Home Industries.

Preliminary.—I have now given a sketch of the industries that have hitherto contributed most to the sea-borne commerce of New Zealand. So far my task has been an easy one, for the statistics show plainly their rise and progress as well as the struggle for supremacy between the native and imported products; but it is different with those industries that have not reached the exporting point, there being no such direct means of arriving at their true history or present condition. An idea can, however, be formed by calculating the amount per head of imports and exports for each class or article at different times. A statement on this basis is appended to my Dunedin address, which gives general deductions, and from which results in any particular case can be worked out.

In addition to a great variety of ordinary food preparations, which are exported in large quantities, about twenty other items of New Zealand manufactures appear among the exports. Of this number I here are seven in which the amount for 1885 exceeded £3000, viz. biscuits, leather, cloth, soap, doors and sashes, wood ware and machinery. The largest of all is leather, which has been an export since 1837. The exports have grown with few intermissions to £48,346 in 1883, the amount for 1885 being £47,054. Against this, however, our page 20 imports amount to nearly double these figures. Of course the imported kinds are quite different from the exported ones; but this shows that there is ample room for an expansion of the industry, particularly as we export £75,000 worth of the raw materials. Leather is practically the only New Zealand manufacture sent to England.

Alimentary Products.—After the staff of life in its various forms the other eatables that we now produce in the colony are fancy biscuits, confectionery, and jams. The industries connected herewith have become of considerable importance in recent years, and some of the finest exhibits at the Industrial Exhibition were in this class. They would do credit to the best confectioners in the old world. The local products are rapidly taking the place of the imports in the principal articles all over the colony.

Ten years ago we imported about £2000 worth of fancy biscuits. In 1885 the imports were only £773.

The imports of confectionery used to range from £20,000 to £25,000. Now they range from £15,000 to £20,000. The local products are valued at £17,130.

From 1875 to 1881 the imports of jams fluctuated between £35,761 and £49,490. Since 1881 the range has been from £10,552 to £22,923. In 1885 the colonial factories turned out £32,292 worth.

Sugar, the principal ingredient in these manufactures, is itself a New Zealand manufacture, the Auckland Sugar Refinery being now in active operation. This is an extensive establishment—the output in 1885 was valued at £176,591. Hitherto the supply of raw sugar has been obtained from Java, but in future the proprietors will grow the cane on their own estates in Fiji.

Pickles and sauces is another class of preserves and condiments that made a good show at the Exhibition. They are now manufactured all over the Colony.

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After food come drinkables and materials for making them, under this head our native manufactures are beer and aerated waters. In 1885 we exported £1,780 worth of Colonial beer, but we are still far from the exporting stage, for the imports amounted to £102,229. Not-withstanding that about 4,500,000 gallons of beer are annually brewed in the Colony, the imports are practically keeping pace with the increase of population.

There are 560 men employed in malting and brewing, and the capital invested in the industry is estimated at £284,056.

The market in aerated waters and mild cordials is mostly supplied by local products. The statistics show that there are 273 hands employed in the industry, that the capital invested is £93,478, and that £94,098 worth of the various drinks were produced in 1885.

Taken altogether we are now producing not only all the necessaries, but most of the luxuries of life that can be produced in temperate climes.

Clothing.—Next to food the greatest essential of civilized life is clothing and some of our most successful efforts in manufactures have been made in providing it for ourselves. In the various industries connected with manufacturing and making up leather and cloth no fewer than 4,077 hands are employed, and the capital invested in land, plant, and buildings is estimated at about £330,000.

I have already referred to leather in connection with Colonial manufactures that are exported. In addition to the ordinary leathers used in shoemaking and saddlery, the tanneries are now manufacturing the finer kinds required for bookbinding and fancy work.

Several of the native barks are used for tanning, more particularly birch bark a large quantity of which is produced in Nelson

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In 1885 there were £185,642 worth of boots imported, and £276,725 worth made in factories in the Colony,

A new feature in the leather trade—the manufacture of portmanteaux and Gladstone bags—was well represented at the Exhibition.

There is no industry in New Zealand of which the colonists 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. Seven mills are now in operation, four of them have been established for many years, and three started within the last three years. Arrangements are also made for building three more. The six mills in active operation at the end of 1885, work up annually 2,000,000 pounds of wool, the value of which is £70,000. The cloth produced is worth £200,000, and the clothing into which it is made £600,000. If these manufactures took only the place of cloth, the amount of imports excluded by them would be of course £200,000, but if they took the place of ready-made clothing the amount would be the full £600,000. We know that they act in both ways, consequently it will probably be fair to assume that the Colonial manufactures, affect the imports to the extent of about £400,000.

