THE FLAX INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 453, 11 March 1909, Page 6

THE FLAX INDUSTRY.

ROYALTIES AND WAGES. THE MILLERS' POINT OF VIEW. . (BY TELEGKAPII—IMIES9 ASSOCIATION.) J Palmerston North, March 10. Tho ''Manawatu Daily Times" has been publishing a series of communications from all three factors in the flax controversy— the union, the millers, and tho receivers of ' royalty. The communications have been i traversing the statements as ,to royalties, < etc., made by the flax-workers' deputation to the Minister.for Labour, which tho lat- , ter accepted as correct.' The owners, and j iiuillers concerned absolutely deny their cor- , rectness, and declare them to be quite mis- ( leading. 1 'In the course of an interview by a ''Mana- ( watu Times" representative, the president of ] the New Zealand Flaxmillcrs' Association to- ■ night characterises the charges made by tho ] spokesmen of the union at Wellington as , either wrong absolutely, or exaggerated. The , .millers do not admit that the royalty ques- , tion is the important question, and not the ( wages question. To tho bulk of tho millers the royalty question dpes not enter at all, though" they know that the allegation made in connection with it cannot be substantiated. Tho bulk of the millers worked their'own land and grow their own flax, and, therefore, had no royalties to pay, but it cost , them from 10s. to 12s. per ton to grow their j own flax, and, therefore, when royalties are j down below ten shillings as thoy are at pre- , sent it would pay millers better to buy flax than to grow it. -To these millers tho serious question was the wages question. In. tho old days a miller, When' Has went to such a price that it did not pay'to mill; it, went to his men, and a mutual arrangement was come to. The millers raised the wages again as the market recovered, and both parties felt that ' they had mutually assisted , each other to tide over a difficulty. The.' flax-worker was not a ' skilled worker as a rule, and if wages in tho flax industry went below what he could get in other industries he would speedily go to ; the others, just' as he went now to shearing, or to harvesting, or what not, if he thought he could make a bigger cheque out of it. Wherever millers could find skilled men they wore prepared to pay them the rates that they could earn, award or no award. ■ In , such cases the rates were higher than the award rates, but what they ! objected to was that an industry which was absolutely dependent for its existence on a foreign market where no such restrictions obtained should bo tied hero by hard and fast schedules based : upon an abnormal-price for tho and then havo to face competition with places where no' such arbitrary restrictions obtained. If the flax industry were freed from its award the more skilled men would get higher 'rates than tho award- rates now, and men generally'; would -bo paid' in proportion to the value of their work. . , ■■■ • The men argue that because tho mills continue, working that there is no.need for them to' make any compromise in the direction of meoting the situation, but mills keep at work bocauso millers in many instances draw upon their capital and work at a loss till things mend, rather than stop altogether,, and. see their plants and capital idle; but it must,be obvious: that : this is a process which could not continue indefinitely,,for then the whole capital would disappear. The. . position has greatly changed in the past eight, .years.*' Eight'years , ago ■ tho present price would have paid, and-men and millers were then content with it.:'. There are two factors against this now. One .is taxation, which is comparatively a small, one, and the other is tho serious one of wages increaso and restriction of the award. Tho Act, which was supposed to'; give relief by permitting of a review if an award required . that, nullified this.by requiring that .both sides must apply for the review, and the ihen.-will not listen to reason, taking the stand that the loss must bo borne by anyone but-them, and that they must not be called upon to bear any sharo of it. Flaxmillers have had. to faco hard times and low. prices before, but then there were natural conditions which automatically adjusted themselves,. and not .tho hidebound conditions of the award. ' , Taking into consideration the money value of tho product and tho wages paid, flax takes first placo among our. industries, and it is an industry capable of almost unlimited development iincler. favourable conditions. For tho year ending March 31, 1907, 30,716 tons of flax wero exported. Last year tho amount was 14,000 tons, representing a falling, off of 55 per cent. For 1907, £460,000 would have been paid in wages as against £210,000 for tho current year, so that there has been a direct loss to the wages fund of £250,000. Tho production of 1907 would require an area of 50,000 acres to keep it going, that of the current year 22,500 acres, while this year the number of men empployod would be 1736, as against 3800. Thus thero are 2000 less'men "employed m the industry now than a year ago, and wero theso men able to get back, to work under reasonable conditions it would do a good ileal towards relieving the-depression. With hemp at £20 per ton, tho product of this 275,000 acres would be worth £330,000 per annum. • There is thus a loss of product of this sum, i and to workers of a quarter of a million a • year at the £20 rate, but as tho price has . averagod £21 10s. to £22 throughout the ■ season, and only within the last week or • so has it fallen to £20. The whole oxist- ) once of this industry in' tho president s view , is imperilled by an attempt to retain a wages • rate-fixed when the fibre was £32 per ton, , and when wages had gono up to the highest ) prces-. in the Dominion- for unskilled labour ) 1 —at a time when hemp is down to £20. -