FLAXMILLING.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 452, 10 March 1909, Page 7

FLAXMILLING.

THE COST-OF-PRODUCTION QUESTION. . AN APPEAL'TO ARBITRATION. An application has been filed with Mr. A. Stubbs, Clerk of Awards, for amendment of the, Wellington flaxmilling award. This is the first endeavour that has been made to take advantage of the special provision relating to tho flax industry contained in Section 56 of tho Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Amendment Act of last session. Under this section tho Arbitration Court is given— "Power to amend the provisions of any award made before the commencement of this Act in tho flax industry, where such amendment is deemed necessary or. advisable by reason of any alteration in the profits of that industry: Provided that no such amendment shall be made unless tho Court is first satisfied that a substantial number of the workers- and employers engaged in that industry aro desirous that the award should bo reviewed by tho Court." The application docs not state in what direction it is' desired to havo the award amended. It is signed by a large number of flaxmill owners in the Wellington industrial district, but apparently there aro 110 signatures of employees attached to it. It is to bo inferred from the wording of Section 56, as quoted above, that tho Court can do nothing in tho matter if the application is supported only by employers. It may be mentioned that tho present award, which is blamed in some quarters as a contributory cause of the present depression in tho flax I industry, expires on August 12, 1909.