IRON TARIFF.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1154, 15 June 1911, Page 6

IRON TARIFF.

PLIGHT OF THE TR4DE. THE POLICY OF "HOWL" MINISTER SEEN. REPLY NOT ENCOURAGING. Ironmasters of Hie Dominion have long been agitating with a view to having a duly of 33 1-3 per cent, imposed oir machinery nail olhri- iron articles which could (they hold) be manufactured lierc. A conference of the New Zealand Ironmasters' Association (called in furthsranco of this object), assembled in Hie Town Hall yesterday nioining. Delegates present were Messrs. A. Burt (president of tho association), chairman (Uunedin), Milligan, M'Arthur, \V. Crabtrec, . W. Cable, J. I'. Luke, M.l'., 1). KouerUon, P. Murray, A. H. Frederic (Wellington); .1. L. Laurensen, .T. L. Scott, and A. Anderson (Christchurch). When the conference opened the secretary, Mr. 11. l\ Allen, recalled the fact that, at a conference held in Dunedir. in February last, a Tariff Revision Cominitlee had* been set up, with air. Uiurcnseu as hon. secrelary. Information hnrl been gathered, and it was. huped thai, the Government would inset Ihe wishes nf tho ironmasters. A strong committee from the Indus!rial Association h;nl been appointed to join in a deputation to the Minister for Customs. The speaker had told the Minister why it was that there was so little machinery in the Coronation Exhibition. The chairman endorsed the stand taken by Mr. J. P. Luke in a recent political address. He hoped that the people wouid re-elect him. Something must bo done on .behalf of those who had money invested in the iron industry.

Mr. .1. L. Scott stated that an alteration in duty had led to greatly improved cooking ranges being manufactured in this country. :

The Way to Do it—"Howl!" Mr. Laureusen remarked that a Christchurch firm had gone in for piano inauulacturt, but tne Uovcrnment had impostd a heavy duty on the material, with tho result that tho.firm had to abandon :he enterprise. Afterwards the Coverniiient had professed sorrow, and had dedared u willingness to renin the duty, but, by that time, the factory had been ■•losed. Either a want of duty or a pressure of duty would nun an industry. Last year representatives of the sissocia(ion had waited upon the Uien ActingMinister for Customs (tho Hon. T. Mackenzie), who bad stated that ho could do nothing, as Mr. Foivlils fl'iis away in South Africa. Later, in Christchurch, Mr. Fowlds liad said tnat he might bo able to take the duty off | agricultural and miniug machinery. As secretary, he (Mr. Laurens?n) had, on the whole, obtained very encouraging results, but (he added) the Canterbury branch of the Farmers' Union had, in reply to n request for its cooperation, stated that it did not coincide with the objects of the association. _ A deputation might wait upon the New Zealand Farmers' Union. The one way to do anything was by howling, and howling continuously. It was no uss going to tho Government. They would be politely received, and told that tho matter would bo looked into, but nothing would bo done. Mr. Fowlds had told tho speaker that the matter had never been discussed. Olive Branch to Labour, After an extended discussion in committee, the following resolutiou was unanimously adopted :—"That this conference of the Ironmasters' Association decide to accept the assistance of tho labour unions in a joint effort to obtain adequate protection for the iron industry. The chairman: "From this day forth we belong to the Labour party. \LaughtftV ) Mr Scott: ."I have never belonged to anything else. We are all workers. ■ A delegate: "We have beeu that a long "Another delegate: "And very hard work-

'Having arranged, through thp. agency of Mr. JT. 1 , . Luke, M.P., to wait as a deputation upon the Minister for Customs at -1 pni.j the conference turned to a desultory discussion of some of the problems facing men and masters in the "l'assing reference was made to industrial of wages boards might be an improve'"some of the- delegates appeared to think however, that one tribunal was lite to be preferred to the other. Air D Robertson considered that tho 'classification of labour wouhl « a greot reform. \ No tv.o »oiU-.r» Ind equal powers in . production, and heir rewards should differ accordingly. If non could be got to vie w.th one ano l"r it would be a very big assistance i ? n the battle that New Zealand producers bad to fight with cheap labour and expert labour in other countries. In Glasgow bo had scon men receivins •></>• for a standard week's work.. Tor everything produced beyond a certain amount they were paid a bonus. It would be a orcat boon if some such system co.uld be introduced in New Zealand, at present neoplo in this country were degenerating. There was' too much compulsion. Other tliinp? needed curing just as badly as tho tariit'. Mr. Burt thought anything tending to bring about th<, statu indicated by Mr. Robertson would be a boon to all industries.

Helping the Worker to Think. This was one of the things, remarked Mr. Laurensen, in which cmployersshould help employees. Employees were just as quick to tee when anybody was getting a "few bob" extra at their expense as employers were. This had beeu s.hov.ii in the case of the Government co-operative works, when married men got their wages at the expense of single men. The labour people soon awoke to the state of affairs, and had the practice of discriminating agaiust single men stopped, to a great extent. If the absurdity of existing conditions wero once made plain to labour people, they would l>2 quick to act. The trouble was that the workers did not think much.

