Recommendation re Duty

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXIII, Issue 12584, 3 October 1908, Page 5

Recommendation re Duty

Speech by Mr Hogan

(From Our Parliamentary Special. — By

Telegraph).

WELLINGTON, October 2.

Yesterday afternoon, the Commerce Committee, reporting on several petitions regarding tJie duty on Oregon timber, recommended that there be no additional duty, but that the report be referred to Parliament for consideration.

Among the speakers in the debate that ensued on the submission of the report was Mr Hogan (Wanganui), who thought the debate should have been confined to the question as to whether the report should be referred back to the Committee or not, as moved by Mr Seddon. He regretted that some hon. members seemed inclined |to launch into the whole question as to whether it was right or wrong to admit Oregon pine at the present rate of duty. But the subject was too extensive to argue out in the course of a day, and no- one member could do justice to it in an hour and a half. Seeing, however, that the question was being discussed 6croewhat generally, he thought it necessary to put some hon. members right. The hon. member for Newtown had taken very deep interest in Ihe question, and had succeeded in making a very good case against the duty, and he felt sure the meinter for Newtown and i imself could give many members points on this question. Indeed, with some it was not a question of either retaining or increasing the preeent duty, but rather as t j whether the duty should not be abolish ed altogether. Uetore going any further, he might say that it was his intention to support the hon. n-tmber for Westland in his amendment becau.<e he (Mr Hogan) did not want to be unfair to the sawmillers, a,nd since an inquiry was to be instituted, thpy should have au opportunity of placing their views, before it, without feeling that their position was prejudiced in any wi»y. It was wroag for the House, or for any Committee, to do anything calculated to influence a Commission before it was set up The Commission should enquire into the whole position", and it should do co "unfettered by any resolutions of the Houpc. He was much surprised at some of the statements made by the hon. member for Otaki, when he said the cost to a person building a house to-day was only £o additional, as compared with the price of timber seme years ago. Mr Field — "That is the difference in the eawmillers' price." Mr Hogan replied that he would take it at that, but that was not entirely the question, because the sawmillers and merchants had combined in the past. If sawmillers wanted to put themselves in a favourable light before the public, they should sever their connection with the merchants. He (the speaker) had a lot of sympathy with a great number of the sawmillers, particularly those on the West Coast. He had very little sympathy with many other sawmillers. He would like to state for the information of hon. members, and especially for the information of the hon. member for Otaki, that, through the combination of the sawmillers and merchants, the cost to a workman who put np a fiveroomed house had increased since 1900 by no less a cum than £45. He had collected that information from reliable sources, and the estimate was based on actual figures as to the number of feet of timber used.

Mr Hogan continued that now most working men could not afford to buy their cottages. If they could do so, the expense would not be so heavy, but since they could not they had to pay interest at the rate of 8 per cent, at t leaet upon the cost of the construction of a house. This was the irery least return that people would build houses for letting purposes for, jand so this imposed an increased cost 6S rental to working men of £3 16s per year. There might be something in the contention of the hon. gentleman, that the millers had only increased their price by a shilling, but it should not be forgotten that the millers assisted the merchants, and both millers and merchants were to blame. Again, in connection with Oregon pine, it was landed in the yards, with all expenses paid, at 12s a hundred, but was 6old at from 17s to 21s. There was a tremendous profit that was going into the pockets of the merchants. He did not want to say that the public were being fleeced. He did not intend to go deeply into the question since n inquiry wag going to be held, but if he did he might easily take up a couple of hours dealing with. it. He wished to emphasise the necessity for establishing State Mills, and saving the timber which, in the near future, would be destroyed. There were 17,000,000,000 feet of timber still standing on /Crown lands which, instead of being knocked down and burnt as it otherwise would be, should be made use of. He favoured the abolition of the duty on Oregon pine, but thought if this were not done, the next best thing would be to allow the bulk timber to come in free, retaining the duty on the small sizes. If this timber were cut up in the Dominion, the cutting would givfe work to our own people, and to help this the only duty he could support would be one having this effect. The duty at present was 1 2s per 100 feet, and there was an agitation to increase it to ss. But there was no necessity for an increase. The better system would be, as already suggested, to allow ot to come in free in bulk. He did not wish to go into the statements regarding the cost of lobaur, raised by the hon. member for Otaki, but would say that, if the subject were thoroughly thrashed out in the House, most of the sawmillers and the merchants would not have a leg to stand on.

Liane de Pougy, the lady who sets the fashions for a world of smart dames, has stated her conviction that if the figure is right, the face is altogether a secondary matter. The P.D. Corset, promoting health and vigour, is a positive .aid to beauty. It is incomparably the finest Coreet in the world. All stores .sell it.

A FOOD DIGESTIVE TABLE.

The time taken to digest food will be information that will interest all, but more particularly those subject to Indigestion and Stomach troubles. Rice, boiled soft, 1 hour. Apples, sweet and ripe, 1 hour 30 minutes. Sago, boiled, 1 hour 45 minutes. Tapioca, barley, stale bread, boiled milk, and bread and milk, oold, two hours. Potatoes, roasted, and parsnips, boiled, 2 hours 30 minutes. Baked custard, 2 hours 45 minutes. Apple dumplings, 3 hours. Bread, corn, baked, and carrots boiled, 3 hours 15 minutes. Potatoes and turnips boiled, butter, and cheese, 3 hours 30 minutes. Venison, 1 hour 30 minutes. Oysters and eggs, raw, 2 hours 3 minutes. Turkey and goose, 2 hours 30 minutes. Eggs, soft boiled, beef, and mutton, roasted or boiled, 3 hours. Boiled pork, stewed oysters, eggs, hard boiled or fried, 3 hours 30 minutes. Domestic fowls, 4 hours. Veal, roasted, 5 hours 30 minutes. To aid digestion, you should take 8 to 10 drops of IMPEY'S MAY APPLE after each meal. This does the work in nature's own way. Price, 2s 6d.

The Wanganui Carrying Company, having sold their Wood and Coal business, are devoting all their time to carrying in all its branches. Telephone 166.