IRREVOCABLE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1078, 17 March 1911, Page 6

IRREVOCABLE.

' 9 —-' THE CORONATION MEDALS CONTRACT. LOCAL OR IMPORTED ? DEPUTATION TO MR. FOWLDS. .(By Telegraph—Press Association.) Christchurch, March IG. A deputation, consisting of Messrs. A. Paterson,.G. R. Whiting, and.F.'Meyer 7 (representing tho Trades and Labour Council), and G. T. White and 0. A. Moller (representing the'local artisans), ■waited on the Hon. Geo. Fowlds (Minis- , ter for Education), relative to tho contract for the supply of Coronation medals for school children. Mr. T.'E. Taylor, U.V., who introduced ■the deputation, said it w'as hoped that the •: .Government would consent to Coronation medals being mado locally. Members of 'the trade felt that the contract for medals : should have been let in tho Dominion, ■'fir'the-work could have been turned out equally well, and the cost would, if any- : thing, be lower. Ho regretted that there seemed to be a tendency to import, instead of manufacturing locally, and even if.the prico should be a little higher, the people of the country should, as far as possible, bo kept employed. • { Mr.. Moller said tradesmen were, rather .'surprised to learn that tho contract had gone abroad, for the job was a tsimpio .one, and could be done quite 'easily in the Dominion.' Tho fact that a previous batch of medals were considered not altogether ■ satisfactory ■ was not tho fault of. tho local manufacturer, for tho design had been set by the Government, and the medals approved by them. The Now Zealand . manufacturers had quoted on tho under- ■• standing that the- medals- were to. be inado of magualium, but the specimen re- '- ceived was in aluminium, and had they known that aluminium would have been accepted they would have made a great difference'in- price. Facilities for turning out medals were as good here- as in England, the only, difference being in the wages paid.. . Emphatic Protest. • Mr.-Whiting said that the Trades and Labour Council' desired to protest emphatically against the order_ for medals being placed, abroad. . That involved: injustice,. not only to .the makers, but also •to. the workers. Even if th.e medals would cost.a little more by being made ■here, that would not justify tne action i of the Government for tho medals would piobably be nlado in some Continental country under sweated conditions, and that was not fair to tho makers of this country. Ho understood ' that the contract had been let, and whether it could bo' recalled or not tho Trades Council wished to mako a strong protest against .tho action taken, and that in future -such orders should be placed in New ZeaMr. Paterson said the deputation would .' like to know the price at which the medals were to be made. It. was usual when tenders wero called for, tho , price quoted by the successful tenderers was made'public. A local tenderer had put in a- price less'than Is. per dozen for the medals, and he would like to ■know how much the country had saved- . by allowing tho order to go abroad. He would never allow any of his children, to .wear a Coronation medal which had been mado at a cheap rate under sweated conditions. " ■' ' ~ .. ,- Mr. H. G. Ell, M.P., said the art -. students, of- the Dominion were being {rained for designing work, and ■ manufacturers were prepared to turn out- a good" article, and these people and workers were entitled to every consideration. .The Government would not. permit conditions to: prevail in the country such as would enable the makers to turn out, a very ' cheap article, and that being so it was the'dutyuof (the Government to give the. . local mW'the preference. ■Mr. T. H. Davey, M.P., said that if a local manufacturer, was prepared . to turn ouVmedals at less than Is. per dozen, then he did' not see tho necessity for going elsewhere. . ■ „ , „ ~ Mr F. Meyer said the Trades Council , had taken the matter iip in consequence of pressure brought to bear upon the council by many sections of workers. Mr. Fowlds was reported to have said _ at Wellington , that on previous occasions New Zealand contractors had charged higher prices and did not- turn out an article up to the standard required. If ""that were so, why,then did the Government put New Zealand men to the_expense of tendering simply to refuse their tenders? As regards design there were men in the Dominion who could compete with the best designers in England. A lot of workers had got it into their heads, that to allow their children to wear the imported medals would mean advertising the fallacy, that there were ... no designers in the country capable ot doing the-work. -'•;'■' - The Minister's Reply. The Minister, in reply, said he did not suppose for one