The New Zealand cloth mills produce a great variety of fabrics suitable for all the purposes of humanity, old and young, savage and civilized. There has been a considerable export of our woollens to the neighbouring colonies, and one or two sample shipments have found their way to England.

Household and Personal Requisites.—Taking household requisites as a whole the import trade is not materially affected by the local manufactures, the decrease in some articles being balanced by an increase in others.

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Our furniture factories are second to the cloth mills in the success they have met with, but equal to them in the beauty and excellence of their manufactures. Furniture of all kinds and description is made in considerable quantities, suitable for all classes of homes—from cottage to castle. But, considering our large supplies of beautiful woods, the industry is not so extensive as it ought to be. The imports for the last five years have averaged £57,364 as against £66,125 for the five years ending 1880. This is probably due to the fact that the trade depends not so much on the necessities of life as on the caprice of fashion and trade.

Furniture making gives employment to 757 men. The capital invested is estimated at £103,977, and the annual output at £170,435.

Ordinary earthenware for domestic purposes is manufactured at several of our potteries, and tile works in considerable quantities; but the manufacture of the finer kinds has not yet passed the experimental stage.

A glass work on a small scale has been in operation in Auckland for some years. Its products are mainly lamp glasses and chimneys, and water bottles and jugs.

The manufactures of soap and candles are generally carried on together. Although the imports of common soap have increased slightly during the past two years we may say that the local product commands the market. The exports in 1886 were £576 more than the imports. Fancy soaps of various kinds are also manufactured at the larger works.

The imports of candles fell from £96,412 in 1877 to £45,225 in 1883, but there was a rise to £74,452 in 1884; the amount for 1885 being £71,673. From this it would appear that the Colonial candle works are not holding their own.

The annual value of the raw materials used in the manufacture of soap and candles is returned at £72,951, page 24 and that of the products at £130,745. The plant and machinery is worth £75,928, and 204 hands are employed.

Under the head of personal requisites the most important item is tobacco. Although the plant has long been grown by the Maoris for their own use, and by the settlers for sheep dipping, it is only of late years that it has been cultivated for manufacturing purposes. Auckland tobacco, raw and manufactured and in a great variety of forms, made a good show at the Exhibition. The quality is officially pronounced to be "highly commendable." Duty was paid in 1885 on 16,613 pounds of Native tobacco and cigars.

Among the less important household and personal requisites of Colonial manufacture at the Exhibition were brooms and brushware, knife, metal, and boot-polish, soap-powder and blacking, plate and jewellery, drugs and perfumery, cod liver oil and mineral waters, and artificial limbs and fiddle strings.

Building Requisites.—In building requisites the principal Colonial product is timber, which has been already referred to. According to the last returns there are 5,108 hands employed in sawmills and woodware factories of various kinds, nearly an eighth of the manufacturing labour of the Colony. The capital invested in machinery, plant, and buildings is estimated at about £970,000. It is satisfactory to find that in 1885 £7,806 worth of the timber was exported in a manufactured stale. £3,640 of this was doors and sashes, and the remainder woodware. The latest timber industry established is creosoting works to preserve the less durable woods. A large establishment is now in full operation near Invercargill. It turns out 15,000 sleepers a month.

After timber come brick and tile works, stone quarrying and lime burning, which give employment to 870 men, and in which £198,267 is invested. The annual output from these industries is estimated at £198,267. A small quantity of the lime is exported.

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The drain pipes and stoneware made from the native clays are of particularly good quality, and the manufactures have been a complete success. In addition to ordinary drainage appliances the higher class of articles for building, ornamental, and sanitary purposes are produced.

Hydraulic lime, equal to Portland cement for most purposes, is now produced in Auckland by three or four kilns, and getting into general use all over the North Island. The output of the Mahurangi kilns alone is said to be about 1500 bushels a week.

After numerous trials and failures New Zealand Portland cement of good quality has recently reached the market. It is manufactured at Mahurangi. Another factory is in course of erection near Dunedin, samples from which have given satisfactory results.

Paint made from hæmatite and other minerals is manufactured in Nelson and Auckland in considerable quantities. The works at the Thames produce a great variety of colours.

A factory for the manufacture of varnish from kauri gum has recently been established in Auckland.

