N.Z. BOARD OF TRADE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2420, 27 March 1915, Page 26

N.Z. BOARD OF TRADE

THE NEW PROPOSAL DETAILS OP SCHEME 1 ; EXPLAINED • A plan to stimulate the movement for i trade expansion within the Empire was • formulated by the Now Zealand Indus- ■ trial Corporation recently. The details : were fully set out in a circular issued ! by. the president of/the corporation, Mr. blames B.| Laurenson, of. Uhristchurch. In a covering letter, Mr.'Laurenson said: The present European situation lias :■ demonstrated to tho people of Great ; Britain the urgent necessity tor more r , vigorous industrial expansion within, j- the' Jilmpire, and it has been suggested ; that iVew Zealand is now called upon ... to;do lier part, firstly in the interests or;her own people, and-secondly in the-mt-ertets of the Empire, and the objects - as set out in tho accompanying pamplot appeal to the movers as being the i j best means to attain the desired results. On behalf of the Industrial Corpora- : tion of New Zealand, 1 respectfully ; submit for your consideration that the ! proposed New Zealand Board of Trade ! anil Industries would prove of immense benefit to every section of employers and workers in the dominion, ana in i support of this contention I beg to refer you to tho iigaies quoted. , • r . ■ fVj i >■ The Objects. The scale of fees and. subscriptions : ■ has not yet been fixed, but the objects «Ktha movement forth as follow.:— The work of the organisation shall be- primarily directed to increase the ■. prosperity of the Dominion. To promote the growth and developf mailt of pastoral, farming, dairying, horticultural, and agricultural indusf tries. lo stimulate and encourage those • manufacturing industries alfeady estabj. listed, and to create new trades, occupations, and employment. i'o establish more friendiy relations ;. , between merchants, traders, manufacturers and every section of the great primary producers in the Dominion. To establish direct relations with the.Government of the day, so that the | best interests of all forms of enterprise and employment may be carefully safeguarded and the best and most economical methods provided for growth and expansion.

To establish and maintain a Bureau of-Information which shall collect and distribute statistics relating to British, foreign, and Home markets; the latest market rates and the prices ruling in various parts of the world for all primary products; also other items ol value to the producers, manufacturers, and merchants in the Dominion.

To secure Government recognition and financial support to the organisation, which shall entitle the Government to proper representation on the executive council.

The organisation shall be in the fullest :-sense of the term non-political.

