NEW FACTORIES IN DOMINION

Southland Times, Issue 24524, 27 August 1941, Page 6

NEW FACTORIES IN DOMINION

1072 Established In Five Years (P.A.) WELLINGTON, August 26. During the last five years 1072 new factories had been established in New Zealand and the additional value of the plant and machinery installed had been over £7,000,000, said - the Secretary of the Department of Industries and Commerce (Mr L. J. Schmitt) when speaking on the expansioii of industry at the annual conference of the New Zealand Vocational Association in Wellington today. In purely manufacturing industries workers were receiving £60,000 a day in wages, he said, and during the last five years an average of 4000 workers a year had gone into these industries. A number of industries which had recently been established in the Dominion were enumerated by Mr Schmitt. Very good carpets were now being made in Petone, tennis rackets were also being made here and some had been exported to South Africa and America and used by leading players. Other commodities now being manufactured in the Dominion were nuts, bolts and screws, rubber shoes, electric lamps, chewing gum, plastics, aircraft, washing machines, electric stoves and refrigerators. “There is no question about the fact that there has been a great development in New Zealand in the manufacturing industries,” said Mr Schmitt, “and that is opening a very wide field for the youth of the country.” It would be a very bold man who would attempt to foretell what was likely to happen in the future, he said, but he thought he was safe in saying that when peace was restored the maximum possible development of industries would take place. The Dominion would have to see to it that the products of the farming industries were maintained at a consistently high level. It might even have to find new uses for some of its primary produce. The development of substitutes had made phenomenal progress and this must have an effect in the future.