THE TIMBER INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 244, 8 July 1908, Page 3

THE TIMBER INDUSTRY.

SAWMILLERS AND THEIR GRIEV- .. ! ANCES. OREGON. IMPORTS. v. LOCAL' PRO- : , ■ DUCTION. (BT .TSMGRArH.—SPEOIAI. COEBESPONMNT.) Ohakune, July 7. The sawmillors along the Main Trunk line are about to take a -firm .stand in regard to the importation of oregon. pine, and a strong , deputation, representing 36 associated mills, will attend the conference in Wellington on July 23. Mr. Remington met members of the association 1 the other day" at Taihape. The output of timber will shortly be largely . increased, and millors express the opinion that, considering-the long distance they have to rail, the Government will never be able to keep up the supply of trucks. The positioh was also explained by millers to Mr. Hogan, M.P.,.this morning. , STATEMENT BY • THE MILLERS. Tho, following is the sawmillers' statement:— ■ General average cost of producing timber in the Rangitikei and "Waimarino districts: r-Royalty, ls.-per,loo feet ;- carting, 2s. per 100 feet; logging, tram-laying, felling, and delivering to .mill; 35. ! - per 100 feet; sawing, at mill, Is. 6d. per 100 feet; railage to Wellington, 4s. 3d. per 100 feet; total, lis. 9d. . , ~. ■ ■. I . : Insurance rates (£7' per 100) on -sawmill plants; '■ timber: stocksj and buildings,' put,ting the, value of the average mill, in«' eluding stocks, buildings, etc., at £7000, would amount to £490 'premium per annum. If the insurance company will take a risk (and-they frequently, decline) they will only accept half,/GO that the millowner, in the majority of cases has to carry the whole of the risk, or in any caso; half. This does not -include ■ costly trams, bridges, and bush, which are uninsurable, and. may be swept by fire, and bring a financial miller: to ruin in 24' hours. ' : The ; miller has 'also to pay £2 10s.' per £100 insurance on employees' ' wages, paid to; cover risks against accident under tho Employers' Liability Act. :• The wages' paid by, average :mill amount to £4000 per annum, making £100 premium per annum. Five per cent, interest on the capital invested, was, also to! be paid,- and other items to be considered are. county rates and wheel tax, fodder for horses and cattle, ■ wear 'and tear, '.and genoral depreciation on plant, and losses'by fire and floods. These are items which would alone fill a volume. The risks attendant upon ths business are stated to. be greater, than in any other in this Dominion. . , NO RESTRICTIONS, IN ORECON. ■ This is an outline of the conditions of sawmilling in New 'Zealand, and to a considerable exteijt" the cause of the, present prices.' of; timber! ' The Oregon miller,' it is stated, has some decided' advantages. In the first place,. Oregon pine ■ is very light in'.OToight, is very sound in quality, ana is free, from defects. . It can bo obtained in extreme lengths (no ; extra being charged ■for long lengths), with very, little" loss in cutting into timber. ■ 1 ■ The millownor • there has also the advantage of handy waterway. The tax' on..timber .lands is. nominal, :and there is no restriction as .to' holding *. largo. areas.-.'. 1n,.-short, .'the following is what : the New Zealand sawmillor has to-contend against:—(l) The extremo economy -by producing in ; very large mills (with' a cutting' ■capacity of, 150,200,000 feot per day), where every 'labour-saving ■ device is installed'; (2) The, 'cheap /logs 'at mills; (3) Tho,' liberal .supply ;of.. Japanese- and Hindoo' labour ; (4) Ten hours ;a day with no accident liabili-' ties; (s).The cheaper freight from the Puget 'Sound mills to our own ports than from our own to. our.-< own: ports;;, (6) •:the 'nominal' taxation ion '-both mills and bush ; (7) the damping-into our markets until things improve .in Canada and America. The timber boing light in weight, vessels aro able to carry- full cargoes. Tile freight from Puget I Sound to Wellington, a • distance of. 6500 milos, .is at the-rate of> 2s. 6d. per 100 feet, whilst timber on, New Zealand railways is .only carried a distance of '60 to 63 miles at the same rate., There, is a distinct advantage of Is. 9d. per 100 in freights alono 'ih favour of Oregon." The timber is now being: quoted at 7s. 6d...per 100 .feet, and even Ysi Id. c'.i.f., at any of the - chief shipping ports in the Dominion. ; , LOCAL TIMBER SHUT OUT. '- It has come forcibly under the notico of the New Zealand sawmillers'that large quantities of this foreign article have recently arrived in Wellington; that largo quantities (millions of-feet) are now on the .water,-and.