Encouragement to be Given.

Although it is so difficult to encourage colonial industries in a proper manner, there is not the slightest doubt they should be encouraged, for as already shown, the benefits to be derived from the establishment of manufactures of various kinds are incalculable, and our position as a commercial country will not be secure without them. It would be unwise to foster any industry that wants continual propping up—money kept in the country at this price is too dear. But when the beam is so near the balance that a slight touch will turn it, that touch should certainly be applied. As already shewn, the whole community will undoubtedly benefit by the establishment of new industries, consequently it is only reasonable that the country should bear the expense of finding out what industries are likely to succeed, and of the experiments necessary to shew whether they can really go alone. What form such assistance should take, and whether it should be decided page 93 on general principles or individual requirements are questions for Legislators to determine. One thing how-ever is clear, on account of its natural advantages, a multiplicity of industries can he established in New Zealand at little cost, and providing they can only get a start, the less State assistance they receive the better.

Leaving out bonuses, protection, and the other direct means of encouraging colonial industries which belong to the sphere of politics, I shall notice a few of the more general requirements.

One of the first is the cultivation of a thoroughly national spirit in favour of our own productions. The spirit that animated George Washington who was inaugurated in a suit of homespun, and which animates Americans to this day. The creed of Monroe may be selfish, but it has the rare merit of honesty, and it is founded on sound principles "charity begins at home."

The prejudices against home-made goods already referred to will undoubtedly wear away through time, as the public get to learn that they are unfounded; and, in the meantime, any foundation that exists should be removed by the production of nothing but first-class articles in every branch of trade. On the other hand, public bodies as well as individuals should give the preference to colonial manufactures, in every case where they compete fairly with the imported article. Loyalty to our duty as colonists demands this sacrifice, if sacrifice it is.

Another means of encouraging colonial industries is a thoroughly systematic inquiry into the industrial resources of the country and a wide-spread diffusion of the knowledge thus obtained. The necessity for this is illustrated by a paragraph which some time since appeared in the papers, stating that a great difficulty in butter-making is the want of proper timber to make casks. This is quite incorrect, the most plentiful timber in the Colony—birch—being as suitable for the purpose as English beech or oak. There are 2,208,000 acres of page 94 birch in the country traversed by the Midland Railway. We have another illustration in the fungus previously referred to, the properties of which were unknown to the settlers. There are possibly many such products in the country of which we have no knowledge. In addition to the fullest information about our resources, we want periodically an authoritative record of the progress that is made in the various industries. The Royal Commission of 1880 made recommendations in this direction. The principal part of the work must of necessity be done by Government, but much can be done locally.

It is unnecessary to descant on the benefits of exhibitions—they are universally admitted. The one held at Wellington in 1886 was a powerful stimulus to colonial manufactures. It not only showed what has been and can be done, but dispelled prejudice and extended the market for home products.

The establishment of small industrial museums or permanent exhibitions in the larger centres would also be of great service. The Mines Department has taken a step in this direction by sending a collection of typical minerals to the mining districts.

In the evidence before the Royal Commission on the Depression in England much stress is laid on the want of the technical schools so common on the Continent. We will require these aids to industry by and by, but in the meantime the cry for them is premature. The industries must come first, otherwise their effect will simply be to drive more of the rising generation out of the Colony, and instead of going as raw materials they will be exported in a semi-manufactured state like the fruit pulp that comes from Tasmania.

Another important factor in the promotion of every colonial industry is the improvement in inter-communication that is constantly going on, and which will undoubtedly be continued till all the resources of the Colony are opened up. This is one of the engines. page 95 started by the golden lever. "Without it in the past our present position would not have been attained, and without it in the future our progress must soon come to an end. Facility for inter-communication benefits every branch of industry, and equalises trade by putting matter in the right place.

Accessibility is the first factor in every thing; an acre of land near London too poor to grow anything but houses is worth 10,000 acres of the richest agricultural land in Maniatoba.

For want of roads the price of potatoes in the Wakatipu district, in 1864, was about £60 a ton; three years afterwards they could be bought for ten shillings, for exactly the same reason. I paid sixteen shillings a bushel for oats on the Kawarau in 1864; the price at Tapanui, in 1879, was tenpence. The extremes in one direction were due to the want of facilities for bringing the produce into the district, and in the other, to the want of facilities for taking it away.

The last and most important requirement in extending the industries that already exist, and establishing new ones in the Colony, is men. With the cry of the "unemployed" ringing in our ears, this statement may appear open to question, but it is nevertheless true. In New Zealand we want most of all men, women, and children—"all sorts and conditions of men," and of all "kindreds and tongues," to develop the varied resources of the Colony. Anglo-Saxons to trade, grow corn, and drive engines; Italians to plant olives; Frenchmen to make wine; and Mongolians to grow tea and tobacco. If a tithe of the industries we have discussed to-night were fully developed, and the population increased in due proportion, there would be fewer unemployed. We have them now so often simply because the sources of employment are so limited.

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Referring to this subject Brassey says:—"The economic value of the population is the most important element in the capital of the United Kingdom," and with all their protective proclivities the Americans have never protected labour; they also appraise it at its proper value. It is calculated that every immigrant that lands at New York is worth from £200 to £250 to the State. 75,224 landed during the first half of 1886. At £200 this represents £15,000,000 added to the wealth of the country. At the same rate 10,000 immigrants coming annually to New Zealand would be worth £2,000,000, and the taxes paid by them would just meet the interest on the million a year we are borrowing.