Requisites for Settlement and Trade—The principal colonial industries under this head are rope-making, the manufacture of paper, gunpowder, and artificial manures, the building of carriages and other vehicles, ship and boat building, and the manufacture of agricultural implements.

Rope making is an old established industry in New Zealand. Rope and cord of all sizes and description, from hawsers to fishing lines, are manufactured from native and imported materials in considerable quantities, and there is a small export in the manufactures.

There are two paper mills in operation, one at the Mataura and the other at Dunedin. White paper has been produced experimentally and used in printing the page 26 Dunedin "Herald," but the manufactures hitherto have principally been wrapping and blotting papers. Considerable quantities are produced of all kinds and colours, the total value of the manufactures in 1885 being £7280. The paper is made chiefly from native grasses, with the addition of such rags and waste paper as are procurable in the colony.

Although we do not manufacture writing paper in New Zealand we contribute to literature by producing writing inks, of which a variety was shown at the Exhibition.

A mill for the manufacture of blasting powder has been in operation at Catlin's River for some years. With the exception of saltpetre all the raw materials are found in the country. The sulphur comes from White Island, and the charcoal is made chiefly from mako-mako, a small tree of little value for anything else. There is apparently no difference in quality between the Colonial and English blasting powder. As yet the industry does not seem to be a commercial success. The construction of the fortifications may however give it an impetus. A cartridge factory has been established and the scheme of defence will not be complete without a local supply of gunpowder.

On account of the fertility of the soil there was little demand for manure of any kind until of late years. The item does not appear in the imports till 1879 but in 1880 £26,941 worth was imported, chiefly bone dust. Since then the imports have ranged from £31,906 to £47,022. The local manufacture sprang up as soon as the demand arose, and it is now becoming of considerable importance. In 1885 there were six chemical works, and seven bone mills in the Colony, employing 65 hands, but the chemical works are not exclusively engaged in manufacturing artificial manure, among other things they produce sulphuric acid which is extensively used in candle making, and other manufactures.

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The annual value of the artificial manures and chemicals produced at these works is £43,620, and the capital invested is returned at £35,678.

The building of carriages and other vehicles has of late years attained considerable proportions, about 650 men being employed in the various establishments throughout the Colony. Vehicles of all kinds are manufactured regularly in large numbers, from mail coaches and private carriages to six-horse waggons and farm carts, and in all the vagaries of shape and style so much affected by colonials. Whether as regards design, workmanship, or price, the New Zealand made vehicle compares favourably with the imported article. Until of late years imported timber was chiefly used for wheelwright work, but the native hardwoods are now coming into general use. Kowhai, manuka, rata, and pohutukawa are found to be as suitable as hickory, ash and ironbark, and mangiao, a North Island wood, is pronounced to be the best known for body work. A landau from Auckland of this timber at the Exhibition attracted considerable attention.

In 1882 the value of vehicles of all kinds imported into New Zealand was £99,715, exactly £830 above the amount for 1862. Since 1882 the imports have ranged from £23,323 to £29,528. The imports include materials for making vehicles which of late years are generally about two thirds of the whole. The output of the Colonial factories is estimated at £128,346, and £106,238 is invested in plant, machinery, and land.

About 170 men are regularly employed in the building of wooden steamers, sailing vessels, and boats. The industry is confined almost entirely to Auckland, where there is an abundant supply of suitable timber. Trading vessels up to 500 or 600 tons are built, and the Auckland yachts have acquired a high reputation all over the Southern Seas.

There is no more successful business in the Colony than the manufacture of agricultural implements and page 28 machinery, and this fact has a peculiar significance for those interested in the establishment of manufactures. It shews that industries of this sort find a congenial soil in New Zealand, for the one now under consideration has not been fostered nor encouraged in any way. It has not even had the slight protection of the ordinary Customs' duty, agricultural appliances having all along been duty free.

The local manufactures are by no means confined to the commoner agricultural implements, but embrace high class machinery of the most scientific kind, with the very latest improvements. A peculiarity of this industry is the continual change in the fashion of the articles produced. There is no class of appliances which has of late years undergone more alterations and improvements than those connected with agriculture, and the colonists of New Zealand are always ready to adopt any invention that will save labour or otherwise cheapen the cost of production. The latest improvement in agricultural machinery is generally in full swing at the Antipodes long before it has gained a footing in the Old Country. The success of the local industries is probably due in a great measure to the alacrity with which those engaged in them accept and adopt these improvements. Although the Colonial manufacture of agricultural appliances is so great, it has not kept pace with the spread of agricultural settlement; not including hand tools, we still import from £50,000 to £100,000 worth of plant for tilling the soil and gathering in its fruits. Agricultural implements are made at 17 factories, and the capital invested in the industry is £50,205, 336 men are employed, and the output is estimated at £111,823.

