THE FLAX INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 449, 6 March 1909, Page 7

THE FLAX INDUSTRY.

To the Editor. Sir, —Referring to tho interview of tho flaxmill employees with tlio Hon. Mr. Hogg on Friday last, allow me to point out to you that tho information put before tho Ministor was to anyono engaged in tho trade or having a knowlcdgo or the facts, absolutely unreliable. ■ • ■ . First of all, tho statement is mado that tho cost of labour is £'8 Bs. per ten, and details were givon of the items. It was shown that a mill turned out 8 tons per week at a labour cost of £67 45., or £8 Bs. per ton. Whero is the mill that can do this work? An average of six tons per week is considered good, which at once puts tho wages up to £11 <la. per ton, but a credit should ho given for the smaller quantity of green leaf worked, making the actual cost 210 12s. To this has to be added tho wages of three men which have been omitted, 1 psiddocker, 1 sorter, and ono vegetation man, equal to £1 4s. per ton ; a total wages of £11 lGs. per ton, or £3 Bs. per ton more than tho deputation stated. This js on paper, but in flaxmilling, more so than in most industries, tho actual cost of labour works out higher than a paper estimate, and 1 would lot admit that the labour could ho done for the above sum. An actual year's working of an avorago mill will show that a considerably larger sum por ton is spent in labour. In addition to this cost of labour, thoro is ,i considerable figure per ton to bo allowed for cartage, fuel, puntago, freight, grading, repairs, renewals, and other necessary charges which tho deputation said nothing about. The impression gained from tho interview was that tho difference botwecn their cost of labour, £8 Bs., and tho market price of flax, £21, went to the landholder, as they admitted that tho mill-owner mado nothing at present. As a matter of fact, tho royalties, against which there is such an outcry, amount to £3 Bs. por ton; so after all royalties aro only a fraction of tho cost, and whilst I do not wish to say ono word in extenuation of excessive royalties or harsh terms in connection with flax leases, I think it only right to point out that whilst wages aro fixed hard and fast by an award mado when flax was £32 per ton, royalties aro on a sliding scale, and havo fallen from 22a. Gd. per ton when flax was £32, to Bs. Gd. per ton now. A point I wish to bring out clearly is tho different position of tho green fla-x and royalties now as compared to tho old days when flax was about £11 per ton. Scvoral years ago green flax was a waste product growing upon wasto lands. Millers were practically given the flax if they would cut it and clear the land. With tho advanco of the Dominion, and the increased value- of land generally, theso lands havo eonio into cultivation, and flax is no longer growing on them in any quantities, and so nearly all tho original flax lands havo disappeared as such. But, on the other hand, new lands havo been brought into use for flax at very groat oxpenso for draining, and, speaking generally, mills now draw their supplies from Etioh areas. These lands, or swamp lands, aro some of tho richest in the Dominion, and on them flax has become practically a cultivated crop, requiring cleaning from other growths, draimnc;, protection from fire, and all the time paying heavy rates—local and general—tho taxes alono amounting to moro than was earned for royalties when flax" was £11 per ton. If such lands aro to earn nothing by way of royalties in future, they certainly will not bo kept for flax-grow-ing, but will bo used for cattlo and sheep where possible, and, where impossible, tho swamp land will revert buck to its old useless concuVion. IV* ■raj'sAUis. m« now getting so low that it is becoming unprofitable for landholders to keep for flax lands useful for other purposes, and I know from personal knowledge that several holders aro putting in cattlo. If this is so, it is an end to the flax. No royalties, or very low royalties, must mean in a short timo no flax lands, and no flax lands means extinction of tho industry. If we are to attempt to regulate royalties, ire might just a3 reasonably _ attempt to settle the price a landholder is to get for the fat bullock which ho will raise on this samo land. What we must recognise is, that the land which growe tho crop is entitled to Tho industry has been hit hard by falling markets, but the price is not in reality very low. It flourished for years, at lower prices, but this was when -labour laws did not apply. The arbitrary action of tho Arbitration Law throatenn the extinction of a primary industry, which if left alono at present prices could prosper and afford emplovmont not only to flaxmill hands, but to 'the many dependent trades which follow this industry, and thus stem tho tide, of unemployment which is becoming so serious in tho Dominion. —I am, etc., A. E. MABIN. March 2.