-orders for 1 millions of feet are now in the hands of the Oregon pine dealers. The millers state that-'it may be taken for granted that every million feet of timber imported shuts out an equal quantity from local mills, and that it may further be assumed that Oregon pine , .takes" the place of New Zealand rimu. The average cost of labour only in producing''rimu is 7s. 6d. per 100 feet, and the average railago from country mills to Wellington is 4s. • per 100 ft.; so for each million feet imported into Wellington. £3750 : is lost/to the. workers, and so £2000 to tho .Xew Zealand railways. The cost of railage is ever on the increase owing to the supplies gradually getting further away. It is anticipated that as time moves on with the fast, increasing output from the, Waimarino district,-where the railage is 4s. per 100 feet, the effect of competition from America will be that these mills less advantageously situated wjll have to close down. Tbpse will be'the mills that are working in difficult/country or cutting isolated- patches of bush from settlers' holdings. The result of these mills closing down will be that the settlers will'lose the royalty which theyare at present receiving from: the timber, which will have to be burnt. In addition, such mills give employment to tbo settlers and «tlieir sons, ana make work for their' horses, "and 'provide a market' for" their surplus products in the way of oats,' chaff, etc.". =; 1 TIMBER AND THE-COST OF BUJLDINC. ;It has been frequently argued'on the other side-that the importation of foreign timber wilj cheapen the cost ; of rent and buildings, .but. the sawmiller's contend that the, valuo .of the.timber in a building is really a small proportion of the whole, the chief/items being land and labour,' such as plumbing, bricklaying, joinery, "and carpentering, -and the - material used "by these trades/; and, in, addition, ironmongery-, baths, . grates, hot' water service, etc. Thb cost oftimber, 'they.-argue,, is only a minor quantity. For instance, take a .fourroomed cottage in Wellington, the total average cost is £450, and-the cost of the timber used amounts only to about £90. The rise or. fall in the price of timber, they say, would not make a difference 'of, £10, and this is the class of building, in which the timber bears a greater proportionate, share than in any other. "In a. better class,, private residence of eight or nine rooms, 'costing, with ground, £1200; a rise or fall in the price of timber of Is. per 100 ft. would not make a difference of £20. , f SAWMILLS V. BUSH FIRES. In reply to'tKe. argument that in importing timber, we are preserving our own forests, ' it is stated]. that this is only partly correct, for once inroads are made into virgin forest in -New' Zealand by roads, rail, and settlement, it results into. a raoo . be,twe6n bush fires and tho mills, the mills 'frequently faring worst,_ and every hundred feet lost through fire is a loss of wages, freight, and profit for ever. Tho.presont'Government's policy is adverse to the granting of timber licenses that would warrant the erection of mills of the American class, and the country would not tolerat-o the employment of Asiatic labour,. neither does ' tho Labour Department sanction ten hours per day. Tho sawmillers stato that they liavo no desire to say anything against tho Acts passed by Parliament. They only claim that if tho Government fixes the rato of wages to be paid, and the time to be worked, then the Government should also protect. the industry against, foreign competitors who aro freo from such' restrictions. The main point, however, on which tlioy insist is that every million feot imported into the Dominion robs the colony of a considerable sum of wages and railage, and the sawmillers cannot see full_ compensating advantages on .the ;..i her. side.- r