AN OREGON EMISSARY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 561, 16 July 1909, Page 7

AN OREGON EMISSARY.

"IT'S LUMBER'YOU'RE BOUND TO GET." SAYS MR. JOS. THEBAUD. Visiting' Wellington, , and, in particular, tho timber merchants', D f Wellington at present is Mr. Jos, Thobaud, manager of the lumber department of the SeftUio turn of Hind, llolph and Co., a business concern of (tho Paoihq Slope, which, among other things, exports between 40,000,000 and 50,000,000 ■ icet Oregon annuallyV to all parts, of ,tho world. _ Mr. Thobaud 'usually makes an annual business visit to tho East —this time, tor a special reason, ho has extended his itincia.ry to includo Australia and 'New 'Zealand. What that special mission' is he declinos to pay specmcally, but oneimay conchido tbftt jt poncerns ono thing —Oregon prnq timbqr' It Does not 01960 the Mills, '•Itjis a mistakeni pojioy," said Mr. Thebaiid, "for anyqne or any 6pct]onoof your - people to display an antipathy agaiust Oregon.'. Believe pie, it is not going to take 'anything away from your own timbers," Hasn't it helped to ojoso our mills? *'No, not one. at them Your mills are closed because of a depression, that has penetrated to all comeis of the world, as tho result of the American panic of eighteen months, ago. I hoai ,in th|3 countiy tho depression attributed to various causes They can be swept aside—it was tho big panic in .America chat'dealt tho stunning bl6w. I know, because 1 travel all over the world. Some countries who dealt directly ' dild \largoly with America felt, it at once—they got it on the point Japaiv for instance 1 Wo are by far the largest buyers of her'good $ilks, nor, tea, and other goods. She felt it good and hard a year ago. -So did.China, You are aftectod now, indirectly affected, and must swim through it to calmer water. It's like this—the panic scared America into economy. That resulted'in a lessened consumption of, everything;" a lessened demand meant lessoned imports,' and so it hit the producer where ho fojt it. It'sHho same with you to-day, only your market is England. Great econo--,mies"and retrenchment followed the panic in 'Epgland; down wont tho consumption, and the demand for your goods. Pricqs fp||, ( and there you are! When Depression Lifts. i i ; -''But to return to Oregon, and your closed mills, Next to none is coming m now, yet t»rtajn. l df jour mills have closed, and some ['millers say that Oregon has to dq with it. Thoy know as well 'as I that there is not half so much Oregon coming into New Zea-land'to-day as there was eighteen months ago Why? Because there is no domand to speak of for Oregon or your own timbei When'the depression lifts, Oregon will begin to itoat in again, and all 'your" nulls will be going full time. Another phase of tho matter is that you cannot expect tho world to '.take' your surplus, products a fair interchange of trade." But America is highly protoptodl ''That is so, and it's no good to us. There is a/great revulsion of feeling among many people in America. The mere fact that tho Republican party in the, recent election thought it wise to put a plank in their plat, form providing for a special session qf Congress to* consider reform shows tho ifeeling that exists' That session has now been sitting for some months talking nothing but tariff. Inevltabloness of Oregon. ' * "In a progressive country like this you to reach out for markets, and the Pacific Slope offers a big field in which to exploit your products and resources. You have' a tariff on Oregon how, and it is noised about that an additional duty is to be imposed on short lengths. It ib over so ridiculous—you oan't keep Oregon out. It goes i everywhere, booause it's, wanted. It has special qualities whioh keep it m demand, as your own timbers have, We export any amount of timber'to Wf stern "Australia, where our agents'are the Miller Earn and Jarrah Timber Co. Thoy have timber m Japan, hut tho import_of Oregon inoreasos every year; so does''tjie import of Siberian pine, for that'matter. All timbers have their uses, and Oregon is especially gifted. You ipay put extra duty on )t, /That will not matter. Your Government may got a little more revenue, but' you and yours Will pay for it. I say*you must have Oregon, because your architects and bnilders know what they can do with It. I say you should ' have'it .to conserve yoqr own good timbers, The, life of your kauri forests has already beeij computed, your totara is all but dono, and good/ heart of red pine is not so plentiful as it was, Oregon will help you to nurse 1 your forest?, \% goes to all parts of the wprld—New Zealand must take her share. "The Oregon coming just now is a moro spattering. It was brought from the Sound ' via San Franqisco, but most of-it was for Sydney and: Melbourne, where very large stocks <aro held.'.' On the subject of labour, Mr. Thebaud says that all tho labour employed in Americrin mills is white, and mghly paid, For the coloured element, you must visit the mills of British Columbia, and of other parts of Canada, where the Sikh, the Hindu, the Japanese, and tho Swide peg in together.- '