The Daily News MONDAY, JULY 20. THE NEED FOR LOCAL INDUSTRIES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 179, 20 July 1908, Page 2

The Daily News MONDAY, JULY 20. THE NEED FOR LOCAL INDUSTRIES.

The very valuable object lesson afforded by the exhibition of the products of New Zealand manufactories in the shop windows of New Plymouth, tradespeople at j present, cannot have .failed to impress 1 itself on the minds of the people. lu i'oodstuil's of <jvery description, in clothing, blankets, ru«js, tweeds, worsteds, and boots, displays of New Zealandmade goods have been made which for genuine value and honest workmanship can compare more than favorably with anything we import, from cheap labor countries. What the mass of the public have been too long in recognising is thai "Made in New Zyalaud" stands for quality that cannot be excelled. Jn woollen manufactures, for instance, the product of our factories lias been recognised a* the acme of quality, not- equalled by anything could possibly import. And yet an enormous amount of money, thai with far more advantage to the ultimate purchaser and the country as a whole could and should be expended in New Zealand, is annually sent out ot the country to pay our foreign clotHmg, boot, and patent food bill.

Practical demonstrations such a# are at present being given In -New Plymouth will, we are convinced, do more to stimulate a healthy demand for the superior New Zealand article to the exclusion of much imported shoddy titan anv manner of legislative enactment. There is, however, one other object h'sson to be taken from "New Zealand industries Week," and that is the almost total absence of material evidence or local industries. Of standard manufactures, New Plymouth is sadly behind very many of the. enterprising provincial towns of 'New Zealand. Excluding woodware factories, which are as a rule indigenous to every district where _ timbci is available, hoot manufacturing is practically the only factory industry of any pretention in the town. We see no 1 canon, for instance, why a woollen mill could not be commercially successful in New Plymouth. In the South Island, successful mills employing, directly and indirectly, a great number of pcop U, are established at lnvercargill, Milton. Mos"iel, Dunediu, Oamaru, Timaru, Kaii„oi, and Ashlnirton, while in this island, to the best of our knowledge, only two mills of any pretensions arc in opera; lion—Vclone and Onehunga. With tit iucreasin" production of wool 111 tills island, and to a considerable extent m Taranaki, the raw product wou.il be available 011 terms as favorable as those obtaining in the case of the other nulls mentioned.

On many occasions the question °' os " tablishilig soap and candle works in New Plymouth has been mooted, but 110 genuine effort, of recent date at any rale, has been made to launch such an industry. The raw product is available in suilieient quantity, and at present « shipped away to be made up and returned to us. Recent discoveries have proved this locality to be rich in pottery clays, and already operations are in progress for the shipping of the clay for waie manufacture to Sydney, ihcre is unlimited "scope for the operations of a trawling company oil the New llymouth coast, and an insatiable market for all it could possibly supply. Trawling is now an established industry at Napier, whence the bulk of Taranaki's fob supnlv is at present drawn. With the eaiiy pushing on of the Stratford-Ongarulie railway line, and the consequent increase'in the rolling stock of the iaranaki railways, it will be in the interests of economical management that provincial repair shops on a much more comprehensive scale be established in New Plymouth, and representations m this direction might with considerable ga.n to the town be made lo the Minister of Railways.

We recognise that the greater industrial activity in the South Island has been due to a very great extent to the supplies of cheap fuel everywhere readily olainable. As compared with coal at from Cl to ,C2 a ton in New Plymouth, many of the large industries in Utilgo are in the fortunate position of being able to get lignite at from os to 10s pelton. I,'owev is practically the base ot manufacturing, and in this respect .taranaki particularly has been under a severe handicap. There is, however, mors than a possibility of that embargo being removed before very long. Ust week we reported what is believed to be a valuable find of lignite within four miles of town. The Whaiigamomona district is known to be richly endowed with deposits of good lignite that could be put oil trucks at about 7s lid per ton. Ihe development of the latter field, however, is dependent 011 its tapping by the Strat-ford-,Ongaruhc railway, and suggests one of the most potent arguments for the pushing on 0/ this great work. Should the Smart road lind realise expectations, a new industrial avenue will be opened up that should be fraught with niesti niablc potentialities for New PlymouU, and everyone must cordially _ wish success to the prospecting operations. Ihe establishment of new industries in oui midst is the most crying need of the district, and would do more to send the town along the road to material and lasting prosperity that it can ever hope for as a mere distributing centre.