. Here was linseed, meal, prepared, from linseed grown in Canterbury, exactly, like the imported article except in.being quite fresh instead of three or four months old* •- and • to be bought at a much Jess price. Farinaceous foods,, again, a. serious item of expense in families/ They are imported in small packages, and sold by chemists st about ten 'times their intrinsic value. Mothers and nurses have their '•peculiar wanitie*"- in ; farinaceous foods! I 1 - Some pin their faith to Liebig'a, others, swear by Neave's, whilst others regard: Barry dv Barry's Revalenta Arabica as the sheet anchor.' of the- nursery. Very well— here in the Exhibition '^were all kinds of farinaceous foods, each brand in bulk by itself, made from exactly, the same materials and in exactly the same way as the imported ones, only, freish and pure, and at a fourth of the price. We were glad to' see, too, that the manufacturer of these had had a mind to popular prejudices, as well as popular interests. He had made up his farinaceous foods in packages, remarkably like!- those to be seen on any. chemists-s helves,, only made of paster board by a local manufacturer. . There: is no reason in the world- why Neave's or Liebig's food should not be bought by f^ie^ound, like sugar ; but if people pre- ' for to have it in a neat little- box- which will stand in the nursery and be known for what it is bjr its appearance, thefr that is,part of; the business, and •■ must be seen to by the local maker. Half the success, indeed, of many manufactures^ is attributable^ to- the' tempting manner in which they are made up for sale ; and the Exhibition was specially useful in bringing to notice the importance of studying the . fancies of the I public in this respect. There are, of course, some industries where ;nothing of that kind is required, ; but they are very few. In the great majority of trades, the external form of the goods as sold, is almost as much tnoughfc of as their quality ... . ... .. .-. . Labels and wrappers ought to form quite a separate line of. business, pursued by a cunning artists who study the little weaknesses of consumers, and know how to make each article appear afc its best; . .;. . . . : The" TBxhibition- i waa Useful in showing one" 'manufacturer wheriehe could get the aifl 1 of another,-to-'the mutual benefit of both. It showed ttie public that if they ohoose they can get half the things jat their own door 'whioh"are at present imported for tbemy and for which they have to. pay (IV the manufacturer, (9) the exporter, (3) the shipper, (4) the oolleotor of Customs, (5) the Customs agent, (6) the bonded warehouse keeper, (7) the importer, and (8) the retailer. It showed them, moreover, that they.oan get these things made by ooloniats, „ for colonists, solid, sound, unadulterated and unbedevilled ; instead of "made speoially for the colonies," which means made as badly and cheaply as possible, with an eye to a profit, not out of the thing- itself , but out of the numerous transactions through which it passes. *_ .