THE HIGH WAGE BOGEY.

NZ Truth, Issue 144, 21 March 1908, Page 1

THE HIGH WAGE BOGEY.

Wail of the Flax-miller.

■ The history' of the flax industry iin New Zealand is a peculiar one, and•has shown more fluctuations for its age than any other commercial product the) world 1 has known. Away .back m the early days the value of phormium tenax m the fibre market, was recognised by astute commercial men. There is no gainsaying that 'flax-fibre' is one of the finest fibres for rope making purposes m the world, arid the fact of it growing soprolifically m this country is proof positive- that if property conserved and the market, properly watched, 'it would be one of New Zealand's most, profitable industries. But .flax, thanks to the capitalist, has mostly been 'a matter of boom and burst. As early: as twenty years, ago there were men who hoped to make a pile out of flax. One poor devil m Christchurch thought that he was going to make a fortune. He invested his employer's funds without asking permission, and got fourteen years' for his trouble. Mill's wfeye started m many places by business men. -who thought they saw money m the venture, but for the most, part they closed up again leaving a (balance on the wrong side of the, ledger. At this tkne the best fibre was coming from the Philippines, but an mcklen't occurred tliat upset the fib eo market-the SpanishAmerican War- ?pc Philippinos found it much moire amusing chasing Spaniards than growing hemp find the habit became chronic, so that, when the Yanks, had sent Cevera and the other Dons to blazes and started to exploit the 'hemp industry themselves, the Phillipinos, like the tfeer that has once tasted blood, wanted.more of it, so they took to chasing their so-called deliverers round the country with their,- old-fashioned muskets and murderous slash knives, and let the hemi) fields go to pot. This naturally affected tha London fibre market. With no fibre. coming forward from Manila, the English manufacturers naturally 'had to bustle round for some other fibre, and New Zealand flax was right there to .fill the bill. As the demand grew and the grading system intrcduce.'l by the Government had given manufacturers more.confidence m the- quality of our article, the competition for our ' output became very keen and prices jumped up, to an enormous figure/ The industry was placed on a footing it had ney>eif achieved, before, and owners of .flax land sudilwily awoke to find themselves rich.. So good for the history of tyre flax industry up to the^ boom time. . ■ ,-. ■"" '" . \ '■•'■■ Bdt now cpines . another aspect of the case—the aspect viewed not fronv the mill-owner or the ; larid^owneiv but from the man who 1 cut the flaxand* worked it up into Exportable fibre. N - He didn't participate m any of the newlytfound wealth. ' He had to go on gnaffeng at, the /same old rate of Ypages, whether flax was £20 or £40 a. ton.' The daily press- ;in : bemoaniiig the waning- of the flax in*dnstry, says that when; the trade was prosperous/ the worker's ; were givenincreased 'wages m consequence. -This is a «lie. The slight increase'an wages —not voluntarily given. byL the 'millowners but forced by ' the . nvem themselves—was'only m keeping with the increases m wages given ' by other trades m New Zealand, 1 and 'granted by the Arbitration .Court on account of the increasetl price of living. Had it not been for the workers themselves flax, could have riscm to £100 a ton: before the"bosJ,es would ever have supj^sted a rise. But almost without one exception the daily ' );res.s of the country, (so-called IJi-b-er-i 1 al- and Conservative alike) is' shriek-; in<s at the working man for'his-ingra-titude ,m not accepting a lower wage and thus enable the mill-owner vind land-owner -to continue, to reap big profits. 1 The ''Dominion" of March 10 devotes a sub-leader to this question, andy of course, true to the ,Tory instincts of the, mon'ey-ilmgs that run i<t, it throws the blame -up* on the workers. How dare-'iliey warit a living wage !. The Arbitration Court, the ."Dominion" argues; made the flax-millers' award when flax was at £37 a ton ; now it ! is 'down to £25. Presumably the "Dominion"' would like the men to accept a proportionate * reductioh m wages. This argument would- Kbld good if the men dressed themselves m mats and atft rope/ But .they don't, and it will take more than the combined forces of the daily leader-writers m New Zealand to satisfactorily explain the working-man that cheap flax m; ■ London is going to reduce his groper'e or ■butehcr.'s bill in' Wellington.

The Arbitration Court awarded w,hat ; was considered a. .living -wage," and what was a living wage then doesn't provide for motor-cars and champagne at the present time. If anything,, the cost of living has gone up and not 'down. -■ •' * '* ■ But the daily press is always ready j ;to, bark for capital, quite forgetful that, it is the pennies of the workers that make the daily press possible. Anyhow, let us see how much truth there- is m ■this cry about the mills having to' closft^»p and the industry going to ruin if the .workers won't come to the rescue and work for a miserable pittance. According to the "Dominion— figures no doubt, supplied by the owners— the cost of production is as follows :•— Cost of milling... ... ... £18 . Royalty ... ........ .- ... 4 Shipping Charges m ... 4 Total .... £2G~ The London, quotation is at present .£25. Certainly., on the face of these figures, flax-growmg doesn't seem the bast proposition m. the world, but i it must foe remenvbered. eyen if. these figures are-correct, that the flax-mil-lers have had a. royal time some months ago, when hemp touched close upon '£40 per ton. It is a" very poor ■ ihidustiy that can't stand a bumpnow and again, and if the flax-mill- \ ers ai'e so poor-spiritod that they can't put up a fight -with the foreign competition, it is time some one else took up the game. Listen to this miserable waif from -the "Manufacturers adopted their machinery for the manufacture of New Zealand hemp, and now, through being unable to ship any quantity, it will compel those manufacturers to turn their; attentions to other fibres,, and when we are a^ain able to snip hemp there will be difficulty m again gettina: a footing m the market." If this is ,so, why don't the millers face the situation as any other business men would — continue to.' hold the market until such time as they" can command a better price, instead of retiring on their previous profits and shutting the mills down and throwing, tbe 'blame upon the workers ?' Why should the workers be asked to suffer to 'hold the market ? Is it to their interests that the price of hemp should gri up ? Surely. Bs a day and Is ld'an hour'for wet, cold. and. rough work m back country, away from all the : comforts of civilisation, is liot such l'osy pay that men S'froiild starve themselves and their families to keep thb industry going ! This wail of the capitalist is a ■ despicable wail, but it is characteristic of the class. They are barrackers for/'"lndustry,!' when it. 'pays, but when it doesn't, let the blasted worker do. .the/starve. •