TO IMPROVE FLAX PLANT.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 853, 27 June 1910, Page 10

TO IMPROVE FLAX PLANT.

BONUS ASKED FOR, ' i i (By Toleirraph.— Special Correspondent.) 1 Pahnsrston June 24. ? At tho Grand Hotel to-day the Hon. ( Thos. Mackenzie (Minister for. Agricul- < ture)'was waited on by a deputation < representing the Flaxmillers' Associa- ] tion, regarding somo matters which ■ had been placed before the Minister on J a previous occasion. The deputation, j which was introduced by Mr. D. Buick, ' M.1 , ., consisted of Messrs. Liggins ( (vice-president), It. M'.Vab. M. Cohen, E. L. Broad, it. S. Abraham, H. l< , . Liggiiis, H. F.. Gibbnus, P. Sim, G. c Sicfort,' and —. -Spencer-(secretary;. s Mr. Cohen stated that the full value s of the pliorniium tenax fibre was not i obtained under present manufacturing - conditions. Mamln millers were about ' to employ new machinery, which would L greatly increase their output and also ' improve tho productions, and he ( thought that Now Zealand should pro- | paro to meet tho fillip which would be ' given to its competitor's trade. There { w.cre possibilities of iicnv processes be- ' ing evolved —processes of a kind which j would enable the industry to bo run ' profitably without any alteration in the rates of ..wages', or the , royalty I charges on .tho- market prices. Then; ■ was hope, tbo, of some-new, process! ' making the waste of tile by- j products avoidable. Therefore the as- ' sociation asked tlio Minister to make ' provision on the Estimates for a sum ' of money-which would be offered as a ' bonus to inventors to encouragiS inven- J tivo people to turn thcicjitton'tiou to ' the devising of .better ■'flasmilling ma- ■' chinery. The bonus should be suffi- * ciently largo to ensure the" inventor an '■ independence for life. They assumed J that if a bonus was offered a committee * of practical men would be appointed to investigate the. inventions, and ho s thought'.that' the Government might t ''advertise tho. offer through the High i Commissioner. A representative could i bo sent to Canada ili the interests oi ( tho industry. < Mr. It. S. Abraham said that when j Mi-. W. Akers was" in-England ho in- < spocted an invention'by>Dr. Nauinann, i a German, a sceintist, and was con- i viuced that by it hemp could be con- . verted into a fabric- almost as hue as \ silk:- Mr. Abraham while at Home, inquired about another process, an'd was'assured .by. the inventors that they would compete for any substantial bonus which-tho New Zealand Government might offer, and they had since written on several occasions with a , view to ascertaining if any such induce- j innnt had been given. The speaker was t not hi favour of allowing the whole of J tho bonus for any ono -invention. Cer- j tain areas of New Zealand land were of i little use for anything but growing flax, I and if the industry was driven ahead, t the value of those lands would be enhanced, t Mr. Robert M'Nab was of opinion l that the Government should advertise *; abroad that they wanted something pc- !: culiar to New Zealand. What the dc- J, putation was asking was that the Gov- ~ trnment should exereiso.the principle l which they applied to the gold mining ] industry, to assist which they had in- i troduced tho cyanide process. 'Respect- s ing other industries New Zealand was s able to turn to account the experience of other countries, but' flax had to be s treated according to the experiences (if '' Xew Zealand alone. N T ew Zealand flax had to compete against the fibres of j the world, and while at Homo, he had heard that, in Central Africa, a plant } had been discovered which was likely r to make that country a rival. In tho ;i past in such matters the monetary in- ? dueeniont had been too small. A cou- ' pie of thousand pounds might seem ado- ] quato here, but it looked'snail at the I other end. ' . " Tho Minister, replying, said that ho realised the great importince of the industry, and that much of our land was well suited to tho growing of flax. He agreed that a probable reason why there was no response to previous 0 bonus inducements was that the figure, t stated was not large enough. By a '' proper allocation of money primal in- | ihistries might lie assisted, and tho j proposal that the money voted should t bo recouped bv levving a tax on tho • exports was- businesslike. Ho would ] confer with his oolloaguos in tho y matter i