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Hokitika Guardian, 17 April 1923, Page 2

,\i-av Zi:.u, ami's secondary industries have u-ai-licd a. position of real importance a- an economic factor, the returns collected by the Government Statistician relating to the year ended March. 1922, showing that they give employment to 7(1.300 persons, and pay in wages and salaries the large sum oT £13,077,371). The amount of money invested in land and buildings and macliineiv and plant for carrying on these activities exceeds £11,090,000. The relative importance of the un'lustrie.s is be.-t shown by the number of employees. and in eutnpni ing the Jigmes with these cf the previous year it is pointed eiiL that the pievdent .slump is ivileetc.l I herein, the only industry to show a substantial increase in the number of employees during 1922 being butter, cheese and condensed milk manufacture. Taking the whole of the industries, however, ii is shown that the number of employees has increased liy 18 per cent in ten years, and that they are now distributed among the follow ing occupations :

Meat freer.inp; :i ntl |>ris<- f vi i> ... 7 Butter, eh.eexo and condensed miik factories 3.180 Sawniillinsr, cash and dour factories < .701 Knuiiiroriiig 3,000 I’rintinjr, publisliiiiK and bookl.indine ‘l.O-11 ( * sell I»ii i I rlin.LC 9i5 Motor and ey< le enniiieerinrr ... 2.019 Tunning. tellmimpery and wool srourinir I,ld] .Furniture and cablin-t-iiiakiiio 1,85-1 Woollen milliiHC 2,'ll") I Boot and shoe inakinn 2.132 Clothing maindnel lire 6,095 Fhix-inillin.tc (k>9‘ OvKH a period of ten years tlio employees in tin- Ixiot and shoemakiiip; industries have deereaxed by 20 per rent. Tamiinir, fellmonpery and M-ourinn lias also declined to the extent of 39 per cent; ennchbiuldintr, owinjr to the advent of tlie motor, dropped hy 17 ]ht eont: while flnxmilling shows a GO per rent decline in the number of employees durintr the period. Auckland easily heads the list as an industrial centre, the test applied heintt that- ol the value of the manufactures or products. The details for the provincial districts of value, of output- are ns follows :

Auckland 22,287.170 Taranaki ... 8,999.789 Hawlce’s Bay 3,001,082 Wellington 13,0 i 2,012 Marlborough 4 1 2,380 Nelson 914,378 Westland 782. o3i Canterbury 11,910,895 Otago ••• 1.514.251 .Southland 2,785,133 Totals ... £07.140.209 Tin-', development of hydro-elect iic supply in the South Island is evidently one of tlie factors in a remarkable disparity in coal consumption in the factories of the North and South Islands. More than 67 per cent of the coal lined in manufacturing is consumed in ho North Island The mest remarkable differences appear in this respect in tramways, electric supply and gasworks. Tramways use in the North Island 07,858 tons of coal annually, as against 2534 tons used in the South Island. Electric supply takes 79.174 in the North Island, as against 11.006 in the South; and gas supply requires 1<0,500 toils in the North island, against , G,t'(>■ > tons in the South.