"STRATFORD EVENING POST" WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1925. MANUFACTURING PRODUCTION.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume LVI, Issue 66, 11 September 1925, Page 4

"STRATFORD EVENING POST" WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1925. MANUFACTURING PRODUCTION.

Colonisa.Ui.oii. commenced in Australia about hair a century earlier than in New Zealand. Kven so, Australia's population is only about five times that of New Zealand, and that population i.s settled in a country twentyeight times the size of the Dominion. As regards secondary industries Australia's progress has been disappointing, for in spite of a fiscail system* the express purpose of which is to foster and protect local manufacturers, thy country still imports millions of pounds' worth of goods which its own fcitfzens are- quite capable of making. Australians usually blink this fact and instead glory in the impressivi> figure of annual production, both primary and secondary. The figures for the year ended J tin,? 30th. last were recently cabled to New Zealand, and a comparison of them with similar figure for New Zealand for the y?ar ended March 31st. last is of interest. The value of the total production of Australia for th<> year is shown at £392,750;000. The mean

j population for the period was ap- | proximately 0,750,000 giving produc- ! lion of th? average value at £6B 6s ' per head. Now Zealand production I in 1922-23 was estimated to bs worth I within £oC'JO of £100,000,000. and the mean population for the period was about 1,256,000. giving n prcducUon value of £-79 12s id per head, or i"ll 6s 4d per head more than the Aus-< tralian average. The figures showthat Australia i s more advanced as re. 'gards industrial devo.lopnient, but the comparison is not fnvournblo to the Commonwealth in every respivt. Aus. I tralia's manufacturing establishments 'employed 429,000 hands, or one in 'every 13.37 of the population. New I Zealand's factories employed 73,062 hands, or one in every ]7.0,3 of tihe population. Hut 'n the matter of wages and industrial productivity I New Zealand beats Australia,. Although the value added to the raw ' materials by n.iiivufacture is 76.8 p;r (cent, of the value of the raw materials in Australia, as against only 63.7 I per cent, in New Zealand, the nverjage amount of added value per hand (employed is £390 7s in the Dominion,

[as against £352 6s in the CommonI wealth, while tha nverage annual wage per head is £~6 in Nw Zealand a s against £i!79' in -Australia. The amount of capital invested in manufacturing industries in Australia is in the ratio of £423 5s to cadis employee, while in New Zealand the ratio is £6OO to each hand. This difference, of course, can he attributed to a smaller .scale of manufacture, with a higher overhead charge. "In both countries, during the post-war period, industrial development has been more than ordinarily rapid," says the "Lyttelton Times," commenting on tha % figures. "Between 1019 and 1922 the amount of capital invested in manufacturing industries in Australia rose by 50 per cent., and in Nev.y Zealand by 40 per cent. The conditions of the period, however, were exceptional, and there were factor s in, T)he case that differed in the twej countries under review, so that it would he unsafe to assume that Australian manufacturers are making better headway than those in New Zealand. New Zealand has already commenced to exploit her most valuable industrial asset —her sources of cheap electrical power—and when- she has developed those resources she will ' have a distinct advantage over Australian competitors. Under a wise and strong (Jovernment, holding office | I with the support of a majority of the citizens, New Zealand might also look | forward to having the additional ad- I vantage of freedom from those industrial troubles that so . frequently and so seriously affect Australian industry. -Sir George Grey's dream of a Britain of the ,South, affording a happy home for a large industrial population, may yet be realised if 'those in authority are ever blessed with sufficient vision to see that a small island dominion cannot take the same path to its destiny as thaft taken by the great continental colonies."