Wake Up New Zealand. I la a pamphlet issued by ..the committee of toe - Canterbury Industrial • Association an appeal is made i-o New Zealand to "wa&e up." A . brief sketch is given of the industrial position of the whole Empire iii ,view. of the developments caused by the war, v and the pamphlet continueis: — i "As' British Subjects we ; are' detoght-; ed that the Homeland is arousing herself. Her;- annual -inemne of two 'hundred v _ millions sterling interest on the accumu-' JatedJaduistriaT profits of past generai tionk ' Ms made her more or less oon-. i .seryative in her-methods and somewhat indifferent to>ths> benefits which '' applied scieuco can.. give -to nearly every industrial, enterprise. ..But 'whilst we rejoioe.-in' the prospect of a' rejuvenated 'Britain, we.in New ' Zealand have our own future to pro- . videlfor, "•The thirteen thousand miles which separate us-from th 6 . is in ifiself jSufflcient reason, for making' provision;" as far as'may be possible, , for every requirement; by a young, vig-; ; orotis, aud rapidly developing nation. } "The' foregoing are the main rea- . sons for , the inauguration, of a New . Zealand Board of Trade, but they inelude only a part of the'work now ready to. our hand. ; Every adult in ; the Dominion is eligible'for memberi ship.'. Everyone can dp. something to i' :■ assist in making his own country prosi~:\ perous. . •• i' ' . "The preliminary work is being carried, out by. the Industrial Corporation of New Zealand, until the election of such .officers- and committees as may be considered 1 advisable, ; when arrange- , . ments for public .meetings will be made - < in various centres of;.the Dominion. \ At silch meetings local-working com- '. : ; mitt-ees will be elected, together with- ; members of the general/executive, who , - will draft the constitution and 'rules ■ to govern the operations of the organ-! . isatio'n." ' ; ' ' ' ... | ~ ; Things to bo Remembered. Mr. J. B. Lauren son/president of the Industrial Corporation, of New Zealand, who; - signs the pamphlet, supplies a list' of things that New Zealanders should remember:— Britain's great accumulated wealth has arisen m'ainly;from her profits made from-her ,industries. .. , America's great industrial develop-' . rue lit has m'ado her, in a comparatively few/years, a rich and powerful nation. Germany, in point of time and progress-,, has outrun air her competitors jn the development of industries conducted 6n'scientific, principles. Her immense (industrial operations have produced enormous wealth. ' If >New-Zealand aspires to become a prosperous , nation, she must • see that her'industrial foundations are well and truly. laid, and she must as far as possible'; use and distribute her own wealth amongst her own people. The consumption of goods will not decrease because we make for our own use; \ Our great distributing organisations, firms arid companies, will have the sairie channels of outlet as at present; ' they will participate iii. the benefits by A having a much larger - population to supply and by not having to hold such huge stocks, thereby releasing capital for other purposes. ' : No- class within the Dominion would fail to benefit by the self-reliant policy it is now sought to inaugurate. New Zealand is immensely rich in Taw . products; practically every kind of mineral required in the production of iron and steel we possess in abundance, coal and mineral oils, timber for wood-working, and paper-making industries, sufficient for all time under proper forestatiou laws. _ Shall wo leave the. development of this glorious heritage ;to future generations or shall we rise to'a full sense of our own great - privileges and do our sliare now? The Food We Eat. Under this heading, the pamphlet supplies the following information:— Assuming that the value of New Zealand food products consumed by the people is only one shilling per head per day, this represents, oil the basis of the Ipresent population, an annual food bill of twenty millions nine hundred and thirty-four thousand pounds sterling. Now Zealand lias a population to-day of 1,147,000 persons, but'she could easily support seven millions. Her annual fcod consumption,- on the exceedingly , low';estiniatc of seven shillings per"head per;'week, .would then reach the enpr- • moil's sum of £138,000,000, of which fully one hundred and eighteen millions couM,'l>s-produced in our own country.. These, fiaures. show that in our own

land lies asure market, a glorious future for every person-engaged iri aiiy : of the primary industries. Consider what it would mean to the people of this Dominion if .this huge sum were retained in the country. Tho means of; developing our own country by our own accumulated wealth would then-be assured. . \ The Clothes We Wear. •Dealing 'with clothing,the pamphlet says:— Our 1,147,Q00 persons imported last year clothing to the value of £4,676,931, at foreign ports cost or calculated at a landed wholesale value of over six and a half millions sterling. The following tables show the position:— ' . 1913. - Made in, /;,' 1913 r N:Z. • ' Imported: (Whole?- " (Landed sale ' values.) values.) ' - £ Clothing, 'including . woollens, Hats, drapery, haberdashery, at - landed cost 5,540,000 Reduce, this by 50-per cent, to cover value . of goods which must 1)6 imported for some years .to come ......... 2,770,000 2,396,000 2,770,000 Hosiery .- 293,800 140,412 Boots and shoes 576,700' £19,873. Amount available for the industrial expansion of our own country 3,640,500 This leaves under the above heading a working margin of no less than £3,640,000, which, upon an estimate that each worker in these industries is a productive unit of about £200 per annum in labour and materials, representing a loss to New Zealand of the productive value of 18,200 worker's,'' "equivalent, with their dependents, to a population of 70,800. persons, equal to the total population of the-city of Duhedin and sub-' urbs. This additional population would spend annually in food alone £1,292,000 Sterling. They would also require for; their, own use, clothing,, houses, furniture, amusements, and all other things necessary to a well-ordered and highly civilised community, or a,' total spending power, calculated _on the general average for the Dominion of £65 per head—we would,have in this : sectionalone of four and a half millions of created wealth. . '/. .'