KAURI GUM INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 692, 17 December 1909, Page 3

KAURI GUM INDUSTRY.

: THE COMMISSIONER'S iIfEPORT ■ : , .''' ;*■■}': -CRITICISED.,• ' w -~X--:-' GRADING SAID TO BE IMPOS- ,'.."-'.;'.;': ;,,:.sible.-;;,;. ':.;■,., •;.::.. ; v ■■'''; tliy Tolecrapk-Spcclal CorrWondont.l .. ; '.,,V i, fAuckland, December 16.:'' j The oritioisms passed.by. Auckland gum merchants' on, tho'. report submitted, by the Especial. commissioner; (Mr. J."' G.. Gow) on'■■ the Kaurigum'industry are mostly of an adverse nature. It is .admitted that on some points Mr. Gow's observations. are accurate. The'statement, for. instance, that' there havo been losses on consignment! .guni is generally, born©..out,: Mr.iF. Gribbin, manager/for Miichelson and Co.,'stated;.that for some years the practice' ,of : shipping gum. Home. on'consignment, had been dropping■: into desuetude, as it very often led tolosses, and in; some;.cases .-the gum .had actually .to''be.'brought ba'ck.again.' -By tho Nerehana his firm had that day received 44 cases of gum,; which had been sent-to London on consignment.. This'was the last of the consignment gum, and-no more would be sent by his-firm, nor, he believed, by others. • The demand for gum fluctuated greatly, and in consigning 1 shippers had. always taken considerable.; risk. 1 .. They . were now sending only on order,; and. when the demand was slack they would store. .Instead of selling in .London,-they, iwould.sell. in New Zealand. ~ Tho suggestion : that there should.be.a system,of uniform grading.Mr.' Gribbin did-not. consider, practicable. There ,v:er« about 50 different grades of ;which... varied■• according, to. tho, locality irom which, it came, and manufacturers wcts very particular in. their. taste3,\some.preferring one description; and quality and others another. ,How it would be, possible to havo a uniform grading he'was at'a loss to know. .: Mr. H. Miller, of,:. Henry .Miller- and Co.,' characterised the Teport.as that of one -not acquainted with the industry. Ho scouted the idea that thero ,wa's a- "ring" in London, from .whiohcity ho returned only a short time ago. -There was no more of a "ring" than existed in any trade. Mr. Miller' also considered-that tho uniform grading proposals were impossible, as, ho said, thero were nearly; 200. qualities of gum. That .'there- was: adulteration : ,of gum in New' Zealand Mr. Millor denied, though there was a good deal,of it in London. .It:was dono their either by introducing chips' of foreign gum into the kauri in bulk,/or adding cheaper sorts to the ground gum." '-. ■ Mr. H. Edmonds agreed' that the ) grading proposals contained in' Mr. Gow's report wero impossible. Ho did not think that there was any adulteration in the: Dominion/ In reference to the; allegations of a "ring," Mr. Edmonds said what had been taking placo was that -.one man bought for the leading firms, and thus competition; was killed/