The Dominion. TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1919. A MUCH-NEEDED DEPARTMENT

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 283, 26 August 1919, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1919. A MUCH-NEEDED DEPARTMENT

The fact is beginning to force itself upon attention thafc secondary, industries are not being developed in this country as they ought to be, and that this implies an unwise neglect of profitable opportunities. Much emphasis is rightly laid upon the necessity of developing primary industries to the utmost possible extent, but it,would be foolish to assume that so long as primary industries are enterprisingly developed of secondary _ industries is a matter of little importance. The truth, of course, is that primary and secondary industries are not competitors for attention, but are complementary one to another. An extension of secondary industries is desirable on all grounds—as widening the field of employment ancl adding to the total wealth production of the Dominion, and also as creating conditions in which primary industries can attain their maximum growth. The only excuse for stating these truisms is that they had been largely ignored in the past policy of this country. As Mh.'C. J. Ward pointed out in a paper which he read before the local Industrial Association last week, more than twelve hundred officials are employed by the State to assist in various w a >' s those who are engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits, whereas secondary industries receive hardly any help from the State. The mere, citation of these facts-goes far to justify the demand made by Mr. Ward and others for the creation of "a Department of Industries which would stand in much the same relation to manufacturing industry as do the Agricultural Department ancl others to primary production. _ It is at best an ill-balanced policy that concentrates State assistance almost exclusively on one form of production, in spite of tho fact that tho industries thus favoured are those upon which the Dominion has been chiefly dependent hitherto for its prosperity, and is likely to be for a considerable time to come. The best rea son for setting up a Department of Industries,is, of course, that systematic assistance, on right lines to secondary industries would work out in great profit to the Dominion and all sections of its population. Usoful scope for the activities of such a Department would be found both in promoting the better organisation of' existing secondary _ industries by compiling and publishing instructive industrial statistics, by obtaining and disseminating all possible information in regard to modern methods and processes and in other way's, and in so dc-fining possibilities of industrial enterprise and development in this country as to encourage the introduction of additional capital from outside sources. It is of the utmost importance in this connection that as the result of unsettled conditions and an uncertain outlook in the United Kingdom British capitalists are at present much inclined to look abroad for new fields of investment. From this standpoint alone it must bo regarded as a matter of pressing urgency to organise a Department of Industries without delay. In its water-power, little utilised as yet, the Dominion has a splendid asset upon which _ to base the creation of new industries and the expansion of those that cx'.st. General prospects of development 011 these lines are much enhance*!, obviously, by the greatly increased costs of manufacturing m highly-organised countries which depend chicfiy on coal as a source of power. An orderly initial survey of tho field of enterprise thus opened is essential, however, if the best results are to be achieved, and such a survey can only be .carried out by an efficiently organised and conducted Department of Industries. There is weight in the contention that the Department ought to be presided over by a Minister who would carry no other portfolio. This, of course, would imply that the Minister was specially qualified for the post, and had been appointed on that account, and not as an incident in a political shuffle. The time is more than rine for establishing ■ the rule that all Ministers must be selected solely on account of their qualifications and ability to render efficient service. There is perhaps something to be said for Mr. Ward's proposal that tho Minister of Industries should be advised by a strong council of business, industrial, technical, and scientific representatives, but whatever the details of its constitution the projected _ Department ought to be "so organised that it would be able to deal in a strictly practical way with the problems of industrial expansion and economical'production.

No doubt there is great scope in this country for scientific research in the interests of industrial development, and clue provision ought to bo made under this head. Independently of such possibilities, however, systematic measures tending to the better organisation of secondary industry would produce most valuable results. As indicating what is to be hoped for in this direction, facts relating to boot manufacture which were, cited _ by Mr. Ward in his tjaper arc particularly striking. Speaking as a boos manufacturer, he stated that the cost for labour in producing a pair of boots was less to-day than it was eighteen years ago—this despite the fact that in that period the wages of boot operatives have substantially increased. That prices for boots are very much higher to-day than they were eighteen years ago is due, Mr. Ward declared, to the increased cost of material and in-

creased charges for distribution and transport, mainly to the two lastnamed factors. At a direct view ibis suggests that after economics have been ct'fected where they are most difficult (i.e., in the factory, by the introduction of improved machinery anci in other ways) the whole of the saving and much more besides is frittered away in services which ought to lend themselves more readily than manufacture to economical organisation. More detailed information would be needed to warrant an absolutely definite opinion, but as it stands the example illustrates and emphasises the great need of an orderly presentation of the facts of secondary production. Only in that way and as (he result of the systematic ; oversight which would permit such a presentation is it feasible to show where secondary industry is developing under fair conditions and to the best advantage, and where it is not. No doubt an orderly and detailed survey of secondary industry in the Dominion would disclose many variations and anomalies permitting of rectification and remedy which would make in an important degree for improved efficiency and cheapened production. A properly organised Department of Industrie's would thus bo able not only to assist the expansion and extension of manufacturing enterprise, but to provide the basis which is essential for any hopeful effort towards regulating prices and limiting profits. The main duties of the Department at the oatset of its career would be to set out in clear terms, statistical end otherwise, the existing position of_ secondary industries in the Dominion, and the scope for extended anymore efficient'enterprise. Favoured as the Dominion is by possessing enormously important sources of cheap power which it has hardlv begun to exploit, there is little doubt that an organisation meeting (Jies'c requirements would speedily attract a great additional body of industrial capital, and as.a whole promote an increase in production many times exceeding the cost of its establishment and maintenance.