The Timber Industry.

Southland Times, Issue 9390, 2 December 1886, Page 3

The Timber Industry.

TO THE EDITOB. S'K, — "Kauri's Informant," alias "Kauri," cannot allow me to have it all my own. way. He fiaya my letters bristle with lniestatements and false conclusioue. 1 h ; s is - aeain a genera} £C£Qsation ; and may ba intended to mean something of cothiogj as occasion may require. That my letters have evidently hit is shown by the effusive epistle of " X.1." L;t him analyze— which he has not— the arguments I used and then point out my errors ; he has yet only contradicted in toto, end bu.terously enough, without giving reasons or showing where tarn wrong. This betrays either a bad case, or want ef capacity. So "X.1." is the real traducer of the sawmillers—" Kauri " had only hearsay inf or. mation. This places the latter in a still more unjustifiable position, and just chords with the tenor of my last letter. Let me congrat* ulate jou "X.1." on the possession of so much money— £lo 1 prodigious I— more than I have seen for years past, I have frequently heard it said of late that owing to£the stagnant eW.e of trade and the industries of the colony, the Government's employes were the only persoDS having any money to play with : after this I shall believe it. No, " X.1." you shall not draw me off by a bWo iwie, nor shall you thus cover or conceal your general allegation of " sinful waste " of timber by the sawmillers, you have made the charge, now sustain it. without either subterfuge or the loss of £10. It is commonly said you are an officer of the Forest Department sent down from Wellington. Had you known your duty you would at least have waited until you had gained some knowledge of the forests and the local timber trade, before making such an attack upon a most important industry. Your vaunted lengthened experience of bush and sawmilling does not seem, in you, to have produced a practical bnshmaa, and if your knowledge of forestry is to be ganged by yonr— not Nature's— ! 00 000 feet kauri tpes and your unproved assertion of wasted timber, then yonr experience is considerably below par. But if not au fait on these matteT», yon may be well up iv rabbit catching, and if so you have come to the right place, for they are here in plenty, I have heard of ' rabbit ifl»p«ctcH Wd»g^otsb«ißgrttr«ch«a

and diamiised— l will not tay that yon were one among the number of the caehieredt If I remember rightly " Kauri I .' saya in one of his first letters that the new timber regulations were just what* was wanted, and/should be .unflinchingly enforced by the officers of the Forest Department. " X.1." now says they will require considerable modification — the greatest truth he ha? given utterance to. If the Foieafc Department had the ability *to grasp its proper position and Rearing, it could not have ventured at its 'first step to hare tampered with an established and valuable industry, nor would it have deputed its officers to make * wholesale or general charges against nkwmilhta who Ate working ' the timber to the best advantage, with the business not even then remunerative in the way of paying current expunges and coßt of labour, or interest upon invested capital. The Pepartmentmay retard the industry by its folly, but it. does not contain men of sufficient stamina to either build or work sawmills or re-instate the trade; they are rather parasites living on the losses of one of our most important waser-paying industries. As forgelting at Sir J. Vogel— the time has arrived when he wants but little "going for." a property owner 1 never liked his administration of 'State affairs and always looked upon bini as extravagant in the extreme. The facts are that be has treated this colony pretty, much as a dairyman would a milch cow, which, when capable of.no more milking, is sold. Recent events and appointment* have not improved the standing of the Colonial Treasurer in the public mind nor in any way added to his popularity. lam not one of his appointees and have nothing to thank him for, nor have I seen cause 1o sing his praise. But should you, '• K 1.," owe your position to him, thea I admire your gratitude— it is a noble attribute too rarely met with to be lightly valued. Ido not think it necessary to say much more than that it is iinae we laid aside a norn de plume, " Kauri," supported by " Kauri's Informant," has made a charge of sinful waste against the sawmilliDg industry — his motive — the justification of his appointment and personal benefit. Now, sir, unmask yourself and then I will do the same, and we shall then see how your experience measure! with other people's. This will not cost you £10 and will be more satisfactory to the public, whose servant you are, if report speaks correctly.— l am, &c, SCHOMBERG. 2nd Dec, 1886. [This correspondence is now closed.— Ed.]