SELLING OUR WARES

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 367, 31 October 1932, Page 4

SELLING OUR WARES

The idea that secondary industries are dependent on tariff protection is being sharply contested in the light of recent events. The Ottawa agreement provides that no economieally unsonnd enterprise shall be Tbolstered up by heavy duties on the imported article, and this is reasonable, not only in the interests of trade, but of the consumer who pays the price. The Labour members who declare that j secondary industries will be J jeopardised by the Ottawa agreement are ineonsistent. They de1 sire that the cost of living shall J be reduced and also insist that i the costs of all eommodities shall be increased by the standard of prices being fixed on the basis of substantial tariff protection. No one will deny the value of secondary industries to a country, even to a country ! such as New Zealand which .is j regarded as non-manufacturing | owing to the remoteness of a po- | tential market for goods of this I nature and the impossibility of j successful competition. At the i same time it has been proved j conclusively that certain lines j can be produced profitably and | this without any assistance from the fiscal authorities. The cost of freights, and, latterly, an exj change favourable to manufacj turers, have been sufficient to I safeguard local interests where 1 there is ample justification for j the existence of such industries, J and this would be the case if this ; enterprise was multiplied many ; times over. The chief require- ' ment is quality, and where this can be assured, no difhculty will be experienced in seeuring a j share of business. If the New Zealand manufacturers fear the effects of the Ottawa agreement their best policy would be to push their wares in their own country, instead of permitting retailers to sell whatever is most convenient. In the past it has j been regarded as a favour to obI tain anything made in the Dominion, and one has marvelled at the indifference displayed by the concerns produeing tweeds and I other articles of wearing apparel. The same haphazard attitude has been eharacteristic of all our marketing methods, and the effect has been that New Zealand) manufactures have seldom been produced in the retail shops unless the customer has specially asked for them. The fact is that little system of any kind is employed by most of those responsible for the eontrol of secondary industries, and the local market is considered only when other outlets fail. A wise proceeding would be to make our business at home as far as it will go and to export only the surplus if there is any demand ahroad. The obvious need is publicity and salesmanship. The average director of these concerns is appalled at the thought of advertising extensively; yet, the Colmans, Pears, and Cadburys of the world have not grown rich by wasting money, and. the annual advertising bill of any one of them would buy ^ large New Zealand factory, lock, stock, and barrel. The trouble will not be the increased competition, because any local article that is worth its salt can be sold if the proprietors of the business are seriously anxious to sell. The industries that cannot stand the ; strain the new arrangement will impose would languish under any circumstances, and the public have the best right to protection if any is to be exercised by ; the State. We are convinced that ; half a hundred New Zealand "ar- ; ticles which are making good ' profits for those interested in : them, could materially increase I their returns if the same mei thods of marketing were used as | build up the huge establishments in Britain and America. There theyv certainly have the big po-

pulations to work on, but they also have proportionately keener competitiop, and are eompelled to effect saies hy more capable management, and hy keeping their names continuously before the public. Scarcely a successful business man in the world would refuse to admit that his good fortune was attributable to advertising his wares, not only emphasising the fact that such wares actually existed, but that they had been made to be s&ld in unlimited quantities. The New Zealand manuf acturer too often ecohomises when he should be liberal in his .expenditure; if he followed the example of his wealthy contemporaries abroad, the revenue accruing to our secondary industries would he increased beyond all conception of what is possible. A change bf methods should be the reply of our factories to the challeiige that may come as a result bf our Ottawa. trade agreement with Great Britain.