STATE IN BUSINESS

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 46, 31 August 1928, Page 8

STATE IN BUSINESS

BY WAY OF CONTROL HAMPERED INDUSTRY? (Nineteen Twenty-Bight Committeo.) Thero is an urgent cry in Auckland and in the kauri gum districts of tho Far North for the abolition of the Control Board which holds absolute authority over tho gum industry throughout the wide area placed under its jurisdiction. The Act of Parliament constituting the board gives that body power to assume control of the operations of any individual or company engaged in tho industry and to levy a charge of three-quarters per cent, upon tho exportablo valuo of any gum sent out of tho country. It is rumoured that an effort is being mado to have this levy increased to ono and a half per cent., but representations have been made to the Government on the subject which should provent further tribute being exacted from the unfortunato diggers, upon whom all such taxation must ultimately fall. The truth of the matter is that the board so far from being of assistance to the industry has been an irksome drain upon its resources and a constant threat to its very existence ' CAPITAL ALARMED. Individuals and companies alike have suffered heavily from the inept policy I and administration of the board—as most individuals and companies that have come under the dictation of such bodies have done —but one organisation in tho north, according to its own testimony, has managed, in spite of per-' sistent official interference, not only to keep its head above water, but also to make very material progress. This concern stepped into what was generally regarded as a dying industry, but it has done so well in spite of adverse conditions that it now has an oppor-. tunity to bring overseas capital into its venture, and so provide for the continuous employment of a niueh larger volume of labour than it is maintaining at the present time. But there is an obstacle in the way of the investment of this capital. One of the clauses in the Act just mentioned provides that the (Jouliol Bpard, at such time and in such manner as it may please, may take over any concern of the kind that attracts its fancy. Overseas capital, it i is scarcely necessary to say, is not available for investment in perilouß adventures of this nature. FKEEDOM REQUIRED. The cpinpany that is holding so tenaciously to the potentialities of tho northern gum fiolds is not abandoning all hope of being freed from the incubus under which it is labouring. "We specialise," tho manager says, *'inproducing a gum that enables manufacturors to standardise their manufactures, bo they linoleum, varnish, or gramophone records. The article is superior. Seventy per .cent, of tho output is chip gum. Keeeijt analysis shows that the resin content is 97.67 per cent., with a dirt residue of 2.33 per pent. . . To arrive at' this very high standard it was necessary in the first stages to lay out much money i experimental work. In addition, the company expended a large sum in developing its property, in plant and tools, and in an extensive tramway system.'' And now, it sqoms, this enterprising concorn is at the mercy of a board vyhich may play duete and drakes with its shareholders' property and at the prosent njpjnont is .seeking to double a levy which already far exceeds the legitimate needs of th© situation, The government may be trusted to turn a deaf ear to such a preposterous proposal, but it also should see that the industry and its promoters are relieved of all harassing regulations and given every possible assistance in developing the remaining gun) fields aleng sound business lines..