545

H.—24.

J. MITCHELL.

51. You asked us to run this for 4s. : we did it, but it did not pay us?— The other man did it for less, and he said it paid him to do it. 52. Mr. Clarke.] What is the price per hundred lineal feet of this moulding which Mr. Leyland has in his hand? —It is listed at Hs. 9d. That is £1 9s. 6d. superficial, or, with discount off, £1 6s. 6d. 53. Seeing that the timber is worth only Is. standing in the bush, do you not consider that to pay £1 6s. 6d. for it with that slight alteration made in it is rather too much! —l cannot make the charge out. Ido not want it to be thought for a moment that I charge the sawmillers or the merchants with conspiring to defraud the public, or anything of that kind. But the very thing we want to find out is, are the present prices fair and reasonable in view of all the factors? 1 cannot answer your question : it is what we wish to learn ; but with regard to the sample that you have in your hand, I say unhesitatingly that that is evidence in the concrete of an undue charge to the public. That is my opinion. 54. You assure us that a miller stated he would sell you this at a lower rate only for certain obligations which he is under? —Yes. 55. Do you not think that is very near a combination in restraint of trade?—lt is common talk that if these men were free, prices would be lower. I do not wish to be understood to say there should be no such thing as a combine or a union ; but here is evidence how it reacts upon the community, and I say that the Sawmillers' Association erred in my opinion in this matter. 56. With regard to Oregon, do you consider it desirable to have a good supply of Oregon available for emergencies? —I do, for all sorts of purposes. 57. You have heard it referred to as an inferior timber. Does that meet your estimate of it? —No, I should not consider it an inferior timber at all. 58. Do you not consider that it is very much superior to any of our local timbers in some instances —say, for plastered work?— l should say that if I had the right of selection between Oregon pine and rimu, or kauri, or matai, or totara, as I know it in the market here, for that purpose, I should choose Oregon. I believe its properties are well adapted for that purpose. 59. Have you made any examination of the New Zealand beech, or birch as it is sometimes called, for the purpose of that blocking that you were speaking of?—I cannot say that I have any knowledge of it. 60. Are you aware that it is the predominant timber in New Zealand? —No, I cannot say that I am aware of that. 61. With regard to your liberty of choice in the matter of timbers, do you not think that, as an architect, you should be free to use yoxir own judgment as to whether or not you should use Oregon as against freshly cut rimu? —With regard to the choice of materials, w r e find that those who find the money have predilections of their own, and we do not wish to press our likes or dislikes too much upon them. But Oregon I would endeavour to treat as a material with regard to which we could exercise a choice; and there are places where I would not hesitate to recommend it in place of any of the New Zealand timbers. I should be sorry on the other hand to displace our own timbers if I thought that our own timbers were equally good for the purpose. If Oregon is excluded we cannot exercise that choice at all. 62. Have you heard it stated that in rimu there is only about 6 per cent, of absolutely true heart? —Yes. I was rather surprised at the proportion being so small. 63. Would you consider it right that architects should be compelled to take a timber which must of necessity be 94 per cent, sap, as a substitute for Oregon, which can be obtained in all heart?— Unless by fiscal influences Ido not see where the compulsion comes in. If we are to have this material come in upon fair terms to the consumer and the local industry, then I think that in the usual way they should fight it out and give us the exercise of a choice. 64. Then you do not agree that a prohibitive duty should be put upon Oregon, to make it, from a fiscal point of view, impassible to import it?— No. 65. Mr. Morris.] Do you consider that all the rimu that does not happen to have dark heart in it is sap ?—No, I do not. 66. Probably there is as little sap in rimu as almost any of our trees?—l should like to admit this : When I first came to examine rimu 1 was sorely puzzled to be always able to determine what was heart and what was not, and the men I talked to, who habitually work in the industry, took a great deal of trouble to show me the different kinds, and at times there was some uncertainty about it. But what I have said to you already will give an indication in some measure in the direction in which you ask. The rails that I spoke of, which appeared to me to belong to that class, had evidently lasted for a very long time, and I took it there was some property in that rimu of ours which I was not able to explain. If what is called 0.8. is intelligently used and protected with paint, I should expect to find that the rimu in the buildings I have put up will last quite a long time—probably forty years —without much hurt. If I may take the occasion to say it, I am anxious to see samples of what I understand to be superior rimu that comes from Taranaki. I have seen some small pieces come up here for furniture, and so on, and if we could get selected timber like that I should like to know more about it. 67. No doubt you have specified heart of rimu before now for decorative purposes?— Yes, selected rimu. By that I mean the best rimu available for the particular purpose. 68. You would not expect a merchant to sell that at the same rate as ordinary building-rimu? —No, certainly not. 69. Ln other words, it is practically a luxury—it is one of the things that are not absolutely necessary for ordinary, every-day cottage-work?— Just so. We should look upon it as one of our finest products, and be quite prepared to pay an advanced price for timber of that kind. 70. It ought to be classed along with the imported timber brought out here for furnituremaking?—I do not think there is anything in the world to-day superior to the kind of rimu I have

69— H. 24.