THE NEW ERA.

Hokitika Guardian, 30 July 1918, Page 1

THE NEW ERA.

(By X.)

TUB INDUSTRIAL PROBLEM —LOCAL We have seen, in considering the international aspect, that from other than purely economic reasons it may be necessary for a country to build up local industries; also that the national policy should not be the acquisition of the greatest possible national wealth, but the support of large populations in comfort and security. These are important points which may well be considered again from the local or national standpoint.

The war lias shown the necessity of nations being self contained, able to produce their own food and clothing aud cairy on the more essential industries. It is humiliating to us as New Zealanders just now to see how dependent we are on the outside world. In this country we have huge undeveloped resources. We have iron, copper, nickel and nearly all the metals required in manufacture; we have coal, limestone, oil, timber and minerals of all kinds; we have sources of natui’al water power in many places aud this means cheap electricity: electricity means cheap power, cheap calcium nitrate, calcium carbide and cyananide ; it means the manufacture of aluminium, the refining of metals by electrolysis and the utilisation of man}' now waste products. And yet none of this is available in this, our honr of need.

But we are considering now the conditions after the menaco of war is removed for ever ; after this pirate brood is exterminated, and the shipping oi the world lias once again freedom of the seas as in the past. ’ The conditions then,as now will necessitate rapid development of industries, one great factor being the large influx of population which must follow after the war, The absorption of the millions, now engaged in war work, into the industrial population pi’esents a very complex problem. Enormous possibilities open up when human effort and the resources of science are diverted from the business of destruction to that of production. But there are also enormous difficulties. While it is certain that small holdings of land and scientilic and intensive cultivation will be a very important factor in settling some of these, it is also certain that only a proportion of the population could with advantage to themselves or the country ever be placed directly on the land even under most favored conditions. We see that now, even with our few returned soldiers. It is being found that many of these men must be trained for industrial life — must be taught trades. Probably only a certain proportion of. the thousands of ex-navy and army men could, even with special training, ever become successful agriculturalists, even though in the future the conditions will, by science and the nse of machinery, be so changed as to appeal to many to whom agriculture in its present form would be distasteful. The rest must be absorbed into the manufacturing industiies or be found employment by the State on public works.

From a purely economic standpoint every country should develop its primary, or natural industries and under free ti’ade exchange its natural products for manufactured products from manufacturing countries; by this means no doubt the maximum national wealth can he built up. But this means for the yonnger countries sparse population, large holdings of land (for these can be worked more economically than the small holdings) and the stinting of the growth and development of the country as a whole. The weal h per capita may he great, hut. it will inevitably be very unevenly distributed. We have seen in New Zealand how these tendencies were developing, and how they have had to be fought against in the interests of the country as a whole. We need only glance at our own political history for the past thirty years to see that something moie than economics is necessary for the good government and development of a country. The real object to he attained in a democratic country is the development of the resources of the country on such lines that it will support in comfort a large population - not necessarily a wealthy population, but one amongst which wealth is fairly evenly distributed, and in which only the lazy and the hopelessly ineilicient need fear poverty. To attain this object not only- must the land be made available for those who can use it to the best advantage, and in the smallest areas, but the natural resources of the country must be likewise made available for the people. Then will naturally come the development of secondary as well as primary industries; the secondary industries providing the requirements of the workers in the primary industries—tools, implements, machinery, and the various manufactured necessaries and luxuries of life. The theoretical ideal would be the development of both classes of industry to a State which would make a country self-supporting and entirely independent of outside trade. . But our modern standard of comfort could not be attained in this way, and there is no reason why the standard should be lowered in order to attain this object. Barter is the present underlying principle of all trade, and every country will be willing to exchange what it can produce readily for those things which it can only, produce with difficulty, if at all. This trade has existed from time immemorial and will continue probably until time

ir no more. But when this trade, good in itself is considered as a moans of amassing individual wealth, the secondary industries of a country nuisr snffer. If it is to be a case of buying in the cheapest market irrespective of any and of all other considerations then the democratic ideal of building up a prosperous and populous country cannot be given effect to But it is surety merely a question of common sense and sound judgment, to decide how fur secondary industries can be safely developed. If an industry cannot be established without such assistance as will mean a, bigger tax to the people than tho industry is worth to the country tlion it may he taken that the time is not ripe to establish it. If on the other hand it is shown that local manufacturers can compete with outside manufacturers and produce good articles though at a somewhat higher price, it is to the interests of the country that careful investigation should be made as to the future possibilities of such manufactures. Many promising industries in New Zealand have been allowed to die ont, and no one thought it worth while to hold a post mortem and rind out the cause. Amongst these were our engineering and shipbuilding industries. The history of the struggle made by these two industries alone to survive would be instructive to those who take a real interest in the country’s welfare But industries arc regarded for the most part as purely ail individual and money-making proposition. If they survive well and good—-if not let them die out. Land speculation, bank and insurance shares and gilt-edged mortgage securities appeal m6re to the wealthy investor. The workers, however, are directly concerned, and by workers I mean all those with moderate or small incomes whoso families must “ make their own way in the world.” Those of this class even though not dependent themselves on the secondary industries find as the members of their family grow up that there is no chance of getting them placed in employment nnless they go to the larger towns, and even there the position is not much better. Yonng people who would do excellent work if they could only get employment suited to their natural bent and ability aie wasted, and their lives spoiled because of the absence of opportunity. What is the sense in providing technical education if the student is given no chance of using it ? i happen to be in a position to know that much valuable talent is going to waste. Bright boys frequently come to me, show with pride their technical certificates, and are keen to get taken on as apprentices. And yet for many of them there is no possible chance in New Zealand at present. Some of those who do get a job find that the industries are run under conditions which the lads themselves know to be obsolete. They have no chance to see work done in the way they have read about and the result is some of them lose interest in their trade before they ai’e out of their time. If the people realised how the future generation is handicapped in this way they would want to know why manufacturers and industries cannot be established and run efficiently and on up-to-date lines. This question means to the country the difference between a large, increasing, and selfsupporting population with agricultural and manufacturing industries mutually bonefitting and supporting one another, and a comparatively sparsely populated country almost .entirely dependent on outside markets for sale of produce and for supplies. It. means either we must be contented with stunted, languishing, and inefficiently conducted industries constantly threatened by annihilation by inside and outside competition, or, being satisfied this is not in the public interest consider what remedial i measures are practicable. There is no reason why, in New Zealand for example, we should not have piosper- ' ous and efficiently conducted intlustiies utilising natural resources, training young New Zealanders, ab* sorbing surplus labor, creating wealth, and building up a permanent prosperity independt nt of fluctuations of the world markets. If this object is j worth attaining let ns consider how the State can assist in bringing it , about.