SAWMILLING INDUSTRY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2862, 20 January 1909, Page 84

SAWMILLING INDUSTRY.

SLUMP IN SOUTHLAND. (Southland Daily New.) When anything happens that prejudicially afreets an industry of the importance of the saw milling, its influence i 6 widespiead. Net that Southland depends on it, but as a large numbsr of m«-n anci their ivii es and families d-o so, it was a. serious niu-'tcT to them when the einplo'vers <icci-WJ to <-Io«- down Cor fi\e wcci>6 from Dccoinber 5 last. It i^ €~-titi'ated that th* 1 miils of Southland, which (including these in the C\it !in= district) iiuml>»r 75, oniploj. on an <i\o r ag-p. 14 haridb when in full work, so this gives the number of liand^ as 1050. 'Lliose were not all put out of employment during tlw 1 pei led loferrod to. ;><; «oni" 30 mill- did n it '■.ton !w\or>d the u-.ua! time taken at tlie oncl of c\cry year. This leaves ap])roximately 45 which d-d tlc-e down, and as the averngo numbci of employees at each wa* 15. the number "\\ ho have been out of work for the fiw weeks onded Saturday last totals 675, whoso 1 wages would amount to £303 15s )>or day, j t or £9112 10. for the fi\e w.-.-k=. '\ he ni"n j \ have not lo3t this amount because, fortu- i i nately. there was a good deal of work to , . he obtains^ in other direc-f ion". It is | j a characteiistic of the sawmill hand that , ■when unable to find work at his " usual occunation he can follow other j_ avenues of employment, and in this | ' respect he differs from aoni'j < r tbor < ». i c There were a number who donned their i, coats and preferred to remain about the district holiday-n-'akinp or to make a trip ,j :o Dunedin or elsewhere, but ths great 0 najority went fencing, ditching, and doing , v -cad arxl other contTac-t n ork, while shear- j ng claimed others. A nroportion me ' nairied. and would have suffered most if it l rutd not been that work was plentiful since lie mills closed cloy n, and altogether it must X 3 regarded as fortunate that conditions j icra so favourable just ait a time when the j icce-ssity aro q e for the susy9ns*on of opera- ■* ions by the sawmillers. v VaTioua aTe the causes ascribed for tho c vosition, but the srtrirogiency of the money a narket, caused by the American ftnancal I o lanic, and which has not yet disappeared, j :o ems to nccount. at least in a measure, for , g ho inact.. ity ir. buildine ODeiations. Miliers 1.

f had accumulations of stocks which rendere necessary their decision to stop productio earlier than usual, but there is every reason to assume that the sLackn'ees is only tern porary. Already a number of mills hay started again, and M-e&srs Campbell an> Leggat resume work to-morrow Wednes day) at their One Tree Point a.nd Orals milK More and Sons, Trail Brothers, an< M'Callum and Co., are also just, about ti start operations again, and Massey and Co have three milk niaming, whiLe Timpany" mild at Waimatua is again at work. Th* is as far as is known at present, and it i only fair to infer that others will alsi resume shortly. In conversation with a sawmiller 01 Saturday a representative of tho. New: learned that some of the mills hav< materially reduced stocks eince the cessa tion of operations, but in other case there has been \ery little impression made He also said, in reply to a question, thai the cost of pioductiom vvould not admit oi a reduction of price so as to enable then: to compete with Oregon pine, and he ex plained that for some time before- the closing down of the mills he had been unable- to work at a profit, so he stopped leaving £dOGO, the valuo of the mill machinery, etc., lying idle. He deprecatec the impression which he said was formed by some of the employees that the mills were closed as. a retaliatory measure m consequence of a rise in wages being granted some of the men byb v the Arbitration Court. He stigmatises this as absurd, stating that employers had no such feeling agajnst th-3 men, and that fhe stoppage was found imperative on account of the of trade. In fairness to the men, it should be stated that as a whole they recognise the position in its proper aspect, and do not ascribe personal motives to the millers. The secretary of the union found work for 12 men in the Marlborough district, and others, lie says, have left the industry permanently, having obtained work which they find more congenial, and which they intend to remain at. Asked whether he got as good wages at fencing and ditching as he did at driving an engine at a sawmill, an o-nployee replied that they were every bit as good. A good deal has been said of late in regard to the importation of Oregon pine and its effect on local industry, and there can be no d-Qubt (hat this timber has come into extensive use. prejudicially affecting trade. Millers want the duty increased, and it is contended in somo quarters that the orico of timber is tco high. The Prime Minister (Sir Jcseph Wad) has promised to sot up a commission to consider the question, and its decision will be awaited with interest not onl v by those directly affee^d, but others. It has been said that the labour that nroduces Oregon pine is c-eap, but in a communication to a northern pa.per a writer who has been on the vrxrt s-avs that the watres are as follow: — Foremen and saw doctors. £30 a monthsawyer, £1 6s a day; shoemen. £15 a month; firemen. 11* a day; Italians and Hindoos, 7S7 S to 10s a day. Cost of living 20s a week. The same writer sta+e/5 that whpn in Vancouver and Canada he saw lni-jre milk, and the- way they cut up timber was an object -les««>n t 0 him. The logs and timber were all shifted about by mechnnval i^eajv, thus savins- a grmt rlea'l of labour. Fo eu°-crests that. New Zealand millers should similarly equip themselves.