H.—44

16

W OOLLEN-MILLS. Output—(l9o6) £397,000 ; (1924) £1,421,000. Trade conditions in the woollen-milling industry have been very dull during the past year. A considerable quantity of low-grade and cheap clothing and materials was imported during the period. This had a depressing effect upon the output of the Dominion's mills, and it was found necessary to discharge a large number of operatives. Lately the industry has picked up slightly, and in one or two centres experienced machinists are required. Tinplate and Sheet-metal Working. Output—(l9o6) £98,000 ; (1924) £244,000. Generally speaking a fair trade has been carried on in this industry. Competition from abroad is keen, and highly skilled labour is scarce. Jams and Preserves. Output—(l9o6) £98,000 ; (1924) £244,000. The manufacture of jams and preserves has been quiet during the past year. Many classes of locally made preserves are in short supply on account of the past season being rather poor for certain classes of fruit. Competition from Australia and America is very keen ; nevertheless the industry generally is solid, and is holding its own. Tanning, Wool-scouring, and Fellmongering. Output—(l9o6) £1,836,310 ; (1924) £2,702,534. There is a more unsatisfactory report concerning this industry than there is about any of the other Dominion industries. Those responsible for the destinies of the tanning and fellmongering industries expect a rather quiet period during the coming year. APPENDIX B. [Extract from New Zealand Gazette No. 62, 25th September, 1924.] Board of Trade (Gas) Regulations, 1924. 1. These regulations may be cited as the Board of Trade (Gas) Regulations, 1924, and shall come into force on the Ist day of January, 1925. 2. In these regulations, unless the context requires another meaning,— " A British thermal unit " means the amount of heat required to raise one pound of water from 60° Fahrenheit to 61° Fahrenheit: " Calorific value" means the number of British thermal units (gross) produced by the combustion of 1 cubic foot of gas, measured at 60° Fahrenheit under a pressure of 30 in. of mercury and saturated with water-vapour : " A cubic foot " means the space occupied by 62-321 lb. avoirdupois of distilled water, weighed in air at a temperature of 62° Fahrenheit, the barometer being at 30 in. : " Gas company " or " company " means any company, corporation, firm, or person supplying coal-gas for lighting, heating, motive power, or other purposes, and disposing of the same for profit, and includes a local authority as herein defined : " Local authority " means a City or Borough Council or a Town Board : " Therm " means one hundred thousand British thermal units : " Minister " means the Minister of Industries and Commerce. 3. The Minister may, by order, require any gas company — (a.) To declare the calorific value of the gas which it intends to supply : (b.) To fix, with the approval of the Minister, a maximum price or maximum prices for each therm or for each thousand cubic feet of gas of declared calorific value : (c.) To supply gas of the declared calorific value at a specified pressure and free from sulphuretted hydrogen : Provided that any company may, subject to the provisions of clause 5 hereof, at any time alter the declared calorific value of its gas by giving three months' notice to the Minister of its intention to make such alteration. 4. The maximum price or maximum prices for each therm or for each thousand cubic feet of gas of declared calorific value shall be subject to alteration at any time, if it is shown to the satisfaction of the Minister that the costs and charges of and incidental to the production and supply of gas have substantially altered from circumstances beyond the control of, and which could not necessarily be avoided, by any company. 5. The declared calorific value of gas shall be not less than 400 British thermal units gross per cubic foot, unless it can be shown to the satisfaction of the Minister that gas of a lower calorific value can be sold at such price as to warrant the fixation of a declared calorific value lower than 400 British thermal units gross per cubic foot. 6. In the event of a company supplying gas of a lower calorific value than 450 British thermal units gross per cubic foot, or in the case of alteration in the declared calorific value, the company shall take at its own expense such steps as may be necessary to alter, adjust, or replace the burners in consumers' appliances, in such manner as to secure that the gas can be burned with safety and