SECONDARY INDUSTRIES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 179, 30 June 1937, Page 4

SECONDARY INDUSTRIES.

lAIPORTANCE TO FEILDING. In his address to the Feilding Chamber of Commerce on the secondary industries of the town, Air G. J. Fitzpatrick spoke interestingly on the amenities of the district. An attractive town and district would always make an appeal to new settlers, said Air Fitzpatrick, and it should be the aim of the business interests to make the town as attractive as the means within their power permitted. He thought that Feilding was quite attractive now, but could be made more so. It was amply equipped for every sporting interest, catering for bowls, croquet, football, hockey, golf and tennis, as well as basketball. Every leisure hour pastime was catered for and all contributed towards the attractiveness of the town to the new settler. Air Eizpatrick said he had discussed the. question with a recently arrived settler, a retired farmer, inquiring why he had selected Feilding ior his new home and had received the reply that because the town was convenient. The town could be made more attractive in the way of tree planting in the streets. An excellent start with such beautifying had been made, and this could be extended with very little effort. There was room for improvement in the attractiveness of business houses and the display of goods, for appearances in this connection counted a great deal jn influencing new settlers. On the subject of the town’s secondary industries, Afr Fitzpatrick said that he l»d sought information from the controllers of the principal activities and had been impieasecl with the figures which he liad obtained. Tedding s biggest secondary industry was its freezing works, which meant a great deal to the prosperity of the town. At the peak, between tue months of December to March, the works employed 400 hands and the annual wageuni was iu tne vicinity of £60.000. Unimportance of the freezing woiks to the town and to the fanning conimun.ty was readily apparent, lae speaker iiud endeavoured to ascertain vnett.e. where was any prospect of a secondary industry being created to deal with by products from the works, but has leariud that the company haiwiled alt its by-products and theie was there tore no p-iospect or any netv develop mant. Tne local pork and bacon curing establishment employed 30 men with an niinii.il wage oih of approximately £BOOO. Here again a.ll tue byproducts weie handled c-y the company. With a payout last year of roughly a quarter or a mi.lion in cream cheques, the Cheltenham Daily Company employed between 45 and 50 hands with an annual wage and salary bill oi about £IO,OOO. The by-product from tli.s industry tea's once a. problem, bul now the. company disposed of it through its up-to-date pig farm, which had become a pronounced success. There was one aspect of this industry which might lave been met locally p.nd that was Ilia provision of buttei boxes. The closing of the local boxmaking works wan unfortunate, and ht doubted whether a plant to meet the requirements of the company would lx permitted l>v the Government. Mi Fitzpatrick said that lie had confined his investigation to the major second ary industr.es and considered that.

from the information gathered, their importance to the prosperity of the town could not be questioned. There were several smaller industries steadily developing, and these also made their contribution to the progress and development of Feilding. Air A. J. Humphreys (president) said that it was very interesting to learn something of tne secondary industries of Feilding and thanked Air Fitzpatrick for Hits address. Mr A. C. MeCorkindale said that if retailers expected the town to progress they must help in that progress by keeping their stocks up-to-date and by providing progressive displays. Mr O. Aldis considered that the address would result in a greater measure I of respect and appreciation tor the secondary industries of the town. Air Fitzpatrick reminded the meeting of the value of the Feilding Agricultural High School and suggested that the boarders of the school meant at least £SOOO per annum to the business community.