South Canterbury Times, TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 1881.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2616, 9 August 1881, Page 2

South Canterbury Times, TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 1881.

SECOND EDITION

Is yosterday’fl issue, we dealt briefly with the advantages which would accrue from the establishment of a woollen factory in Timaru. There is no doubt that such an industry would, besides directly giving employment to a large number of persons, be the means of creating other brandies of trade. Once the manufacturing spirit is fairly aroused, fresh outlets will be sought for the employment of capital. One industry stimulates another. It would be found that flax and paper mills would soon follow the establish-; ment of a woollen factory. Of course, the chief point to be considered is, will the new industry give a fair return on the outlay ? Investors cannot be expected to look merely to the general benefits to be conferred upon the community. In the matter of a woollen factory, the industry has already emerged from the region of experiment. Investors have the benefit of expeiience. It was stated at the meeting on Friday night that the Mosgiel Woollen Factory had been so far successful that the shareholders were receiving a return of eleven per cent. Considering the price of money at the present time, that must be regarded as a fair percentage. With regard to the Kaiapoi Factory, it is true that it did not pay at first, but that was owing to the inadequacy of tl c capital employed. It is also said that the management of the factory at its start was not of the most efficient kind. However, at the last meeting of the Kaiapoi Company an interim dividend was declared at the rate of eight per cent per annum. So it may he said that the Kaiapoi Company has been floated in the haven of

success. There are several woollen factories in Australia, and generally speaking they have been profitable speculations for the shareholders. In tire establishment of nearly all local industries loss has been incurred at the outset. In proportion to the capital employed, there has been no branch of manufactures in the colonies in which so little money has been dropped in the initiatory stages as in the particular industry under notice. The value of woollen goods imported into New Zealand amounts to about £IBO,OOO yearly. That is the amount, less the actual value-of the raw material, which would be retained in the colony annually if local production was fully equal to local consumption. So there need be no doubt as to an available market. We learn tlint lately both the Kaiapoi and Mosgiel factories have been working night and day, owing to the large demand for their fabrics. There are few places in the colony better adapted for the site »f a woollen mill than Timaru. Mr Burns, a gentleman who was connected with the starting of the Mosgiel Factory, has given it as his opinion that the water from the Pareora would answer all requirements very well. That is an important consideration. We need not mention that there would be no lack of the supply of the most suitable raw material in a district where so much attention has been paid to the production of the finer description of wools. But perhaps the most important advantage is that Timaru is well situated as a distributing centte. In South Canterbury alone there is a population of about 22,000, who form probably the most prosperous community in New Zealand. It is needless to say that relatively wooden goods are more freely purchased by the well-to-do than by the less nflluent classes. Hence, the demand in the district for the production of the local mill would be considerable. Again, Timaru is situated about midway between Christchurch and Dunedin, the two largest centres of population in the colony. In proportion to value, tbo cost of railway carriage of woollen goods would be trifling. The two cities mentioned would be as fully available as a market for the products of the Timaru mill as they would be for the products of Mosgiel or Kaiapoi. There is and always will bean extensive trade between this place and Dunedin and Christchurch. The business connection is already very close. If the proposed Timaru Woollen Company succeeded in turning out a good article, that article would readily find its way into every draper’s shop in the South Island. There are now no prejudices to overcome. The Mosgiel an! Kaiapoi Mills have fully demonstrated that colonial woollen goods are fully equal to those turned out in the Homo Country. One can rely that no spinious element is introduced in the manufacture in the colony of tweeds, flannels, and blankets. They are the “ real Mackay.” They contain nothing but what lias been grown on the sheep’s hack. There is a great future for the woollen manufacturing industry in this country. The time is not far distant when there will be an end to the import of woollen goods. Manufactures of all descriptions are yet in an infant stage in this colony. What place will be the future Leeds of New Zealand depends entirely upon the efforts of its inhabitants at the present time.