H.—ll

XLVI

Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration. Twenty-four persons were proceeded against for breaches of awards during the year, and convictions entered. A sum of £63 11s. fines and costs was collected, and p; i<l into the Public Account. Three employees for working for less than award rate of wages were each fined 13s. ; this amount has not been collected, as the defendants left the Dominion, and cannot be traced. Unskilled Labour. Ninety-four persons applied for work during the period ; 12 were sent to co-operative works, and 7to private employment. Most of these applicants simply called and put down their nanus, but did not call again, having left the district or found employment with farmers in the neighbourhood. Good men had not much difficulty in finding work at good wages, and hence the reason why so lew called on the Labour Department. Farmers have had a good year in crops, and, with the good price s obtained for all farming produce, most of them in this district are in good circumstances. I have, &c, • j T. O'Grady,. The Chief Inspector of Factories, Wellington. Inspector of Factories. INVEBCABGILL, Sir, — Department of Labour, Invercargill, 21st April, 1908. I have the honour to submit my report for the year ending the 31st March, 1908. The period mentioned has been one of general prosperity for all industries in the towns of the Southland District, and, with one exception, the country industries have fully participated in the prosperity. The dairy industry : In consequence of the exceptionally good weather, many of the dairy factories have had such large quantities of milk supplied to them that at times considerable difficulty was experienced in dealing with all that came in, and, as the prices for both butter and cheese have been high, the season can be considered satisfactory to those connected with this industry. Agriculturalists have also had a good season, crops being good and prices satisfactory. Pastoralists have had a good season in some respects, but the prices obtained for wool were considerably less than obtained for last year's clip. Those prices, however, were exceptionally high, and this year's have been fully up to the average of the past ten years. Bush sawmills have been busy throughout the year, and there has been a continuous demand for hands. Mills are now b' ing put into bush that has been previously worked, and in one instance a mill has been put into a bush that has not only been previously worked, but has had a fire through a considerable portion of it. That, of course, is near the town, otherwise it is doubtful whether it would pay to work it. Flax-milling : This industry has not been a success this year by any means. The price obtainable for the manufactured article has been so low that millers who had to purchase their gr< en flax found it impossible to run their mill at a profit; consequently there were a number of mills that did not strip a blade of flax during the season. Some mills made a start, but as they found it impossible to make it pay they closed down shortly afterwards. However, a few mills worked throughout the season, and the men employed made good time, the wages being fully up to the usual standard ; in fact, it was practically impossible for wages to fall, as the demand for hands in other directions was considerably in excess of the supply. Building trades : The building trades have been good, especially in Invercargill and suburbs. A good number of brick buildings have been erected for both business premise s and private dwellings, besides which a large number of good modern dwellinghouse sin wood have also been erected. At the present time there is a good deal of contract work going on, but speculative building has fallen off considerably. However, trade is still busy, and there is every indication that it will continue so for seime time to cejine. Iron trades : Engineering, boflennaking, range and grate making, and agricultural-hnpleine'iit making have all had a satisfactory year. Trade has been very good, and a fair amount of overtime has been worked, there being no lost time through slackness of trai Sash, door, and joinery factories have been full-handed and busy all through the year. Plumbers, sheet-metal workers, and gasfitters, have been busy, and at no time have I heard of any man being either on short time or out of work. Furniture-makers and cabinetmakers have been busy, though there was not so much overtime worked as during the previous year. Coach, carriage, and wagon building has been busy, and employment lias been plentiful. Boot and shoe trade : Trade has been steady, there being practically neither overtime nor short time. The tailoring trade has been busy all through the' year, and the amount of overtime worked is considerably in excess of that worked during the previous year. There was a keen demand for tailors and tailoresses, especially the latter, and they were unobtainable. There appears to be a considerable shortage of tailoresses all over this district. Dressmaking and millinery : Trade was busy during the greater part of the year, and a considerable amount of overtime was worked, although during the winter months trade was slack and many of the hands were on short time.