MADE IN NEW ZEALAND.

North Otago Times, Volume CVII, Issue 17166, 24 March 1927, Page 4

MADE IN NEW ZEALAND.

PreaB Association.)

A PAROCHIAL PREJUDICE.

(Per

WELLINGTON, Last Night. An invitation was received yesterday i>y the Minister of Industries and Commerce (Mr. McLeod) from the Board of Directors of the, New Zealand-made Pi^eference League asking his presenee at an ofiicial opening of an industxual fair of New Zealand-made goods at Auckland. The object of the League is to encourage the purchase and use of local manufacturers by the public of ihe Dominion. The Minister has telegraphed a reply in which he expresses his regret that it is not possible for him to be present at the function. "As Minister of Industries and Commerce and! as a New Z-ealander born," he states, "I must cordially .support the ir,ovement your League has inaugurated. During a recent inspection of a number of factories it was a matter of surpris'c and regret to me to find that in some cases well made ai-ticles of high quality and excellent finish were being sent out to retailer,s without any indication that they were manufactured locally ancl, on making inquirl'es as to reason for such an omission I was informed in every case that it was a condition insisted upon hjr some of the distributors. It wonld appear, thereforej that an unwarranted prejudice exists against some lines of New Zealand-made goods t and if your League can assist in killing such prejudice and injjDuing our people with a sense of the desirahility of loj-allj7 supporting their own industries, it will froxn the point of view of The Dominion's prosperit^', have served a liighly useful purpose."