The Waikato Times. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1930 SECONDARY INDUSTRIES DRIVE

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20740, 25 February 1939, Page 6

The Waikato Times. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1930 SECONDARY INDUSTRIES DRIVE

. ea^an d will welcome the Government's proposal to ransfer 8000 men from public works employment to more useful occupations m the industries. The movement should serve the double purpose of increasing production and reducing expenditure which is only partly economic. Whether the Government and the industries between them can succeed in effecting the transfer in the six weeks suggested is doubtful, but it is at least gratifying that the effort is ° ■ mado ' J ' cw Zcalancl cannot continue indefinitely to employ 80,000 men on public works, many of which could well wait. Increased production is, however, an urgent necessity if the finances of the country arc to be kept in a sound condition.

As a result of the Government’s rigorous campaign behind the protection of the import restrictions a substantial increase m the output of New Zealand’s secondary industries can be expected in the near future. If New Zealanders themselves do not undertake the expansion it is evident that overseas concerns that have enjoyed trade with the Dominion will establish factories in the country Lacking confidence in the stability of the present policy and conditions, New Zealand manufacturers are hesitating, but there is no doubt many will soon seize the opportunity, extend their plants and engage many more workers.

It should not be imagined that by manufacturing all its needs New Zealand ■will have solved all its problems. There is indeed a possibility that the secondary industries drive may be pressed too ar. It is necessary in developing the scheme that the Government should accurately assess the limit to which goods may be manufactured with the assurance of a payable market. The market within New Zealand is not very extensive, and there are only a few lines in which it can be hoped to develop an export trade, chiefly because of the high level of costs of production in the Dominion. The limit should be kept in view as the drive progresses.

-Again, if New Zealand supplies all or most of its requirements in manufactured goods, importations will decrease drastically, and that would involve the security of New Zealand’s market overseas for exported primary produce. Even now the market is being restricted, and if imports are cut too severely the imposition of more restrictive quotas may be expected. Without an export market, can manufactured goods replace primary products as producers of revenue for New Zealand ? Prudence suggests that while there is room for increased production in the secondary industries, the primary industries should not be neglected in the process of development. Primary production is falling, and therefore the national income is declining. Simultaneously with the expansion of manufacturing it is necessary that the primary industries should be fostered and that every effort should be made to find extended markets overseas for the products of the soil. That is why New Zealand has a particular interest in economic and political settlement in other countries.