TIMBER AND TRUTH.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 969, 9 November 1910, Page 8

TIMBER AND TRUTH.

STRIKING ADDRESS. HOW LONG WILL SUPPLY LAST? AND IP IT FAILS-. Mr. S. I. Clarke,: president of th# Builders' and Contractors' Federation, laid before that body yesterday a special report.on the work and findings of the Timber Commission, of which he waa a member. '. Ar lfc X° ul > d b <» "generally admitted,' said w-r. Uarko, that the commission was set up mainly as a result of the outcry, raised by sawmillers and those 'in their employ, against the importation ?Li iT°"t P i ne - As was onl y natural xne oult of tne evidence came from sawmillers and their friends. When it came to a question of the value of tho evidence as against its mere bulk, he (31-i■•Clarke) thought the final report or tne commission went to prove that tee tacts were against those who des.red unduly to restrict trade,, for their own special benefit and protection. Important and very valuable evidence was g.ven by the Federated Builders' Association, not in any spirit of antagonism to the sawmillers, but with a view to showing the value of outside sources of supply, to fill urgent wants and also to _actas a check on prohibitive prices. Subsequent events -had shown that the position taken by the Federation .was,correct. The lifting of the trade depression which ruled when the commission was set np had proved that the sawmillers were, at that time, needlessly alarmed. Duration of forests Over-Calculated. It was unfortunate that the question ot immediate necessities, whether of timber-getters' or.' timber-users, had been allowed to completer* overshadow the much • more important ,'question (tram a national. point of view) of the nature, extent, and- value of. our timber supplies,' and as to future'■ policy mrespect of.the requirements of a rap-idly-growing population and i fast-ex-tending trade. K was well-known that Me Government, through the Forestry Department, had done, and was doin", good work, but an analysis of the" latest report of the department of Lands on the forestry question would show that an optimistic -view was taken of tho probable duration of'ourv natural supplies and that sufficient care had not been taken in the treatment of figures dealing with the amount of timber and the varieties of. it which will be available for use, especially in relation to building. In the report it was stated: "That the output of sawn timber for. the past year amounted to about 414 million superficial feet, and will probably advance to an average of from 450 to 500 million feet, for. the next fifty years, thereby giving an anticipated period of about.forty.years within which our , indigenous forests can meet the full demand." ■ .

Before the Timber Commission, the Under-Secretary for Lands opined that., at the present rate of consumption available supplies of timber would last from fifty to sixty, possibly for seventy, years.; . Rata of Depletion. -Note the statement, continued Mr. Clarke,: "at the present rate of out- ■ put," and compare it with the official record of increased rate of output in the immediate past. In the New Zealand Year Book for 1908 it was- stated' that the increased output of first-class timber at. Auckland in five years wasfrom'lo9} million to 163} million feet, an increase of 50 per cent. In Westland during the same' period the output, rose from' 14 million to 32 million feet, an increase of over 130 per cent. See-' ing that the output had increased to such an enormous extent within the period of five years, it was .not quite clear upon, what basis the Lands Department had-assumed that during tho next fifty years the additional demand! would only amount to an addition of' about one-tenth to the present annual" "output. The Departmental, report took note of these things at a later stage, and to that extent was selfcontradictory, as -when it stated (page 11), "If the,estimated supply is divided by the assumed aver- . age output for the next generation, '' it will be seen that there is only sufficient timber to last the sawmillers for about thirty-five years,and this without taking into account the inevitable loss that periodically occurs through acci- - dental fires." Crave National Matter. , .It was clear, therefore, Mr. Oarta •continued, that the future-of the-tim-ber supply of the Dominion was a question of grave national concern, and it was to be hoped that the Government would not yield to the interested,clam-. our of the.few, who for the sake of their own immediate wants or personal gain, as the case might be, would exclude all foreign supplies, which would have the effect of lengthening the duration of their own industry and staving off the evil .day when the country would be compelled to depend altogether on supplies from outside sources. . , . His statements in criticism. of the Forestry report, Mr. Clarke interpolate' ed, were not made in a spirit-of antagonism. In a general way-the report, was a very abje and excellent summary of the present position and future prospects of the timber industry. The Department was evidently frilly, alive to the necessity for a vigorous policy of afforestation, and especially in showing how large a quantity of timber could bo produced on a given' area of cultivated forest; as compared with the native bush of New Zealand. The evidence given before' the Timber Commission showed that in most places the marketable timbers did not'.amount to more than about 6000 or 7000 superficial feet. per acre . A well-managed cultivated forest could be made to produce ten times that amount.