CHEAP OREGON.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 525, 4 June 1909, Page 5

CHEAP OREGON.

MILLED BY "WHITE SLAVES." CANNOT BY COMPETED AGAINST. ' (13 i" TKLKG Ril'lI —S I' £ CIA I, CORRESPONDENT.) '.' A Chrlstchurch, Juno 3. , "Supposing that the market were: flooded with .cheap, imported boots to such an extent that 'the local factories- had to close down,people , would, recognise, that . a crisis , existed. That .the bulk of. the people of, the Dominion do not-reaigniSo,! that.a. : crisis exists in the timber industry,is due to the fact that' they do not appreciate the conditions' at present existing in the aawmiiling districts which ate removed from their immediate outlook." In these: works Mr/ Joseph Butler, of Butler Bros., Ltd.—a well-known West Coast saw.niilling firm put tho ..' position of 'the sawmilling industry , in tlio Dominion to a representative of. tho "Press" who interviewed him on the subject. Our Own Idle Mills. Mr. Butler's description of the state of the industry on the West Coast at. present was a depressing one. Tho industry, he slid, is in an extremely. Unsatisfactory condition frbm, the point.' ot vieiv'.of both -employers, dnd.'.'eniployeos, VAKodt;: half, the..,njills ;"4re idle, and,the other where'near full time. • That it is -, impossible for the New Zealand saWmillcr- to attempt to. compete against: Oregon, is Mr.; Butlers opinion, and the 'opinion, based on facts gleaned, by Mr. -.'Butler arid. his. brother/ during. a, .visit, paid yton \ months ago to the Canadian.-and. United States ..-'timber-produc-ing ' districts. • Tho. labour ? .conditions -J ruling in : America,' as contrasted with, those in New Zealand, are .so radically different, and other conditions ;operato .so advantageously in favour, of the .-Canadian and United! States producers as to preclude any hope of- tho New' Zealand sawmiller, ! competing-, against imported timber. . • .'. ••. American Logging Camps. . i Itr tho American logging camps tho recognised hours'of wprk are ten per day—a clear [ advantage of 25 pei' cent, ill favour of tho Amfefican timber produccf as Coinpatcd with the . New . Zealand producer) who, under tlio awards of the; Arbitration Court,, works■. in ; some cases 47, hours per week, with a-maxi-mum of 48 hours. .. Judging by Mr. Butler's i description of American, logging camps, it would appear that tho lumpormon are only one - or, two removes from being white Blaves, Tho Truck Act is not only an unwritten law, but an unknownlaw.' Coujxms issued by the Lumber Company .take the place, of money. Those may be likened; to our tramway concession tickets, and they are- divided ,int6i squares, each representing a money value either in dollars or cents. Wheh tho holder of a coupon makes' a purchase the value is punched out on the coupon. If ,he "shouts", for. a friend payment is' made in the same way. ■ If-'he wants "niekels"„wherewith to gamble '(and tho gambling machinos are owned atad tun by. tho lumber companies) their value is punched out of tho coupons. When a man leaves a job and has in his possession coupons that ire unpunched tho.oompany's Btorekeeper'-will not redeem' them, though they are' negotiated by' other 'Storekeepers in the vicinity, Tvho, however,, deduct 10 per iconti for doing, so, the bompany issuing the coupon obtaining 6 per cent, from them when, the company redoenis them.. . Arrlerloan Workers "exploited." ' In other ways tho Workor is exploited in a manner unknown in New Zealand. His wages are subject to deduction for accident insurance, for wood for fuel, for board, for rent, for hospital, and under other -heads.' Apparently, tie employer in the American lumber industry has been successful in divesting himself of practically all liability. The works, are compelled to pay, the accident insurance premiums, aiid tho lumber companies collect commission from the accident insurance companies in. respect to the business thus obtained. . . Japanoso In (ho Mills.. .. About 90 per cent, of- the labour employed in the mills around Puget Sound is : either that of Japanese or Hindu labourers, who work for 10 hours for 4s. 2d., or 6s. 3d., as compared with tho Now Zealand workers' 9s, for eight hours. The payment of the bush hands is about the same as that received by' tho samo class of workers in New Zealand. In Canada and tho United States the timber areas are largo, and the machinery is capablo of dealing with large quantities without materially increasing the labour cost. A small mill in America can cut twenty times the quantity of the averago Now Zealand mill, and there is 110 graduated tax to add to the Amorican sawmlllor's cost of production. Again the big American timber companies can make ndvMitaceous terms with the railway companies. In New Zealand all are treated alike.