Machinery and Manufacturing Requisites.—The industries just referred to merge naturally into those under the head of Machinery and Manufacturing Requisites, and the only ones not yet considered are the general mechanical and metal trades. First as to the raw materials for these industries—many of them exist in considerable quantities but, hitherto, our attempts to utilise them have been page 29 anything bnt successful. Iron sand that is so plentiful on our shores has been tried time after time and much money sunk to bring nothing but loss and disappointment. We want a Bessemer or a Siemens to overcome refractory Nature, and in the meantime our efforts should be confined to hæmatite and the other ores whose properties are well known.

So also with copper; the ore has been mined and exported at great cost and small profit, but the metal has never reached the local consumer in marketable quantities.

Cast steel works to convert scrap iron are in course of erection at Green Island. These, I have no doubt will be successful.

In addition to the ordinary requirements of trade, settlement, and manufactures, the mechanical industries in New Zealand have received a considerable impetus from goldmining, for which little machinery is imported.

Looked at from an English point of view our essays in iron-shipbuilding have been insignificant, but as a colonial industry they are well worthy of notice. Ninety-eight steamers, of sufficient importance to be put on the register of shipping, have from first to last been built in New Zealand, and, with a few exceptions, their engines were also made in the Colony. Ten iron steam dredgers have also been built and engined—the largest being the "Vulcan," 70 horse power.

Land engines of all sizes are regularly made for mills, mines, and other purposes, and water motors of various kinds have long been a speciality. In connection herewith I ought to make especial reference to a quartz mill now at work in the Wakatipu district. Twenty head of stampers are driven by electricity, engendered by the force of a stream nearly two miles away, and conveyed over an intervening range 800 feet high, by a No. 8 copper wire. This is one of the most successful applications on record of electric power, and it promises to revolutionize our mining and mechanical industries.

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With the view of giving local industry a fair trial Government has, within the last two or three years, entered into a number of contracts for iron bridges to be manufactured entirely in the colony. Four large bridges and a number of smaller ones, comprising in all about 1700 tons, are in course of construction, and about as much more is in immediate prospect. The result, so far, has been highly satisfactory. There has always been sufficient competition in tendering, and the contracts have been let at a price very little, if anything, in advance of what the bridges would cost had the ironwork been imported ready made. The contractors have the option of importing the materials specially for these bridges, but the different forms of iron are imported in the state in which they leave the rolling mills, without work of any kind. In fact, the local manufacturers do more than would be done by bridge-makers in England, for even the bolts and rivets are made in the colony.

You are all familiar with the experiment Government is making in getting locomotives manufactured in the colony. It promises to be as successful as the bridge building. If we can make locomotives at anything like a reasonable cost it augurs well for other engineering industries, this being a high stage in mechanical development.

There is another class of iron manufactures that has acquired a firm footing in the colony—office safes, copying presses, kitchen ranges, stoves, grates, ornamental castings, and other light ironwork—all of which were well represented at the Exhibition.

In brass and copper works New Zealand seems to have fairly taken the lead of the Australian colonies, all the principal prizes at the Sydney and Melbourne Exhibitions laving come to Dunedin. Several large orders for brewery plant and other special manufactures have followed those prizes, and many of the ordinary wares find their way to the Australian market. The local manufacture of lead piping has now complete hold of the page 31 home trade, none being imported A remarkable feature of this trade is the large quantity of small articles manufactured—steam, water, and gas fittings, and the thousand and one metal nick-nacks that seem to constitute the stock and trade of an ironmonger. On making inquiries I find that in every instance the question of importing versus manufacturing has been carefully considered, and nothing is made that it would pay better to import. Among other advantages in making those stock articles is that it enables the manufacturers to keep around them a good supply of skilled workmen. A new branch of tinsmith work well represented at the Exhibition is the manufacture of Japanned goods, deed and travelling boxes, coal vases, canisters, trays, and other wares of this class

The mechanical and metal industries in New Zealand give employment to 1988 men. The capital invested in land, plant, and machinery is £276,171 and the value of the annual output is £395,608