THE Manamatu Herald. FRIDAY, MAY 30, 1879. LOWERING THE WAGES OF SAWMILL HANDS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume I, Issue 78, 30 May 1879, Page 2

THE Manamatu Herald. FRIDAY, MAY 30, 1879. LOWERING THE WAGES OF SAWMILL HANDS.

The Manawatu timber trade question has assumed a further phase, viz., a reduction of the wages of the men. In another column we publish a letter we received from the Secretary of the Sawmiller's Association a few days ago, in which the causes of the reduction are set forth, and the circu lar sent out by the Associa lion notify* ing the wages that will henceforth be paid. We also publish a criticism upon the action of the millers in lowering the wages, signed by " A Working Man." who shows that the millers have twice raised the price of timber without any corresponding rise in wages, and that therefore it is unfair for them, directly a reduc* tion of 20 or 30 per cent is necessitated by competition, to turn round and squeeze that reduction out of the pockets of the workmen. The fact appears to be, that the millers are simply compelled to lower their prices for timber to what they were a year ago, before they gave two turns of one shilling each to the commercial screw. "Were the millers a year ago working at a fair profit ? We believe they were, as they main^ tamed, by comparison with other parts of the colony, a good profit upon the work done. This can be c isily ascertained by any one who chooses to ask the prices for the various work required in the turning of forest trees into marketable timber. Now, it is a recognised rule, in estimating the market value of commodities, that, after payment of labour, cost of machinery, wear and tear, &c, a fair percentage of profit should be left upon the capital invested. This is especially the caae in the production of such articles as timber, but this commercial rule, the millers have not recognised- We wish to point out, that there were no cogent reasons for the two increases in the price of timber made during the past > ear. Railway carriage did not become dearer ; labour was not more expensive; the cost of obtaining the timber was not greater, as vast forests still remain uncut ; the Wan*, ganui market took all that could be poured into it. We therefore assume, and are justified in so doinpr, that before the two last increases were made, the millers were making a good margin of profit upon the cost of production. Had they stopped at that, it is probable no great depres-. aion would have occurred!. Directly competition sets in against them, and Wanganui imports from cheaper markets, they see the necessity of lowering their prices, but in order to keep up their own enormous profits, they reduce at once the wages of the workmen to preoißely the same ex» tent as they lower the price of the timber. What are the profits the millers make, will be seen from " A Working Man's" letter in another column. Evidently writing from experience, he states that the cost of production is only about 5s per hundred feet; whilst the millers have been charging from 16s (for totara) down to 8s (for white pine). Whether they are justified in cutting down wages in view of those figures, we leave the unprejudiced portion of the public to judge. For our* •elves, we may say that we look upon the reduotion in the price of timber as a commercial necessity, forced upon the atemillers by their own ex*

ortionate vale.-". They have simply retreated from a position, they could not expect to hold.

Regarding the reiuipOßitioii of the timber dufcy, we look upon that as a " cry.*' The imposition of a timber duty will not prevent the sawmillers of Mnnawatu being Compelled to fight votnpetitiO > from other parts of ilia Colony. In a country where timber is sj plen'iful as in New Zealand, to pamper a trade with duties of such a character Wollld do it no permanent good. The hacknoyed adage. ''Compoti'ion is the life*'o'f trade," applies to the trade of nations, as well as that of village shopkeepers. The timber lUust be fallen, and ie moi?t3 likely to bo usod for timber thau to be burnt off. Whilst such is the case, we have no need for " spoonfeeding " a vast in' dustry with protective duties. Put the trade Upon its mettle • let our men fight the Ainericanß or TASdianians, and the result will by to give an article to the Colonists at a cheap and fair price, which will cause so large an amount of building to go on, that the timber industry will intJi'ease and flourishv Oil tue other hand, while prices for timber are high, many persons will prefer to use corrugated iron for reasons that are self-evident. Whilst, however, We do noL advocate the reimposition of the duty, on colonial aud political. grounds, we shall always, as we have done in the past, advocate that the Government ehould encourage the timber trade in every legitimate way, by using all New Zealand wooda In public buildings, by hauling timber along the railway lines at the cheapest possible price,and by making low w htufage rates. These things we will sys ematically; advocate, but. as we have already pointed out, a protcotiVe duty would not have prevented the present depression in Mauawatu, which is the result partly of the state of the money market, bilt principally of the overreaching prices of the millers.