TIMBER COMMISSION.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 541, 23 June 1909, Page 9

TIMBER COMMISSION.

i REPORT VIRTUALLY OOMPLETE.: : i SERIES OF COMPROMISES; 1 ' The members of the Timber Commission have been meeting daily -einee the prorogation of parliament, in the endeavour to'come to an agreement with regard to the terms of,their report. As, .in. respect of some of the main questions,, the membership of the Commission "represented at least three totally distinct viewpoints, ; and the representatives lof each viewpoint had their 'fixed opinions at the start, which they only wanted evidence to confirm, agreement has been an,unusually difficult matter, and has only been achieved at. length by: a series l , of compromises. The Commission, has not yat quite completed its' labours,": hut the .final sitting •to be,held this moming-'will be chiefly of a formal nature, and it is expected/that the completed report will be: handed in to the ActingGovernor, Judge PrendeTgast, to-day. The draft.'of the report'was finished yesterday, and .is.' not' likely ;; to: be materially : altered. : It !is understood that the Commission will report that tho importation of Oregon has not been a. disadvantage;to the. timber trade. Recdmmendations : will be wade that the duty on certain .short" lengths of the American timber, shall be increased—it, is believed ; .by•■ 3s. per 100 ft., the present duty being 2s.—that; the duty on certain greater lengths 'should be decreased,and that the biggest lengths should'be' admitted free of duty. Recommendations will also be made to, extend the 1 measures now practised for the conservation of forests and in regard to reafforestation. ..:.; r : '".I, . . •' -.'

.-.The object oaths'recommendations : is .to assist' the importation :of those greater lengths of Oregon which builders and arch itects declare are ; requisite for certain binds !of worki arid for which no-equivalent:exists among New Zealand, timbers, 'and at the same, time' to penalise those .sizes'of Oregon . whose introduction fills, no special need,. and only hampers the sale of the local product. It is'understood that the-commission are of opinion-tbat the price charged, for local/ timber?-has not been unduly high, considering' the!'increasing -cost of production, ibutthat with the aid of more up-to-date machinery for handling.the logs,that-cost could be substantially reduced in many instances. ■ In this connection there is considerable difference between the methods employed in various parts of ..the Dominion. :: ■ ■'::.'/..; \;/ ';■/. J ..It is ''an :open secret. that;the meetings of. the commission, have been marked bynumer-. ous divisions; and that on .more than,;one,6c; casion,' when different "reports.on: various as-' pects ofttheirr r charge were recommended, the commissioners.. despaired' of ever coming to a; unanimous finding.. The report.'which. is/now, i partially concluded is the 'result '.of repeated modifications ;, and 't Concessions '.-'of opinions made for the sake of unanimity. .-■ .-. ...,■•-.• '['