OREGON PINE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9307, 6 August 1908, Page 1

OREGON PINE.

THE SAWMnXERS' GRIEVANCE. [FltOM OCX COKRESPONDENT.] WELLINGTON, August 5. Somo new light was thrown on the of Oregon pine by the .fme Minister today. Mr T. Y. fc<]--oii had av^ked whether it was true that he 6teamer Den of Ruthven, whic:. ia>s been unkading Oregon pine ut Oyttelton, was subsidised by the Go ernment, and whether any of the shipnents already landed or about to bo landed had been assisted in the same way ? "The Den of Ruthven," said Sir Joseph Ward in reply, "is one of the steamers of the Alley line, which is 1 subsidised by tho Government, an<s

there is, of course, no restriction uptwi tli3 cargo the company brings to /wr shores. Beyond the subsidy referred to, no assistance is given in the mattei of, h eights, the rates varying from 2&s to 32s 6d per 1000 ft according to port of chipment and port of destination. All tho timber that has come forward is sawn and un|lref«ecl, and a duty of 2s per 100 superficial feet ha 6 been paid thereon." Mr Seddoii, referring to the matter, said that the information , given was valuable. It showed that, the low freights from the American ports were made possible by a Government sub-, sidy. He suggested that any agreement for a steamship service between New Zealand a;nd Canada should provide against foreign timber being brought to the dominion in subsidised boats. The effect of the existing arraugement was to discount the valuo of the duty as far as the New Zealand Bawmillers were concerned. [Per Press Association.] DT7NEDTN, August 5. The Otago Sawmillere' Union of Operatives has passed a resolution requesting the Government to increase the duty on all foreign and Australian timber to 5s per 100 ft for all sizes less than 12 x 3, ; and leave,' the pv&sent duty on all above that size; also that the Government be asked to impose an export duty of 4s per 100 ft on all kauri exported.