president's address. 25 



inanufacturins^- ijossiljilities. liut uianutacturinu; industries have 

 languished in South Africa, and in(histrial faikires have heen 

 nianv. (hie to a' variety of causes. As one writer plaintively re- 

 marks, there has ])een "the usual dissii)ation of energies; the 

 usual record of a 'few successes and many failures; and the 

 usual discouragement, which seems the natural inheritance of the 

 few people who tr)- to hring South .\frica to a realisation of her 

 uniijue opi)ortunitiet." 



Often enough the complaint is made that South Africa has 

 neglected her ojjportunities ; that she is only now beginning to 

 investigate her resources as regards the adequacy and suitability 

 of raw materials ; that, as compared with the other members of 

 the Commonwealth of Nations, she is onl\- now emere'ing- from 

 the stage of academic discussion, and is not yet able to put for- 

 ward co-ordinated schemes for industrial expansion and develop- 

 meiU, which can be expected to attract capital ; and capital is 

 wanted as in other countries. The history of manufacturing 

 countries proves that the industrial system has been built up 

 mainly by private enterprise, and we must look mainly to the 

 individual and the corporation to supply this capital. But all 

 young countries have had Government support in the form of 

 protection or bounties ; this may, however, be considered by 

 some to be a political t|uestion, and will not Ije discussed further 

 here. 



The war has changed many conservative views, and reforms 

 have been introduced, which not so very long ago would have 

 been considered revolutionary. We have seen State control 

 accepted ungrudgingly in many enterprises hitherto considered 

 sacred to the capitalist, and we have also seen that an " indus- 

 trial miracle " can be accomplished wdien capital and labour 

 work in harmon}- under State control, and when the workers 

 realise the dangers of extremes in the doctrine of restriction of 

 outptit. It is therefore, perhaps, not too much to hope that our 

 Govermnent may take a share in opening u]) and developing 

 certain specific new industries by arranging directly for the 

 provision of capital. With the national resources known, every 

 effort must be made to induce a .flow of capital for industrial 

 purposes. On this point the ^linister of Mines and Industries 

 has said : " Efforts in the past ha\-e undoubtedly been half- 

 hearted, which w as exemplified l)y the saying that one could get 

 money for an_\' speculative mining proposition. Imt it was hard 

 to get for industrial undertakings," 



No industry can be welcomed as a permanent industry which 

 does not utilise the raw ])roducts of the country. In this con- 

 nection the absence of a " primary " iron and steel industry is 

 most keenly felt. All manufacturers using metal are de])endent 

 upon the imported article, and although machinery is now being 

 manufactured in South Africa, especially on the Rand, to an 

 extent hitherto considered impossible, this has largel\- been due 

 to the ])rotection offered by the war, and nnist necessarily be 



