JOINERS PROTEST TO PRIME MINISTER

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 299, 14 September 1936, Page 10

JOINERS PROTEST TO PRIME MINISTER

Establishment of State Factories . - EFFECT ON PRIVATE BUILDERS During the past week deputations representing the joinery and allied trades in both the North and South Islands have approached the Government and represented the' views of private joiners and builders on the State housing scheme with, particular reference to the establishment of State joinery factories in Wellington and Auckland. The deputations were received privately, but an official report of the proceedings has been issued.* , ' r - , ' The report states that.a deputationconsisting of Messrs. J. B. Reid, . S. Stone, M. Quirk, W. G. Alexander (Timber Merchants’ Federation), J. W. Andrews, W. Rarkin (Builders’ Federation), F. T. Walling (Importing plumbers), E. S. Mirams (hardware), C. Eastwood (paint, oil and colour merchants), ‘F. Campbell and C. G. Camp (New Zealand Employers’ Federation) waited upon the Prime Minister and submitted the following in connection with the proposed erection of joinery factories and the Government's building scheme generally. The deputation represented that there were sufficient joinery factories within a radius of 10 miles of the Chief Post Office, Wellington, to meet any reasonable demand for joinery which might be created as a result of the scheme. On the other hand, there was at least one joinery factory at Auckland equipped with the latest machinery suitable for meeting the demands of the whole of the Auckland city cottage joinery requirements, and beyond this there were also a large dumber of other modern factories. The second point presented was that formerly cottage building had been carried out almost exclusively by the small builder, employing from two to six workmen. These builders depended exclusively upon the present joinery factories to supply them with the necessary joinery. Tenders Desired.

It had been rumoured, and, unfortunately, a number of these rumours with regard to the housing scheme were finding foundation in fact, that it was the Government’s intention to allocate the building of the proposed cottages in large groups. The deputation desired particularly to stress that if this action were taken it would almost entirely eliminate the small builder, and for his protection it was very necessary that the Government should give consideration to letting tenders of small groups of houses so that all those builders who wer e at present depending upon this type of work would have an opportunity of participating in the contracts let. In short, the desire of the deputation was to obtain a definite undertaking from the Government that it would arrange for) tenders to be called for small groups of houses, up to, say, 10 in number, and to permit the purchasing of the joinery required for thesq houses, all things being equal, to be made from the present established factories.

The deputation contended that the; joiners represented would be able to compete with the Government provided the Government, in their costs, added the payment of interest on capital, covering buildings and machinery, the payment of rates, sales tax, and the other outgoings which the private employer was called upon to meet, but of which the Government were free. .. The letting of contracts in large groups of houses would permit of only a limited few to tender, and this, would eventually create an absolute monopoly in the building industry. The third point was that there were nb joiners available in the Dominion at the present time, except those who, were actually working for the factories now operating.

At this juncture the Hon. W. Nash. Minister of Finance, attended and replied to the deputation with the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister, in replying to the deputation, stated that in the first place the Government's intention was to carry out a fairly extensive housing scheme. It had been said by one of the speakers that there never had been a housing shortage, and that private builders should have been consulted, but h 4 pointed out that the Government had consulted their own officers. Private builders had also been consulted, and they had assured the Gorernment that there was not sufficient machinery in the country to do the job that the Government was talking about doing at the least possible cost. If , the private builders could do certain work, the Government would be pleased to let them do it. However, if the Government could do the work more cheaply than the private builders, the Government would do it. The building would be carried out on a contract basis, and men would be asked to give prices for certain classes of houses. If the private builders could do the job more cheaply than the Government could, then they would be given an opportunity to do it. The Government was undertaking building on a basis that had never been touched before in the history of New Zealand. That applied not only to numbers, but also to the type and class of house. Government’s Aim. % Mr. Nash said there were now thousands of people in the Dominion who needed houses, and the Government was determined that they would have houses. Houses had never in the past been supplied at a time when there was extreme demand at a price that the average owner of the house could continue to pay. The Government’s intention was to build the houses for people at rents that they could afford to pay. The Government would take the responsibility, and would find a way to .build the houses. That was the reason for the purchase of ths machinery and the organisation of two factories, one at Auckland and one at Wellington, and if as time went on they found that there was a legitimate demand to build more houses, more houses would l>e built, and more factories opened. In addition to that, the State Advances Corporation would provide £2,500,000 to advance to people to build houses. It followed that if the private builders could build houses at a lower cost or at as low a cost as the Government, then that sum would be available for this putpose during the next 12 months. No one would reason that because the existing labour could not satisfy the demand for houses that that demand should never be satisfied. It was obvious that they would have to find the labour.

Referring to the suggested competition with existing joinery factories, Mr. Nash said that was not necessarily the case. Construction money for Government houses was totally different from the £2,500,000 which would be advanced on loan to those who desired to build for themselves. If the prices

and quality wore right, this money would be available for the . private builder. * “MORE THAN CAPABLE” Capacity of Existing Factories Strong protests against the Government’s proposal to erect plants for the mass production of joinery fittings as part of its new housing scheme were voiced in a statement made to "The 1 Dominion” on Saturda-y by representatives of two large North Island joinery factories. It was contended that the Government had been misinformed as to the productive capacity of existing joinery factories, which were more than capable of handling the requirements of a State housing scheme “When inquiries were made by the Government to ascertain the amount of extra work existing factories could cope with it was {old that the demand could not be satisfied,” said the spokes man for the factories. "This information, coming apparently from au interested quarter, was accompanied by the suggestion that the Government should build its own factories. “We say emphatically that the joinery factories were’not consulted in regard to this matter. The existing factories, in the North Island alohe, have plant capable of producing joinery, on mass production lines, sufficient to supply 17,000 houses of average standard a year. This would employ 220« men, the average wages of whom would amount to £520,000 a year, and also we are 400 per cent, over-capitalised. The door factories in New Zealand are acknowledged to be more modern and efficient than those in Australia, and besides, as all the skilled men are already absorbed in our factories, our staffs would have to be drawn on to supply the new plants—they would be auctioned for. "No tenders were called to supply the machinery for the new factories, but it has already been ordered in England. The manufacture of the interior doors will probably be offered to us as a sop. "Quite a number of the Labour Party who have any knowledge qf> what is going on, are not in favour of the scheme, but it seems that only one or two members actually know the true position—the rest are in the dark.