Whirr of Progress

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 614, 16 March 1929, Page 7

Whirr of Progress

Dominion Industries \re Growing Steadily figures that talk Under a system of moderate tariff protection, New Zealand manufacturing industries have made so much progress in their infancy stage that students of the question might well wonder why there has been more hesitancy in this country than in others to expand the protective encouragement of national self-reliance and shilled industry. rTHE history of New Zealand indus 1 try is an interesting romance, which rerays investigation. m such a young country as this, the re are many in touch with those veterans who were the early pioneers, •tnd who arrived in a virgin land to #iart from the beginning and found an antipodean nation. Thus we are able to follow the progress of local odustry by first-hand reminiscence, without going to the trouble of sorting out significant figures from the all-

seeing Year Book. Necessity demanded the establishment of industry, and the sawmillev became the first member of a band 0 n which the prosperity of New Zealand now largely depends. All the requirements of the settlers wore at

first imported, but, with an abundance ~f raw materials at hand, it was natural that necessities should soon be manufactured as much as possible within the shores of the new laud, ns the vagaries of shipping and freight charges were almost prohibitive. | Some of the migrants who had come to the new colony expecting a land [lowing with milk and honey, where one sat back and waited for the products of the soil to come to glorious fruition, discovered that work on the lan d was not as they had thought, and far from an ideal life. Consequently those who had been skilled operatives in the Old Country opened "one-man” factories in the larger centres, and the first page of New Zealand industrial history was begun. In a few years dotted all over the country were email buildings little more than sheds whence came the sound of hammer on anvil. To-day those sheds have grown to imposing structures of brick and concrete, from which steals the whirr of speeding wheels—a sound to lull us into an assurance of national prosperity. \s time passed, the 6mall enter- , prises became important factors in ■the country’s progress. Population j increased, and more capital was available. The status of New Zea land was raised, and in 1907 It was I made a Dominion in the British j Commonwealth of Nations —a change j that meant a greater measure of in- j dependence, and an increased import- < ance in the eyes of foreign nations i and other parts of the British Empire, j The infant industries found their feet, j and the size of the cities increased rapidly. Further attention was | focussed on the new Dominion by the prominence given to New Zealand legislation, which was regarded as a j mode! for the statesmen of the world. 1 Representatives of foreign countries began to realise that New Zealand : was more than a home for sheep and native races, and considered that it : might serve as another market on j which to unload their own particular j wares. With inadequate protection.; local industry had to compete with its formidable enemy, yet in the main the number of hands employed, the raw material used, and the value of iha products continued to increase. During the war, manufactures were j still further developed as the diffi culty of importing certain classes of goods inspired New Zealand industrialists to overcome obstacles by manufacturing in their own land. The pubiic, too. was compelled to realise the value of goods made within sight of its own homes. To-day many of our industries could compete with outside products on an even footing were it not for the high standard of civilisation which is the country’s pride. Either that principle must be abandoned, or industry must be better protected. With a. sympathetic Government, industry must continue to progress, and the passing of another 10 years . should see many important changes ; in the relative importance of the Dominion’s various productive inter- ; ests. Even during the comparatively poor years of 1916-26 the growth of j local industry was remarkable. Offi- I cial figures show the following:

1916. 1926. I Number of factories . 4,670 4,791 | Number of employees 57,823 81,706 Wages paid to workers — £6.653,804 £16,876.881 j Value of pr0duct5£45.454,198 £45.454,198 £84,792,434 j During 1927 there was an increase ; of £3,650.000 iu the value of buildings, plant, and machinery used in ! factory production, while the motive Power used increased by 50,000-h.p.. or nearly 14 per cent. Factories now , use over 400,000-h.p. a year, compared with 258,000-h.p. in 1925. The amount of wages paid also increased by £170,000, and now stands at more than £17,000,000 a year. Thirty years ago the total wages paid iu 12 months amounted to little more than £1.000,000. This means that the amount paid in the nineties of last century would be sufficient for one month only at the present time. The output over the 30 years has increased from £9.549.360 to more than £80,000.000. By this comparison, one may see that the products of 1597 could be produced in the present-day factories in about six weeks. In Australia in 1927 the gross value of manufactured products exceeded that of the combined primary industries— agricultural, pastoral. dairyjug. and mining —by more than £55.000,000. Australia is a step ahead of New Zealand in evolution, and great changes in the national life of the Commonwealth have been more often than not followed by corresponding advances in the Dominion. There is no reason why this latest feature of Australian industry should hot he paralleled in this country within the next few years.—M.P.W.