THE FLAX INDUSTRY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 439, 15 October 1908, Page 3

THE FLAX INDUSTRY.

Labour and Prices.

Effects on a Trade Award.

Mr H. Greig, of Manawatu, president of the New Zealand Flaxmillers’ Association, submitted to the New Zealand Employers’ Federation Annual Conference, held at Wellington on 9th October, the following resolution :

That the present condition of the flaxmilling industry proves that the State regulation of cost of production, where the selling price of the product cannot be regulated by the State or the producer, is wrong in principle. “arbitration kills.”

In' support of the motion Mr Greig said: —As flaxmillers we have unfortunately been the first to realise in a practical manner the absolute. inefficiency and , impotence of compulsory, arbitration to regulate industrial conditions in times of adversity. Our experience is that it does not regulate, it kills. As you are probably aware, the flax industry relies solely on Its : export trade, the amount _ of hemp used within the Dominion being so small as to have no bearing on prices. It is sold in British, European, and American markets, in competition with other fibres produced in various parts of the world, chiefly semi-tropical, and nearly all under " cheap labour conditions. However, by reason of the fact that our New Zealand flax gives off a very large percentage of fibre to the amount of raw material, and also that the nature of the raw material lends itself to cheap handling we have hitherto been able to carry on, generally with reasonable success. The industry has had a somewhat chequered career, but in prosperous times it is noted for paying about the highest wages in the Dominion to unskilled labour and periods of low prices have been tided over by the co-operation of employer and employees, to the advantage of both parties. CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT. Some two or three years ago, however, agitators came amongst -the men, and persuaded them that by forming a union and getting an award they would get still higher wages, shorter hours, payment for holidays, and other easier conditions, under which it would ,have been practically impossible for millers to carry on, even in good times. Application was made for an award during a period of record prices,, and an award was given, granting exceptional terms to the men.' The price of good fair hemp at that time ranged from ,£32 to Now it is from to ,£22 ids'! ' No great hardship was felt at the time until prices began to recede, ahd one by one millers working under the least favourable conditions began to close down, until eventually hundreds of men were thrown out of work and the machinery in the mills lies idle and rusting. The men drifted into the towns to swell the already congested ranks of unskilled labour there, and many are no doubt now employed, on Government relief wdrks, the latter helping to spend pur borrowed millions, instead of following their legitimate vocation bf developing ou-r latent (in our case I might say our wasting) resources, and so increasing our national wealth. Very few, ex-, cept those directly or indirectly connected with the business, realise what a severe loss to the revenue of the Dominion and the wages Lrnrl for the worker the closing jdbwn of these mills means. decreased output. To the casual observer a flax swamp has no great value, but something of its importance may be gathered when I tell you that the harvesting of every acre of flax land contributes in wages to the worker directly engaged approximately j£3s to .£4O, and indirectly considerably more, and the product of every acre harvested swells the Dominion’s revenue by j£6o to £ 7O. No other crop in the Dominion gives anything like this ireturn, and the wages paid are probably ten times more per acre annually than on the best farming Ifthd. As a result of the decreased output of 9000 tons in the export of flax from January to August, inclusive, there has been a Ibss of wages to the mill workers of J£x 35,600. The indirect loss to engineers, coalmines, railways, ships, etc., may be put down at *£45,000. The loss for the year on fhe same rates will be ,£255,000. All this, however, counts for must pay the high tate 1 of wages awarded, or nothing at all. ' The mills consequently have to close down, and the men gc away and get unskilled work from private employers or from the Government at rates that millers would gladly pay to continue their business. We are advised by those best informed that if our fibre is to maintain its relative position with its competitors, steady supplies must he maintained, as manufacturers adapt their machines to working it, their operatives become skilled in manipulating it, but when< supplies are not procurable at satisfactory prices, they turn their attention to other fibres, and do not readily change back again. FUTURE PROSPECTS. Handicapped as we are by exist ing conditions, it is impossible to maintain those supplies, and there appears to be every prospect of our industry'suffering a severe reverse. With the stoppage of milling operations the revenue from the land ceases absolutely, no return whatever can be got from it, but

the owner is still faced with the liability for interest, land and local rates and the maintenance of drains. The maintenance of drains is a very heavy item, which must be continued, otherwise the land would soon revert back to its original waterlogged condition from which the energy and capital of the owner has in most cases reclaimed it. Seeing that the worker has lost' his employment, the owner of the laud his revenue, the Dominion its natural accretion of wealth, I think it may safely be said, in our case, at any rate, that the Act has signally failed in accomplishing its mission of improving industrial conditions and consumating industrial peace.