THE IRON TRADE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2812, 5 February 1908, Page 37

THE IRON TRADE.

(TTp.om Our Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, January 27. The annual conference of the Ironmasters* Association will be held at Christchurch on February 13, when delegates from ;dl parts of Nc*7 Zealand are expected to be prssen<.. The conference will not be open to the pre"*, but some important question! affecting the engineering trade will b< discussed. llr J. P. Luke, who is presi' dent of the association, w ill preside. Discussing the position of the trade witfc a Post reporter to-clay. Mr Luke said tht revision of the tariff lasi session meant 3 considerable increase in work to the dif' ferent engineering establishments through out the count n. He instanced the fact that the last two contracts for cranes foi the wharves let by the Wellington Horboul Board were executed outside the Dominion. A short time ago tenders were called fo* 12 cranes similar to those in use on th« Glasgow wharf, and the work was secure J by a Christchurch firm. This showed plainly that the colonial engineering house* were quite capable of turning out th« hiirhest class of machineiy. Mr Luke als<». referred with satisfaction to the fact thaf Me*«r* Price Bros., of the Thames had secured another contract for the matiuf.ic* ture of loeomotn.es for the New Zealand Government railway. One thing whiclr operated against a more thorough develcx ment was a scarcity of labour. " Thert is no doubt whatever," eaid Mr Lute, '"that for a number of yeais the engineer* ing trade has not received its phare ol the youMi of the country, conseqeuntly th«t ranks of the iourneymen have not been filled up by our own boys, and the shortage has to be made up by the employment of men from overseas. These men ara very efficient, but as a rule they have specialised in particular branches of tht trade, and are not so quick to adapt then* selves to all-round conditions of work •* the New Zealander."