The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 1884. MR BLAIR, M.I.C.E. ON NEW ZEALAND INDUSTRIES.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1149, 8 March 1884, Page 2

The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 1884. MR BLAIR, M.I.C.E. ON NEW ZEALAND INDUSTRIES.

Passing over some sub-divisions of Mr Blair’s lecture that are not so directly interesting to this community, we come to ‘clothing and clothing materials,’ Leather first comes in for notice. Already we have some tanneries in South Canterbury and there appears no reason why there should not be more, considering the advantages that should arise from such a local industry. The vear 1867 saw the first exportation of leather from .New Zealand ; since then the trade has reached £46,287. ‘Against this, however, we in the same year, imported £82,315 worth. Of course the exported kinds are quite different from the imported ones; bat this shews there is ample room for an expansion of the industry, particularly as we export £*77,000 worth of raw materials. Leather is practically the only New Zealand manufacture sent to England.’ On consulting works on the leather trade in England, we find the following interesting statement : ‘ rfheepskins are supplied chiefly by the Home markets, but many thousands are imported from the Cape of Good Hope, and are considered to he superior to those of English growth.' The treatise we take this from is of comparatively old date, and more was known of the Cape then than New Zealand, The question may well be asked, In what are the Cape sheepskins superior to colonial ones ? If the Cape sheepskins held highest favour in the English markets, why should not New Zealand ones do likewise ? Provided that our sheepskins were just as good for making leather as those supplied to the Home dealers, why should we not dress it ourselves and export it, thereby saving a very large amount of money? Now that the Frozen Meat Companies are starting all over the colony, a constant and pretty regular supply to tanneries could be depended on. Over 10,000 green hides are exported from the South Island to Britain annually. Why should this be so ? In Southland an industry has been developed for supplying to New Zealand tanneries the bark of red pine and rimu and karamai (birch) for tanning leather. With the very requirements at our door, so to speak, we think it is time that some attention was directed towards the establishment of some tanneries in tins district. We have already one or two at work, but that number would be quite insufficient if a general interest in the industry was aroused, its advantages pointed out, and an impulse given to it by the establish-; men! of a Freezing Company in South Canterbury. From a paper b}' Mr W. B. Scandrett on ‘ Southland and its resources ’ we learn that hundreds of tons of bark aae shipped to Northern tanneries, and that one fiim in that district alone uses 150 tons per annum. Cur neighbors on each side seem to be busy, and we are standing still so far as this industry is concerned. We believe that we are the first to point out the mutual relations that should exist between tanneries and meat freezing establishments. This is an indusiry well suited to this district, and we sincerely hope that some of our leading men will taka the matter up, and give it their attention. There can be little doubt but that a large market is open for the consumption of prepared leather. In 1882 we imported £82,000 worth, and exported £77,000 ; leaving a difference of £5,000. When we have the requisite materials materials without importing hardly an article, why should we not manufacture our own leather, and, having supplied our own wants, why should we not then export? These are questions we recommend to the careful consideration of our men of talent and enterprise. Mr Blair, after having made a remark or two on the leather trade, passes on to comment on our woollen trade. Of this industry he remarks : ‘ There is no industry in New Zealand of which the colonist are prouder than the woollen manufactures, and they undoubtedly merit the estimation in which they are held, whether as regards the success they have achieved or the excellence of the products.’ He then goes on to state that there are four mills in operation, three in the vicinity of Dunedin and one at Kaiapoi, ‘ another is just beginning work at Oamaui, and two are in course of erection or about to be erected at Ashburton and Wellington.’ And here we might note the remarks of Dr Hector, in his lately issued handbook of New Zealand, on this subject. This authority writing of industries, of the woollen one points out that the ‘ increase in the crease in the number of woollen mills from three in 1878 to four in 1881 is small, but the increased quantity of goods manufactured is really much larger than the small increase in the number of establishment would appear to indicate, and from occupying an almost experimental position the woollen manufactures have grown into a sure and flourishing industry. This .may be the better realised when it‘ is stated that,-while in 1878 the number of hands employed was

78 ’’lt had risen in 1881 to 417.’ The four mills in operation work up about 2,150,000 pounds of wool annually, the value of which is £75,000. The cloth made from this wool is worth £150,000 and the value of the clothing produced from it is valued at £450,000. The subject of establishing a woollen factory in South Canterbury has already been pretty fully discussed, andwith these remarks by authorities on the subject, we pass on with Mr Blair to the soap and candle industry. A soap manufactory has been already established by Mr .Raymond, and it will undoubtedly be a boon to the district ; firstly as giving labor to a small number of men, secondly as utilising fat, tallow, etc., which would otherwise be wasted, and thirdly as affording a class of cheap candles. The manufacture of soap and candles has been on a steady increase, £IOO,OOO worth of tallow is annually consumed in these two article. In 1881, 108 hands were employed in these industries.

Building materials, in the shape of limestone, we have in abundance in the Kakahu ; timber we have in our busbes. The bushes are being worked out quickly enough, and our sawmills need little stimulus. It looking over, the other day, a large lithographed card containing many interesting facts about Canterbury —its founders, its chief towns, its resources, etc, —we naturally felt most insterest in what the sheet had to record about Ternuka and Geraldine. Among other things it stated that in the vicinity of these two townships there were situated extensive beds of limestone suitable for building purposes, stated on the authority of Dr Hector to be —if we remember exactly—the best quality obtainable in New Zealand. We confess we were not aware of this very important quality of our limestone before; but this only points to the fact that in this district we do not thoroughly know our own resources. Of building materials, Mr Blair says that almost the whole of such requisites could be produced in the colony, were our resources more fully developed. Mr Blair, after pointing out the reasons whyhydrauliclimeshould be manufactured locally, makes the following pertinent remarks : ‘ The reason why hydraulic lime has not been made in the South Island is that it costs a little more, and the general public are indifferent to quality. This is not the case in the North ; the superior quality of the material is recognised on all sides, and as a consequence the industry has become of considerable importance. . . . Auck-

land lime is fast superseding cement in the local market; it has even found its

way to Dunedin,

The existence

of hydraulic lime obviates to a great extent the necessity for manufacturing: cement. If the former is properly utilised there is little room for the latter, but if the present system of burning nothing but common lime is continued in the Middle Island, a good opening is left for cement works.” The raw materials we have plenty of and at low prices, and little skilled labor is required. Here is an opening for a local industry; our Kakahu limestone has no necessity to lie idle. This is an industry, however, that will not lose much by standing still for a time, except such injury as it may receive from competition. The possessor of the card before referred to “was selling copies of it.” Perhaps, therein lies the fact that our limestone is the best quality obtainable in New Zealand, Anyway, if not the best suited for building purposes, it would do well for manufacturing hydraulic lime from. This is another industry that might easily be developed here, and one that likely will at some future date.