TIMBER COMMISSION.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 521, 31 May 1909, Page 6

TIMBER COMMISSION.

TO REPORT TO-DAY. NOT UNANIMOUS. The .members of the Timber - Commission sat for several hours in. camera on Saturday, and practically finished preparing their recommendations, which are. to bo presented 1 to his Excellency iw-dayin the form of a rtport. On most of the points, coming within tho order of reference the commissioners liavo arrived at unanimity, but on the Oregon pine question they have had to record serious differences'of. opinion. taken great quantities of ovideuco. —some of it valuable—the commission's pronouncements ,upcn mattors of fact will be fairly full, and will doubtless bo regarded as authoritative. These matters of fact include (in regard to New Zealand timbers) tho cost of felling and milling, tho selling prices wholesale and retail, the areas of' Crown land held for sawmilling purposes and bj whom, and tho areas still available. A portion of what tho commission" has to ■say about Oregon pine will also be non-con-tentions, for. tho members at this stage can,not diffor widely as to the extent'to which' this valued and yot dreaded timber is imported, its landed cost, the, freight and charges paid on it, and the price wholesalo and retail. Even in regard to "the effect of these importations on tbo 'local timber and timber-building industries," the report probably contains a paragraph or two which all the commissioners can sign. It is when they como to make rccommondations as to future legislation that the investigators havo agreed to differ. It is understood that several of them, including Messrs. H. Q. Ell, M.p.'; J. A. Hanan, Mil?.; W. H. P. Barber, S., I. Clarke, and probabiy Mr. J. F. Arnold, M.P., have signed a ■ report advising that Oregon.pino.should bo admitted free of duty. They submit, that such a step would torid to reduco the cost of .building and thus benefit the workers and tile consumers generally, and they also point to tho rapid depletion of our native timber:' supplies as an additional .reason'why tho. use of foreign substitutes should not ba discouraged. It ia understood that anotlio: report, signed by Messrs. W. H. Field and:\V. T. Jennings, M.P.'s, and Mr. W. Morris, , sugfests that the present duty on Oregon timer should bo considerably increased, if not made actually prohibitive. They amido to the closing of numoroiis sawmills ,and the unemployment in the. bush , districts as being largely due to the ousting of Now Zealand rimu by imported- Oregon pino, and they uitjo that tho policy of' protecting; local industries should bo.applied to sawmilling. Thero is somo speculation as to whether thoro is a third report signed by. tho . chairman (Hon. T. Y. Duncan, M.P.), and other .moderate men, on the commission, recommending that tho .duty remaiij as at' present. ; ■ , In regard to afforestation, although Mr. Ell has done most to make the subjectprominent, tho commission is understood to. bo unanimous in recommending that moro active measures in tree-planting should bo taken, so as to provido for such a supply of timbor which may to somo appreciable oxtent compensate for tho coming "loss of tho. nativo bush. It is also suggested; that tho Government should, as far as possible, arrange'that the timber required by tho Railway and Publio Works Depigments should bo supplied from local;, sources. The question oMarger areas of bush for sawmilling purposes, with a view to enabling "millers to instal moro up-to-date machinery, is also .understood to bo the subject of a unanimous recommendation. Another section of • tho general report deals with tho merits of rimu .as a high-class timber for cabinot-work and ornamental, joinery, and it is not unlikely that efforts to open up an export trade' in this lino will bo recommended. . . It will be for Cabinet to decide • whether the report shall be made public without delay, or. whether, it shall first be laid before Parliament. ! In viow'of tho; • early-, commencement of tho session, it' is expected that the latter course will bo adopted. ' r