THE FLAX CRISIS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 457, 16 March 1909, Page 6

THE FLAX CRISIS.

MR. CREIC IN REPLY. (To the Editor.) Sir, —In your issuo of 12th instant, yot publish a letter, signed by Mr. P. T. Robin, son, embodying an offer to put a team oi men into 0110 of my mills to demonstrati that it is not beyond tho bounds of phj'sica effort and endurance to do what ho repro sented to tlio Minister for Labour was tin avcrago performance, at 0110 of tho Manawatu mills, i.e., to cut, tram and convert sixty tons of green llax into eight tuns oi scutched fibre in one week, at a labour cost or £8 Bs. Ho makes a proviso, however (nolo tlio naiveto of the condition), that if tlicy succeed in this herculean task they arc to l'eceivo a special bonus. This bonus, by tlio way, would increase tho cost f'or wages by 2a per cent., making £10 l() s , instead of £8 Bs. and as the probability is that tho greater proportion of the output would bo "Fair," worth £2 per toil less than "Good Fair," tho wages cost, quality considered, would work out about tho samo as at present. 11 • f ~c . a ! "l o' '. understand what interest tins exhibition is expected to have for 1110 any further than it might interest a llockownej' to watch a ringer shearing at tlio rata of 230 sheep per day, while 110 knows that tho average tally per man, which practically Vm CS • awal 'd , ra ' ;o of pay I>3 under 100. \\ herein would it benefit 1110 to see this picked team rushing through big quantities of good raw material and making eight tons of probably indifferent quality fibre, while I know that an avcrago team can, and do, mill only six,tons?

Docs Air. Robinson's idea cmanato from a desire to demonstrate that tho avcrago fiax mill worker does not do sufficient work ill a day, that 110 should, in fact, increase his speed and consequent volumo of work by 0110 tlijrd. "What have the workers to say to this? In this connection it appears to 1110 to bo just as logical and reasonable that tho Arbitration Court shall fix tho standard of quantity which shall constitute a day's work, as tho rato of pay v.-Jiich shall bo given in return for it. 'lo assist the Court to arrivo at the correct standard of quality, Mr. Robinson's demonstration may have somo valuo, and although I liavo good and sufficient reasons for declining his offer, I suggest that ho should continue his doughty champions in training, in view of an invitation as abovo from tho Court.

Tho real objcct of Mr. Robinson's oiler ia not quite clear, but if it is to show that this pickod gang of men can temporarily onm]ato what tho books of a certain flaxmiller in tho Manawatu aro said to show as having an ordinary and continuous happening at his mill under award rates, I might tell him right hero that the carefully compiled estimates of mill production, purporting to bo extracts and deductions from tho above books, which woro supplied to the Minister for Labour as irrefutable evidenco of tho cost of labour in flaxmilling, cannot ho sub. stantiat-od, and, further, that tho books do not exist which would'prove that sixty tons of green flax was regularly being converted into eight tons of scutched fibre at a cost of £S Bs. For a deputation to place before a Cabinet Minister a set of misleading figures, under cover of tho suggestion and assurance that they wcro drawn from books of actual working figures, is an action, which words aro not strong enough to condemn. Such methods must be inimical to tho cause they aro intended to serve, and only assist in feeding tho firo of antagonism which it appears to be tho policy of tho prosent union management to keep burning. Millers aro most earnest in their desire for conciliation and compromise, and still entertain hopo that the moro reasonable and moderate thinking members amongst tho workers, and wo believe tlioy aro in tho majority, will yet assort themselves and insist on representation in accordance with their views. With tho prico of hemp at £19 10s., they must, in fairness, forego somo of tho benefits which were granted to them by an award mado when tho price was £32.— 1 am, etc., H. GREIG. Shannon, March 13, 1909.

MR. TOOCOOD REMAINS FIRM. " EXCEPTIONAL AND AVERAGE CONDITIONS. (To Tin; EniTOU.) Sir,—ln your i issuo of yesterday's date, Mr. i'ercy Robinson makes somo comments upon my letter which appeared in yours of tho 9th. Ho says, among other things, that his union "utterly deny that their basis of £7 10s. per aero is calculated to mislead." If ho will kindly refer t-o my remarks, ho will find that lie has only quoted portion of tho sentence referred to, and that 1 qualified my remark by saying, "if tlicy wish their argument to bo taken in a general sense, their starting point of £7 10s. per acre is calculated to mislead," and this I adhere to.

1 take it that when the deputation brought tho matter of tho Moutoa Estate before tho notico of tho Minister, and pointedly referred to the royalty now charged by that Estate, viz., Bs. 6d. per ton, as representing a return of 3G per cent, on capital invested, that it was open for tho Minister and the general public to look upon their statement as practically applying to flaxgrowing lands in general. My letter was written with a view to show that if tho figures they were quoting wero to be taken in a general sense, then they were absolutely misleading. I went on to say that for the "average flax-producing properties, 18 tons per aero maturing every four years is a good return," and 1 maintain that tho average I havo given is a fair one. Mr. Robinson must know that there aro few swamps in the Mauawatu which will cut out a greater average. His remark that "tho arable, land sold by the syndicato more than paid tho price of the whole estate" is foreign to tho question, and does not affect my statement in tho least in respect to the largo amount of money which has to bo expended in taxations and upkeep of flax properties in general, and that with theso to meet londowners at tho rate of royalty referred to, aro not getting more than, if as much as, 7 per cent, on their invested capital, and this Mr. Robiuson cannot deny. I do not recede from tho stand I have taken up in stating that it is unfair to tako £7 10s. per aero as a starting-point "for the averago flax-growing properties," nor from tho assertion that £20 per acre is a fairer valuation.—! am, etc., A. J. TOOGOOD. Eeatherston, March 12, 1909.