Introductory.

Three years ago I had the honour of assisting at the inauguration of the New Zealand Manufacturers Association at Dunedin, by delivering an address on the Industries of New Zealand. The Committee of the Industrial Association of Canterbury, has paid me the compliment of inviting me to repeat the address in Christchurch, or give another on the same subject. As the Dunedin address professed to deal with the past, present and future, of the Industries of New Zealand, it is difficult to break new ground, I shall therefore follow on the old lines, but instead of appealing to figures at every turn to elucidate every phase of the subject, it will now be dealt with in more general terms. I, however, produce four diagrams showing the rise and progress of New Zealand trade. The first and second give the amount of our imports and exports every year from 1841 to 1885, and show the interchange between New Zealand and other countries, the third gives the details of our exports for the same period, and the fourth shows the effect of the goldfields.

Although the question of promoting Colonial Industries is a very old one, it has only risen into prominence during the last five or six years, and within the last three years the importance of the subject has literally been forced on the attention of the Colony. The low price of wool—the falling off in the returns from the goldfields, and the practical collapse of the grain trade has convinced the whole community that we must have more outlets for our energies. One of the first fruits of the new faith is the institution in the large centres of societies like the Industrial Association of Canterbury, that have for their object the promotion of Colonial Industries, and the development of the natural resources of New Zealand. Every colonist that has the interests of his adopted country at heart must cordially endorse the objects of the Association. What are the best means of attaining these objects is a debateable question; but there can be no diversity of opinion on the general proposition that it is desirable to foster and encourage, in this far-off isle of the sea, those arts and industries that are the principal factors in building up a nation.

With the view of presenting the subject to you in an intelligible manner, I shall first give a short sketch of what has already been done, then show the materials we have to work upon, and last of all speculate on what more can be done.