INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20743, 1 March 1939, Page 6

INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Two news items published yesterday, read in conjunction, are deserving of particular attention. One discussed a record year for production in the secondary industries; the other was an urgent appeal to the Government by the sheep farmers of New Zealand for assistance to prevent the degeneration of their industry. In the same newspaper, appeared a statement by the Minister of Industries and Commerce, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan: “We are changing the policy in New Zealand. We are trying to build an industrial nation in the South Seas. We see no reason why we should not build New Zealand into a great manufacturing country in which there will be work and wages, so that there will not again be a repetition of the dreadful conditions of 1931-35.”

: Everyone agrees that New Zealand should not all its eggs in one basket and that there is room for considerable industrial expansion, but it is perfectly clear that while the present policy is pursued, New Zealand can never become a “great industrial nn/jn” if that means a great exporter of manufactured goods. The /ation may become industrialised to the extent that it can supply its own needs in manufactures, but its costs level is so high above that of other industrial nations that it cannot hope to compete in overseas markets. Let industry expand reasonably by all means, but in the meantime it would be suicidal to allow the great primary industries to fall into neglect and decay.

The sheep farmers have stated their ease for investigation in a letter to the Prime Minister. There is no need for mystery about it. The industry is in the hands of the Government, and if the Government can show that there is no cause for complaint it is only fair that it should do so. The farmers contend that the present returns from their industry are so meagre in consequence of low prices and heavily increased costs that it is impossible to maintain their flocks and their poorer class lands, and that if present conditions continue their plight will become progressively worse and much land will go out of production. At the same time dairy production is declining and restrictions have been placed on the export of mutton and lamb. The trends of industrial development, both primary and secondary, call for the utmost vigilance.