THE TIMBER TRADE.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12469, 19 February 1909, Page 3

THE TIMBER TRADE.

EXISTENCE OF A RING. ; ? 1 GHRISTCHuIcH BUiil»^ ■ ~~ VIEWS. ; ..., (From oui^owii Corjespbrid^nt-k } ' Christchurch, Feb. 18/ ; 'Speaking to »;-^y^ el^ all^ s L $ reporter, Mr A. Swanson;-a ; kbnst •: ffik;' builder,' said there w no. 5 St whatever that a "ring" «g---j ed in' the timber trade to We detn- ! Hient of building operations, and at f the expense, of persons who *»&**. i tfrect ; new buildings- . I'iinber mer- \ J&Hi said, :n»d far too-much , = their own\ay. -'i'toy charged what ; they liked for timber, and the result , , wasxhat building operations . -were : : more costly than they ought to be.. ) Builders had to pay 17s per. 100 super ; •'■ ficialfeet for good timber, and^i.4B ; : ; for rough timber. -They ought not to , ; pay more than 12s for the best,. and ■ 10s. for the rough. In former days a - four-roomed house would be erected : in Christchurch for £150; it now cost £400. It would no doubt be of a bet- ; . ter class than formerly, but even if ~ £100 was allowed for improvement in, ' ,that respect, there was stili a big difr ference, which was due partly tc- the. increased cost of labour, but mainly to - the influence of the timber mer- : chants'- ring. They, existed in every ; centre of the Dominion. . i Recently, he continued, a big ring -•■ in. tVellingtqn had been broken upon % > account of the factthat the merchants •:■ had such large stocks that they had 5 to sell, bringing about a reduction m , 5 that .city-" of Is 6d per hundred feet: , ] Ho believes the ring wilLnot be brok- ; V cn»p until the Government breaks . down a "monopoly which, he says, has *■ been established in connection _with i the timber supplies from the West - Coast. According to his statement, the West Coast has been given over to a few big timber merchants and sawmillers; who hold too. much -bush.' The timber industry, in fact, he says,; : v is in the same position as the land . settlement was in ' some twenty or . ; thirty years ago. It is a splendid ■• thing for a man with plenty of capital, but it is no good to a man- with small ' capital. He quotes the case of. one man who holds no less than 200,000 ! acres of bush land, owned by the Government. It is a bush-covered : valley, which is completely closed to ' everybody except, this fortunate man. . Some of the Christchurch builders have tried to get into the forests in order to obtain cheaper ■ timber, but the arrangements with the merchants' have interfered with them. He does not think that the Government could '. enter into the sawmiUing arid- timber • yard industry with success, as it could riot compete with the merchants, but he suggested that it should afford builders and other men with small capital facilities for obtaining the bush and taking out the timber.