THE POSITION IN OTAGO.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 66

THE POSITION IN OTAGO.

The slump in the timber trade which is being so seriously felt in other parts of New Zealand doe s not appear to be by any means so pconounced at this end of the Dominion. In Southland, where there are a large number of mills, the output is certainly to be reduced, bu> the position i 3 not viewed in Dunedan m a very serious light, and is not regarded as likely to be lasting. Inquiries by a Times reporter elicited so much on Monday. In Southland the majority of the sawmills will reopen next Monday, and, as ahe-adv announced, a curtailed output has been decided on. The present position of the trade here, remarked a sawmill-owner to one of our reporters, was nothing to be alarmed at. The importation of Oregon pine, it was stated, was, of course, a. factor in the business, but it could not compete successfully against our local timbers, which were lower in price. There was, however, an undeniable depression in trade, and the output of timber must be reduced in eonsccmer.ee. That depression, however, was simply in keeping with the period of the year, and would, the opinion was expressed, right itself in time. Business would regain its normal state when harvesting was over. As to the concessions in freight made by the Government over the railways, that, after all, amounted to very little. The importation of Oregon pine to this portion of New Zea'and was not extensive enoitgrh ro have a, serious bearing on local industry. In the North Island, along the route of the M«in Trunk railway, many new mills had sprung up, and then, when the Oregon timber was rushed in, there had followed a big slump with so many mills at work. A prominent builder, speaking of the situation from his point of view, stated that most of the timber used here came from Southland. If a number of those- mills closed down the trade hero would certainly suffer, but so far no inconvenience had been experienced. Very little Oregon pine was imported to Dunedin. Price was an important ruling factor, but Ofcago and Southland millers had practically held the upper hand in this connection. What the depression was ascribed to was a general slackness of business, which was being experienced in most other lines, and that had resulted in the decision in Southland to work on reduced outputs. At a meeting of sawmill employees, held at Invercargill last week, it was decided to further curtail the output of timber. Where three mills are owned: by one firm two will be closed down, and in the case of a firm or individual owning one mill half time only will be worked. The slump in the timber trade will be si e«rioua matter for quite a large number of sawmill bands in the Western district. A member of one of the largest timber firms operating in Wellington was consulted by a Dominion reporter on Friday as to what would be the effect of the action that the timber millers in conference had decided to take— viz.. closing down a number of mills. His informant stated that he was in a position to state that the threatened action would not affect local supplies in the lea.it degree. There had been a lot of talk which might on the surface appear to make the position a serious one, but there wag little or nothing in it. Questioned »s to why that was the case, the timber man etated that the-re were enough mills cutting timber on royalty to main-tain a. full supply. Under the terms of the cutting leases tbev arcs bound to pay so much a month royalty, whether they out or not, and they had not the money to play with which tbev would lose by ceasing orerfltions. This fyet alone ensured a cf^fldy supnly of timber, and if certain mills did close down it would only be to the advantage of tho^p which could not afford to do so, were the-v ev»r so willing.