EXCESSIVE IMPORTS DEMORALISE TRADE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 584, 9 February 1929, Page 7

EXCESSIVE IMPORTS DEMORALISE TRADE

SHOPKEEPERS HELP THEMSELVES BY SUPPORTING LOCAL INDUSTRY The figures relating to factory pro- | ductiou f'°r the year ending March 31 j last are contained in the Official year Book, which has just been issued , by the Government printer. They ( gbow that the enormous sum of over £17,000,000 was paid in wages to ! workers engaged in occupations which bring them within the scope of the Factories Act. of course, the wages bill of the j Dominion is much larger than this. Thousands of workers are engaged in the mines, and in the transport industry. Many more work on farms and stations, or casually at sea ports, j eye. Then there is the vast army of j office and warehouse employees, pub- j lie servants, the professional workers, ! many of whom are dependent for their i livings directly or indirectly on the j volume of factory production. 1 JtILLIQX .1 WEEK TO SPEXD Probably it would not be an exaggeration to place the spending power of j wage and salary-earners of the Dominion, plus the small farmers, at. a j million a week all the year round. [ When one realises the magnitude of this sum. it furnishes the explanation of the miles of shops in a citv . like Auckland, and helps one to un-! why they are necessary. In a recent article, the writer showed how quickly the retail trade is affected by the expansion or con-. Traction of wage distribution. The past year lias been a hard one ior the retailers, because so many per- ! sons have had to scratch along with j reduceu incomes, and some, unfortu- j aately, with none at all. The importing houses in 1926 and the early part of 1927 thought, they j were operating to advantage In whtH appeared to be a buyer’s market, and ■ bought toe heavily. When the farmers were faced with greatly reduced prices for their products, and had less to spend, it was not long before the realisation of j excessive Importations became a very 1 serious matter. Many stocks were eventually slaughtered. The liquida tion process quickly reacted against 1 the New Zealand manufacturer, who finds it hard enough to compete I against imported goods at any time, and it was doubly difficult when they ] -were being sold for less than cost. I POIXTIXO THE MORAL Mainly for this reason factory pro-i duction in New Zealand, in many instances, showed a decline last year, j Instead of expansion, with increased wages and Increased opportunity for j the employment of additional workers, staffs were reduced; the output went, down, and overhead costs went up. I The moral of the story ought to be fairly obvious to the retailer. Imported goods may appear cheap, but if the country is flooded with them, and thousands of persons lose their jobs and have little or no money to spend, how is the shopkeeper going to maintain his turnover and get interest on his capital? By purchasing stocks from local manufacturers, and by pushing the sale of New Zealand-made goods, the shopkeeper runs little or no risk of being overstocked with unseasonable ; goods, because he can draw his sup- j plies as he wants them. It is also j helping to give employment to the; very people whose speuding power; must be maintained if the country and. j incidentally, the retailer is to pros- j per. THE IV.I Y OF SALVATrOX The thousands of pounds sent out j of New Zealand quite unnecessarily In , 1927 to purchase goods that were j realised with great losses In 1928, j would have kept a very largo number of New Zealand workers in steady employment to the great advantage of , th“ whole community. The depres- I sion could not have been avoided alto- j gether, because it was partly due to | causes beyond our control, but its ; effects might have been minimised (1) i if the duties had been sufficiently high , to discourage importing. (2) if the i retailers had realised the part they J could play in maintaining employment, , and (8) if the public would take more j pride in supporting local industry aud ; give preference to the locally-made article. —PETER •SIMPLE- j