TIMBER-MILLING INDUSTRY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2856, 9 December 1908, Page 13

TIMBER-MILLING INDUSTRY.

HUNDREDS i,I»T OF WORK. J DEPUTATION TO SIR J. G. 'WARDj WELLINGTON, November 27. j A large deputation -of sawniillorsf t'h^-^i ber merchants, afod labour representatives ! ' waited on the Prime, Minister tos-day^in , regard to tlie sefiouS condition " of the' 1 timber industry. j Mr D. 'M'Laren, M.P., said that, many ■ workers from Taihape were present.' Be1 tween 400 and 500 men in that district . were out' of work through the closing of i the mills. An attempt -had been made to combat the importation of Oregon pine hy the imposition of a duty, but care should be taken in this matter, as the I high price of timber in the cities 'was a serioris thing for the working classes. , Mr M. J. Reardon said the position was a serious one. Mr Gardner, a Taihape miller, said the importation of Oregon timber" wa^ taking the bread and butter out of the mouths of their wives and children. Mr W. H. Field, M.P., said that' if Oregon pine came to New Zealand as it j threatened to, the mills must close. Hundreds would be thrown out of work, and ! the country would be at the mercy of a ! foreign monopoly. Mills were now clos- ' ing down all over the country. ! Mr A. R. Bailey said they wanted the Government to hang up the proposed Royal Commission. He also spoke of the ' seriousness of the position. The loss of wages now reached £1500 per month. Mr W. A. Ellis (Waikato) said the mills in the northern district paid about £40.000 a year in railway freights. Mr F. Jensen (Hawke s Bay] said Oregon pine came to New Zealand for 10s 5d net; but out of that 7s lid went back to ■ America. He asked that the duty on Oregon be increased to 4s per 100 ft and the importation of battens, scantling, and ordinary boards be prohibited. Mr W. Butler (West Coast), Mr Hopkirk (timber merchant), and Mr Coradine (Wairarapa) also spoke. In replying, the Prime Minister said a Royal Commission was to be set up to inquire into the position without delay, i When the steamship service with Canada ! which had been referred to was arranged 'it was not contemplated that timber ! would form portion oi the trade between Canada and New Zealand by the service. ■ New Zealand's subsidy would expire next April. The Government was not prepared to subsidise any sev- : vice to carry timber against the in- ; terests of people working m this country. i —("Hear, hear.") The first thing was to find out what was wrong and then to seek a remedy. If the timber merchants had offered, as the millers had, to allow their books to be examined, he -was, not sure that a Royal Commission' would have been necessary. If the figures supplied that day were correct somebody was making a profit of 45 per cent, on the prices of timber as landed in Wellington. In the meantime he would do the only thing he could till Parliament , met by endeavouring to give reduced rates on the railways, and he would look also into ! the question of long-distance rates. He would far .sooner help in every possible way I the local timber industry than do anything ! to encourage any external trade, but they had to be very careful aboiit altering the duty. Perhaps the assertions that had ; been made about the tightness of money had aggravated the position. He was not in favour of starting State sawmills, as there were now enough mills to supply requirements. He was fully impressed with the necessity of dealing with this matter as soon as possible, and having an effective remedy devised.

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