moment that any of those present believed that the Government were looking round for trouble, and that the decision had not been arrived at without due consideration. On every occasion when the question came up as to the getting of material • for Government use, preference was given to goods produced in New' Zealand, even if the margin was nrctty considerably in favour of the imported article. That was a standard principle that he had-never known the Government to depart from. -He had too long experience not to know that it .really did not much matter what the Government did it was sure to bo criticised, and he could remember the criticism and ' ridicule thrown upon the "effete Education Department" on account of the medals issued on the. last occasion. On the present occasion the Government were anxious to get a suitable medal, for they had been told that the children would not wear the medal. Mr. Davey: Some of the children refused to take them. . Mr. Taylor: The novelty of having the medal onlv lasts for about five minutes. - Mr. Fowlds:-It is certainly a question whether it is'wise to give medals or not. I was out of the country when the deci- ' sion was arrived at, and,l had no special say in that matter. . . ' Continuing, tho Minister said that the Government wanted to get a medal that at any rate would be nice in appearance and acceptable to the children to wear. They »avo the matter very careful consideration, remembering tho price paid before the appearance of the article. ■ -Hewould admit that the Department had expressed appreciation of the work done on that occasion. Regarding the question of publishing the price quoted by tho successful (enderer, to do so would only be misleading, unless samples were produced. _ . .' Mr. Tavlor: Did the samples vary ? Mr. Fowlds: We had no samples. Mr. Moller: But the Department sent. U3 a sample. ■'. Where to Stop. . • • ■ Mr Fowlds: Wo had various samples' of imported'medals submitted, but simply sketches of designs from local manufacturers. Tho medal accepted on the present occasion was. he should say twice as good as tho.medal supplied on the previous occasion. Everything boileu down to the point at which one was-golng to stop. If the country v;as going to pay two or three times as much for a local article he did not think any of those present would alrrce to that being done, but he had nSvei known the Government fail to give preference to a local article when the difference was at all reasonable, even up to 15 or 20 per cent. ~,,,,.,. Mr. Moller explained that the last medal was of small design, and tho work ordered could not be executed satisfactorily. The present medal was a much easier job. Mr. Taylor asked whether tho medals accepted wero to be mado in aluminium or magnalium. Mr. Moller said that no catalogue pave the medals in magualium. Aluminium was half the price of mngnalium, and the imported medals would probably be in aluminium. Local manufacturers had been misled by supposing that the medals had to be mado in magnalium. Mr. Taylor: Can you tell us tho prico of the inipoTted article? Mr. Fowlds: A? far as I romomher tho prico was X7CO for 175,0(10 medals. Mr. Moller: That works out higher tnan the lowest New s!ealand tender. . Mr. Paterson': Was the tender accepted by the Government in aluminium or magnalium?

Mr. Fowlds: I cannot say at present what it is. Mr..Taylor:.ls the position irrevocable? Mr. Fowlds: Yes; I expect the medals mill be on the-way out pretty soon. A Stock Design. Mr. Moller: That will mean you are not getting tho original design, but one which will bo sold in drapers and other shops at the Coronation time. You are going to have a stock design. It is degrading to art, in tho Dominion to think that tho Government aro going to accept a standard stock design. I cannot forgive the Government for that. Mr. Taylor: Governments make mistakes. Mr. IV.erson: Can you tell us where the' medals are being manufactured ? Mr'. Fowlds: They are being manufactured in England. Mr. Paterson: What, factory? Mr. Fowlds: I would not be prepared to disclose the records of a tenderer in that way. It is sufficient for us that they are of British manufacture. Mr. Paterson: They may be made by .Tews or Italians in cellars in the. sweated slums of London. • Mr. Taylor thanked the Minister for receiving tho deputation. Although the incident was. not a big one, he said the nrinciple involved was most important. The'action of the Government, constituted a reflection upon our craftsmen, and' to some.extent it had brought the school of art: and our skilled workmen into, disrepute. j\ mistake had been made, but the little discussion that clay would. he thought, lead to good results in the future. . ■■•..-