WATERSIDE WORKERS AND THE DUTY ON FLOUR, TO THS EDITOR.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIV, Issue 28, 1 August 1907, Page 4

WATERSIDE WORKERS AND THE DUTY ON FLOUR, TO THS EDITOR.

.. Sir, — Referring to Mr. D. M'Laron's remarks and those of other speakers at tho "Waterside Workers' Conference last week, one would infer that flour milling is not an industry, and requires no protection. Well, what is an industry? In New Zealand there is, about £1,01)0,000 invested ii> miLing, and my company has at stake closo on £100,000, pays in wages about £bdbo per annum, and is a large consumer of coal. Up to within the last six months flour was very low, and the recent advance, through an unprecedented drought, . has j •bctreiy put a Urtmng per lb. on flour. In Sydney flour is from ±*9 to £9 10s per ton, and the 4ib loaf is kid if booked, as cash is not convenient lor the workera. In Now Zealand flour is from £10 ba to ' £11) 15s, and the 4ib loaf is 7d, and in inland towns the same as in Australia. The higher price hero is more owing to freight, etc., and the heavy cost ot delivering. What advantage would be gained by tho withdrawal ot tne flour duty, ol 20s .pet ton: Not quite an eighth cv a penny per lbl Yet th» Trades anil Labour Council «ay that candles, with a Ousvoms duty of three-halfpence per lb., equal to £14 peV ,son, is not protected onougu! lne "Waterside Workers want the duty withdrawn on flour, ir this were done tho Now Zoaland maler could not compoto with Australia, India, and America, with tho Bad result that no wheat would be grown (without mentioning potatoes). And tho question suggests itsoif, What ' would tho railway employees and waterliao workers, etc., do on tho east coast of the South Island, and would it not atfect land- and property values? Australia can always beat New Zealand by 20s to 25a per ton on flour, owing to <il» being in somo instances 50 pet cent, lower than ours, and its offal, bringing considerably more, owing to the scarcity of feed in its .numerous barren parts. In New South Wales you can rail wheat 13/ miles for -9s 4d per ton, 241 miles for Us ltld, an,d 461 miles for 13s lOd per ton; and 1 understand there has been a reduction on thosb rates. In New Zealand a 50-mile- railage is about. 10s per~tdn." So you can eeo at a glance the disaster that awaits New Zealand. if its Hour and produce duties are, tampered with, as No-w'Zealand is far too smaif for freetrade in flour knd produce. The Australian Customs tariff i^ just double ours on flour and produce, and yet the waterside workers, and others who ought to know better, want to yluy into the hands of their .Australian friends by tamtjerhig"With our only protection. / With regard totho potato duty, when I lived in the South 1 have bought prime potatoes as low as 22s 6d per ton, t.0.b., leaving the grower a very heavy loss, and without protection he would have retired from the scene for ever. A potato blight uninvited has visited New Zealand along wfth'. a "drought. This appears to bo of Httto "moment to the waterside workers and tho Trades and Labour Council, who demand top wages and want the weight of the wheat sack reduced. If they have their way.it will bo reduced to the "sack." D<d you 1 ever come across euch Eclfish■ness or want of perception? If a _ scarcity of skilled labour, cay in the~~joinery lino or any other, were to arise to the extent of 5U per cent., would tho workers accept the minimum wage fixod by their unions? I fancy not. And would the unions objeot to the employers the Government to remove the alien tax to cheapen the coot of construction or living for the people outside the unions? I think this fairly answers criticisms 33 to the recent advance in brcadstuffs and potatoes. The Southern Flour Trust .has never been able to assert itself, owing to the vigorous add independent action of my coftnpany, as 1 ; iMis in -no way connected with any r trust, combine, or association, is frci" in -every respeot, and intends 1 to • remain so.' 'This aesuranoe, with the small Customs protection of 20s per ton on flour, ought to be a sufficient safeguard for tho public,, because the baking trade is open for any one to engage in, if he should think there is a good thing in bread. In conclusion, I would remark that South America and Indian mills would pour in their cheaply-produced flour, in addition to Australian, if the duty on flour Were removed. — I am, eto.> P. VIRTUE, Manager Northern Roller Milling Co., Ltd. Auckland, 29th Jury. I?.S. — You will notice there/is a slump in "butter in TCew South Wales and the Argentine. "Sow is »n opportune time for the Trade! and Labour Councils and waterside workers to agitate for the removal of the butter duty, to reduce their cost of living and bring iho colony to a standstill. P.V.