H.—44.

weekly talks arranged by courtesy of IYA Station. The Auckland Association holds annually a winter show, which has proved of value in affording the public an opportunity to view the extent and variety of the articles now manufactured in the Dominion. The Wellington Association has now a membership of 217. In conjunction with the Wellington Winter Show Association an annual winter show is held in the Show Buildings, John Street. Over 12,000 ft. of exhibition space is filled with displays of New Zealand manufactures which prove both interesting and educative. A feature of the show just held was the mannequin parade of a great variety of wearing-apparel both for men and women. During the year a " New-Zealand-made " week was held in co-operation with retailers, and 470 shop-windows in city and suburbs were devoted to the display of New-Zealand-made goods. As a further effort to obtain close public attention to the displays, prizes were offered to the public, who selected by popular vote the best-dressed window. The association issued " Buyers' Guides," which were distributed free to householders in city and suburbs, and which contained a list of goods manufactured by members of the association. _ The executive was associated with a " New-Zealand-made " shopping-week held at Petone during tha year. During the year the Wellington Association was favoured with the visit of Mr. Le Maistre, Director of British Standards Association, and an opportunity was afforded those interested in this matter of hearing Mr. Le Maistre at a luncheon at which over one hundred were present. As the result of this visit, and the benefits which Mr. Le Maistre so ably demonstrated would follow the adoption of standardization, definite action has been taken to form standardization committees among various industries. The membership of the Canterbury Association was stated as 277 in the fifty-second annual report. During the year shop-window displays were held from the 13th to 18th 'April, and proved an outstanding success. The manufacturers and retailers entered into the project with the greatest enthusiasm, assisted very materially by the co-operation of the Christchurch newspapers. Over three -hundred window displays were made. The broadcasting stations extended the privilege of free broadcast addresses during the week. A similar effort was held at Timaru, assisted by the Borough Council and the press of that town. The annual winter show was again held in the King Edward Barracks, and, though not as largely attended as previous years, the results, under present conditions, are considered satisfactory. The membership of the Dunedin Association at the last annual meeting was 144. A feature of the Dunedin Association's publicity campaign has been the shop-window displays of New-Zealand-made goods. The effort this year resulted in 440 shop-windows being freely offered by retailers for this purpose, and very effective displays were staged, several moving displays attracting particular attention. The press of Dunedin again gave liberal support to the effort by the issue of special supplements containing messages from the Right Honourable the Prime Minister and other Cabinet Ministers. The association has extended its activity during the year beyond Dunedin in this form of propaganda by co-operating with local committees of similar movements at Invercargill, Riverton, Oamaru, and Cromwell. The results in each case have been gratifying. The organizer reported at the annual meeting that over ten thousand people had been addressed in connection with the " Keep New Zealand Busy " League. Over seven thousand had signed the pledge certificates to buy, wherever possible, New-Zealand-made goods. STATISTICS RELATING TO MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES. The figures for the latest year available (1930-31) show a general decline in number of employees engaged and wages paid, and also a substantial drop in the value of production. These statistics are a reflection of the general economic position as they existed at 31st March, 1931. The general decline in trade has had the effect of increasing the short time worked by factory employees, the number of short hours worked having increased by 2,348,017 to 3,463,657. Analyses of the data for the various industries disclose the following principal differences between the year 1929-30 and 1930-31 :—

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Year ended 31st March, Index Numbers> I : 1930-31 1930. j 1931. (1929-30 = 100). Establishments (number) .. .. 5,177 5,203 101 Persons engaged — Males (number) .. .. .. 68,442 63,961 93* Females (number) .. .. .. 17,355 16,868 97 Total number .. .. 85,797 80,829 94 Salaries and wages paid — £ £ To males 15,870,516 14,747,987 93 To females .. .. .. 1,750,948 1,649,613 94 Total .. .. .. 17,621,464 I 16,397,600 93 Motive power (horse-power) .. .. 587,552 523,647 89 £ £ Cost of materials used .. .. 59,208,807 49,183,959 83 Value of products .. .. .. 93,464,526 80,745,426 86 Added value 34,255,719 31,561,467 92 Value of — £ £ Land and buildings .. .. .. 25,446,809 24,329,077 96 Plant and machinery .. .. 46,208,345 48,085,333 104 Total .. .. .. 71,655,154 72,414,410 101