DOMINION INDUSTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 February 1922, Page 5

DOMINION INDUSTRY.

THE GOVERNMENT’S INTEREST, TARIFF WITH AUSTRALIA. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Feb. 22. The annual conference of the Industrial Corporation of New Zealand opened this morning. Mr. C. J. Ward, president, occupied the chair. Mr. Lee, Minister of Industries and Commerce, addressed the conference, and said the Dominion’s interests were far more extensive than the. general public realised and the very best care was taken to produce high-class manufactured articles. The recent exhibition in Wellington was well-timed, because of the introduction of the tariff, and it provided ample testimony of the variety of goods produced in the Dominion. The exhibition was a wise step in that it showed to Parliament the necessity of looking after the Dominion’s industries. He would like to see further such exhibitions, which would always be supported by the Board of Trade. Speaking of the coming visit of the Minister of Customs and the Controller to Australia, Mr. Lee said he thought satisfactory results would be obtained. Whatever was done would have to be approved by Parliament. The Board of Trade would ever be anxious to help forward the industries of New Zealand although, owing to the financial stringency, it might not be possible to give bounties or anything of that sort.

Professor Easterfield, director of the Cawthron Institute, spoke on the value of research work and the need for its encouragement. He moved that, recognising the profound influence w’hich an active policy of scientific or industrial research would exert upon the development of the primary and secondary industries of New Zealand, this conference urges upon the Cabinet the necessity of fostering such research, both by assisting private investigations, and by adopting some such comprehensive scheme as was recommended by the Efficiency Commissioners in their report to Cabinet in January, 1918. The motion received general support and w r as carried.