THE NEW DOCK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2690, 4 October 1905, Page 14

THE NEW DOCK.

LOCAL INDUSTRY AND THE CEMENT CONTRACTS. The dissension that has recently gathered round the actions of the Otago Dock Trust, with reference particularly to the new dock, has ipached another point of complication. Tho Dock Trust, it was understood, had acecpted a tender for cement from a firm of irnporiers, rejecting a tender of Now Zealand cement offered at a slighfly htsrher figure. Viewed m a cold commercial light the facts did not on a .- lirst glance disc-lose anything conspicuously j heinous; but a glance round made it • obvious that the action of tho trust ha>! not increased its popularity, and that a . sood many respectable persons were nursing grievances In these circumsances a reporter of the Otago Daily Times made 1 inquiries [ Mr .Robert Hay, CE., engineer of the trust, who was seen at his office in town , said flatly that there was no bother at j all— or. at anyrate, thai there were no tacts within his knowledge that nccessi- { tated inquiry. I Mr Watson, secretary of the trust, was j found in hi* oflSce at Port Chalmers. He ! was genial and courteous, but not particularly communicative— assuming-, that i«. that he had anything special to communicate. " There was a special meeting of the trust on the 18th, when the tenders tor cement were considered, and it was agreed that the lowest tender should be accepted, subject to the approval of the engineer. The lowest tender was that of the New Zealand Hardware Company, but that firm j subsequently withdrew its "tender because ' it did not find the conditions acceptable. j In what way were the conditions not acceptable, Captain ? c " Well. I'm not in a position to go into i that much. For one thing, I understand j that if the trust had accepted that firm's ' conditions it would have cost us Is 6d a ton for haulage. When I got the enuineer's report I called the members top-ether to consider the matter, and . the render of Briscoe and Company, the second lowest, was accepted. That acceptance is provisional : it has to be confirmed at the general meeting- of the trust t3 be hold next Wednesday." , And I suppose there will' be no difficulty about conditions witii Bri^coe's? ' ; Briscoe and Co have not been officially notified of the acceptance of their tender | yet, and cannot be until after the general | mcetin«-."' A.nd suppose that the tender of Briseoe nnd Co. were vyithdrawn— mere supposition only Captain, ---what tender comes ', next ? j " The Milburn Company's tender is third lowest." The position is then, that there were two renders lower than the Milburn Company's the two lowest tenders being fop imported cement. i . "That's it," said Captain Wat=on. ' In the course of conversation Captain Wa'3on admitted that he had rhat morningreceived a letter from the Ratopavors j Association. He quite wrooerly did not disclose the contents of the letter, but the impression left was that the association objects to the using of imported cement when New Zealand cement is obtainable at a liJ-tlr. hicrher price. ! Among business men in town the task of inquiry was not mere difficult — since j the business iron wore perfectly courteous ' und vb-aiorhtforwaid with the ' reporter, — ' but ;i kittle heavier handicapped. When- ' over ihe tenders of importing firms and '.olonial manufacturers are concerned busins^s mon are naturally averse to coming openly into the discussion. For this i-oason rhc namss of the business men who wprr> interviewed are not given. The auesrions put to these gentlemen wn>:-(l) Is this latest evidence of the insistent activity of the Ratepayers' Association jusfc'God by the facts so far disclosed? (2) Plas Now Zealand cement a snfficiont measure of protection to justify a public body accenting a tender for im)>crtod cernont at a lower price in the open maikot' (3) Is imported cement of bettor cju-!ir->- thi'i Now Zealand coinenr for EC-rseral purposes? T don't qiiitr see where the Ratenavors' \=>=.r> iafion coinos in." said Eusi;o',s Man No 1 "1 am not at all sure,

j to start with, that the Dock Trust woulc J be legally justified in accepting a tendei i for New Zealand eenienl at a higher nric j than that at which imported cement coulci be obtained a f , Port, Chalmers. If yon admit Ihat any public body, presumably bound JioJ i 0 economical expenditure of public funds, has any such discretion of preference, you admit a dangerous principle that may end anywheres The Ratepayers' Association is the chanspion of economy, or its position is so understood ; but here it is usurping the functions of a labour union. The position is simple : Shall the Dock Trust accept an excellent article ai a cheap price? or shall it accept an article, "although good, of possibly^ less regain quality, at a higher price ' Then you think there is reason to believe there is a difference of quality? "New Zealand cement is very good for general purposes ; but every engineer knows that the tests are in favour of English cement. Only the other day- the city on.piriGei- provolcod comment by insisting tbai a ! certain "large portion cf the cement for the ' waterworks should be imported. The city J engineer had to do that, because in a work ! of that importance he needs to be as sure as possible of bis material. You may be sure that he didn't expect to maike himself j popular ivi+h the competitors when he stuck i out. It may be that the New Zealand ' article is quite gc-od enough for the Deck Trust's purposes, "But that :s not the point. In any public work of a permanent character it is besb to us-Q the best material available ; and in this case the best .material happens to bo the cheapest. That's the wav T look at it." ) " There may be such a thing," said Business Man No. 2 ,"as boosting a colonial | product overmuch. Wh.ru you reckon up ' all the charges and imposts that tell against imported cement, you will ses that the New ■ Zealand article is protected practically to , the extent of 100 per cent. The question | is now whether, with that advantage, the , New Zealand cement people have any right 1 to p.sk or expect additional special considerai tlon from any publio body adminstoring public funds. I leave that to you." " It's a little strange," said Business Man No. 3, " to see the Ratepayers' Association warring against the importers in a matter of this kind. You see, if there were no importers there would be no dock When you carry championship of lecal industries to insensate lengths, you're liable to cverj look things. The importers give a certain amount of employment, you know. The continuance of traffic and communication on our deep-sea routes is largely due to importation. '-■ I'm not quarrelling with reasonable protection, when the life of any promising industry demands it ; but if you protected some conceivable industries 10Q0 per cent, they would scarcely compete on their merit with the industrial centres of the old world. The whole agitation, as you have .explained it, seems very mistaken and illogical. If the Ratepayers' Association is right, the logical and obvious course in future will be to bar importers from tendering. Extending the principle, the Government would be barred from accepting tenders for any imported goods thai could possibly be manufactured (a<t greater cost) in the colony: and so on right through. The position at once becomes unthinkable. Somehow or other we could manufacture . in New Zealand pretty nearly everything. By barring imports commerce would collapse. Business would shrink and be disorganised' beyond recognition. There would be a wholesale slaughter of principles long regarded as embodying the essence of trade. We should live in unparalleled isolation, and subsist by doing ca«h other's odd jobs and waiting for something to turn up. The. thing ends, like a bad dream, in general muddledom." <: