GROWTH OF INDUSTRY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17015, 13 April 1923, Page 7

GROWTH OF INDUSTRY.

REMARKABLE FIGURES. (Special to the “Star.”) WELLINGTON, April 13. New Zealand’s secondary industries have leached a position of real importance as an economic factor, the returns collected by the Government Statist!eian relating to the year ended March, 1922, showing that they give employment to 70,300 persons, and pay in wages nd salaries the large siuii oi £13,677,376. The amount of money invested in land and buildings and machinery and plant for carrying on these activities exceeds £41,000,000. 'lhe relative importance of the industries is best shown by the number of employees, and in comparing the figures with those of the previous year it ; s pointed out- that the prevalent slump is reflected therein, the only industry to show a substantial increase in the number of employees during 1922 being butter, cheese and condensed milk manufacture. Taking the whole of the industries, however, it is shown that the number of employees has increased by 48 per cent in ten years, and that they are now distributed among the lollowing occupations:— Me.it. freezing: ami preserving 7 958 Butter, cheese, and condensed milk i ‘ , " * - • 3,486 Fng-hjeerdu?- $&8 1 a ,lr door factories 7,70 a Printing publishing; and bookbinding 4*?Si Coach bullding . Motor and cycle engineering ! ' 2 oli Tanning, fellmongevy and wool Furniture'and c-abiiietn ' * ' 1 ’ 1 ? 1 Woollen milling . Boot and shoe making .yJJJ Clothing manufacture . ’ * 6.09;. Flax-milling '66y Over a period of ten years, the employes in the boot and shoemaking in dustries have decreased by 20 per cent 1 aiming, Fellmongery and seouring ha* also declined to the extent of 39 per cent ; ooachbnikiing, owing to the ad vent oi the motor, dropped by 17 per cent ; while flaxmilling shows a 60 per cent decline in the number of em ploy os during the period. Auckland easily heads the list as an industrial centre, the test applied being that <4! the value of the manufactures or pro ducts. The details for the provincial districts of value of output are as toi lows : £ Auckland .... 22,287,176 Taranaki .... 3.999,780 Hawke's Bay . . . 3,001,682 Wellington . . . 13,572,042 Marlborough . . . 472,386 Nelson .... 914,378 Westland .... 732,337 Canterbury . . . 11.916.895 Otago . 7,514.251 Southland . . . 2,735,133 Totals . . . £67,146,269 The development of hydro-electric supply in the South Island is evidently one of the factors in a remarkable disparity in coal consumption in the factories of the North and South Islands. More than 67 per cent of the coal used in manufacturing is consumed in the North Island. The most remarkable differences appear in this respect «n tramways, electric supply and gasw T orWs. Tramwafs use in the North Island 67.858 tons ot coal annually, as against 2534 tons used in the South Island. Electric supply takes 79.174 in the North Island, as against 14.066 in the South ; and gas supply requires 170,506 tons in the North Island, against 76.965 tons in the South.