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Rubber Eubberware— -Rubber remains one of our most critical items, and usage has had to be severely restricted. Supplies of synthetic rubber are on order, and domestic manufacturers are sending technicians overseas to take advantage of the experience of overseas firms with synthetic rubber. Pram Tires.—The demand for these was met with locally made types of reclaim rubber. Cycle Tires and Tubes. —Production met essential requirements, but double the quantity could have been absorbed by the market were raw materials available to manufacture it. Gum Boots.—Production was raised to and maintained at 500 pairs per day, enabling the most urgent needs of the dairyman and others to be met fairly well —with the assistance of supplies from overseas. Reclaim Rubber Production.—The plants at Auckland and Christchurch provided considerable quantities of rubber reclaimed from scrap, which proved of valuable assistance in ekeing out raw rubber supplies. BUREAU OF INDUSTRY The work of the Bureau has increased slightly during the last year, as evidenced by the total number of applications which have been considered— namely, 1,589, compared with 1,166 for the year ended 31st March, 1944. Besides its consideration of applications under Part 111 of the Act, the Bureau has spent a great deal of its time on matters of general industrial policy and the supervision of industries. During the year an amendment to the Industrial Efficiency Act was passed authorizing the appointment of officers by Industrial Committees, such appointment being subject to approval of the Minister. Acting on this authority, the Footwear Plan Committee has appointed a technical adviser, a step which the Bureau believes to be for the benefit of the industry generally and conducive to greater efficiency. The problem of rehabilitation has assumed greater importance than previously and has been the subject of special attention by the Bureau. Since the outbreak of war the Bureau has held licenses in trust for servicemen-licensees so that these men can return to their former occupations in licensed industries, and discussions have been held during the year with the Director of Rehabilitation with a view to facilitating the entry of returned servicemen into the spheres of licensed industries. The Bureau has done its utmost in this regard, and, other things being equal, preference is to be given to returned servicemen. During the year Mr. Nelson Jones and Mr. C. F. Fowler were appointed to the Bureau by the Minister, on the nomination of the New Zealand Manufacturers' Federation, to represent manufacturing interests. Mr. .1. E. Thomas, Food Controller, was obliged to leave the Public Scrvice owing to health reasons, and his resignation from the Bureau was accepted with regret. Licensing No new industries were licensed during the year. The thirty-six licensed industries as at 31st March, 1945, were as follows : manufacture of agar ; manufacture of apple juice ; manufacture of asbestos cement; manufacture of batteries—dry cell; manufacture of bituminous roofing ; manufacture of cement; manufacture of cigarette papers ; manufacture of colloidal sulphur ; dehydration of plants for medicinal purposes ; extraction from fish livers of nutritional or medicinal oil; fish-canning ; export of fish ; sale by retail of fish ; sale by wholesale of fish ; taking of fish for sale ; flax-milling (Phormium tenax) ; manufacture of footwear; fruit and vegetable canning ; manufacture of gut; linseed-oil and linseed-oil cake ; manufacture of macaroni; manufacture of malt extract; manufacture of nails ; taking of oysters from oyster beds ; paper pulp and paper products ; sale by wholesale of petrol; retail sale and distribution of petrol; manufacture of petrol pumps ; pharmacy industry ; manufacture of radios ; manufacture of electric ranges ; manufacture of rennet; manufacture of rope and twine ; manufacture of salt; manufacture of tires and tubes, rubber; and the manufacture of wooden heels. At the time last year's report was submitted the industry of " the retail sale of fresh fruit and fresh vegetables " was within the scope of section 23 of the Act. This rendered it necessary for one month's notice to be given to the Bureau before such a business could be commenced. As the licensing of this industry under section 14 of the Act was not immediately contemplated, the Bureau recommended to the Minister that this restriction be removed, and the relative notice was revoked. Appeals against Bureau Decisions The Hon. Sir Francis Frazer continued to act as Industrial Efficiency Appeal Authority throughout the year, and heard twenty-four appeals, classified according to industries as follows Fisheries .. .. .. 3 Footwear .. .. .. 6 Fish-liver oil .. .. 5 Fruit and vegetable canning .. 1 Petrol reselling .. .. .. 7 Malt extract .. .. .. 2 Of these appeals, eight (8) were allowed and sixteen (16) disallowed. Position of Industries Brief resumes of the principal action and the position in respect of the more important of the licensed industries are set out hereunder :— Motor-spirit.—For the year ended 31st December, 1944, applications to the Bureau under the provisions of the Industrial Efficiency (Motor-spirits Retailers) Regulations 1941 totalled.4ll. Of this total, 35 were for new pump licenses, 23 of which were granted. Five of the applications granted referred to service stations, and in each case was in respect of premises already in existence, but for which the licenses had been suspended. Applications for transfers of licenses totalled 246, or approximately 60 per cent, of the total applications. Miscellaneous applications totalled 61, and these were mainly concerned with variations of existing licenses.

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