Mr. Scott expressed the opinion that the workers tried to get the best living possible for the poorest men in their ranks, and then to get wages rising from this point.

At the present time, paid Mr. J. P. Luke, U.P., n spirit of co-operation was abroad as between manufacturers and employees. Every manufacturer in the Dominion would bo glad to put himself" thoroughly into the confidence of his men. The employers had nothing to hido or cover nj/. 'In t.he contrary ilk-re were many difficulties bearing on employers of which their workmen wero mom or less unaware. Each and every man. round that, table (continued Jlr. Luke) had sprung from the working classes. Thev had served their time, and hecame journeymen, and, by working long ant! actively, had contrived to build up businesses. Tho same opportunities 'esistid for other people, but feme did not profit by them. Some lacked ambition r.o succeed and sonic wanted confidence but all the lar»e industries of tho world were beiii" carried on to-day by men who had graduated from the mechanic's bench. It was notable, said Mr. Luke, that individual manufacturers seemed to have little fault to find with their own men. i'ersonallv hc had seen very little deterioration iii tho men. What was wanted was n sni,-R of goodwill between the master and worker. The conference thai- day iiad struck a very important note. A st.-irt had been given- to a system tlint would linvo very far-reaching effects indeed. Jlr. liurt fjuite agreed ivitli all that Ifr. Luke had utiered. Tie was of opinion, ioo, that the facilities olTcred ill Nov Zealand to young fellows were hard to bent, in any part of the world. Any young fellow in (lie mechanical lino had tho opportunity to do it. A delegate considered i(' unfortunate that, "when a young New Zoalander had (liialified himself to fill an important position, this country had nothing to offer him. Tie could go Home and make a fortune there, but he could do noiliinr here. The chairman: It is. in any case, a gain to the British Empire

The conference adjourned at 1 p.m. A brief sitting was held in the alteration in order to arrange details in connection with tho deputation Vα the Minister lor Customs. MINISTER APPEALED TO, "THE ONLY THING IS A TARIFF." A deputation, representing (ho Ironmasters' Association, waited on the Minister for Custom's (die Hon. K. M'Jvenzie) yesterday afternoon. A good deal of what was said has previously been published, and covers matter which is already laniiliar. Mr. J. P. Luke, who introduced the deputation, staled that the decline in trade had been brought about by the practice nf importing goods irom Home under the present system of rapid and cneap communication, thereby bringing U-. into competition with the market* oi tho world, where wages are lower and hours longer. The ironmasters did not iniiict competition within the Dominion; their foe was over the seas. They asked i that this Customs alteration might be undertaken this session.

Mr. A. Burt, president of the association, said that .Air. Camerai, who had b?en appointed by the Government for ihe purpose, was making clos-o investigation in regard to matters connected with the iron trade, and learning facts of value to them. But thay had come to the conclusion that tho only thing to heip them was a tariff. There were many things that the Government were importing Which could bo marie hero, either in the Government workshops or in those of the private companies. Mr. J. B. Laurenson, of Chvistchiirco, remarked that it was a calamitous tiling that a million of money should be mil out year by year to import machinery tint "could be made here. First-class engineers wero being turned out of the colleges and technical schools of New Zealand, and when their education was completed they could not find employment. Yet when they left our snores they invariably occupied first-class positions in larger countries. Certain sections of the Farmers' Union had told them that, if they would leave agricultural implements out of the items to bear additional taxation, they would support them, or at least would not oppose them. The Minister: Have you seen the executive of the Miners' Union on this matter?

Mr. Burt: No. The Minister: It strikes me that they, will be jumping too! Mr. Burt - , alter some other remarks, went on to say that though, in a stated period, the agricultural employment in Germany had'decreased from J5 per cent to 29 per cent, the total output of agricultural products had risen from twelve million pounds to twenty-two million pounds Mcrling; and the secondary industries had likewise increased. Germany's credit balance bad run into eighty-four million pounds sterling, and vet she had not a penny to lend to foreign countries. She kept her money bock tj foster her industries. Mr. Burt added that , the deputation was supported in its request by Ike following workers' unions:—Tho Hoiler-makers, Engineers, Millers, Shearers, Farm-labourers, tho Trades and Labour Council, and the NewZealand Labour party. The Hon. J. E. J«nkinson, M.L.C., called upon, said that ho would be quite satisfied to leave tho matter to the Minister.

Mr. J. L. Scott, Christchurch, said that one aspect that might bo raised was t'he probable increase in cost to consumers by an additional tariff. This could be shown to be a fallacy by the experience of his firm in the matter of cooking ranges. Tho duty in t'ho early days of the industry was 10 per cent and, now that it had been raised to its present level, tho retail price had dropped nearly 25 per-t-cat. So that an increase in protective tariff did not necessarily mean an increase in cost to the consumer. The money, rathpr, went into circulation, and the fostering of the iudustry produced its inevitable results.

Mr. John Anderson (Christchurch) supported the last speaker in these remarks. .Mr. Milligan (of Kaiwarra), who had been in Ihe Dominion only two years, had formed the opinion that an increased tariff was absolutely necessary. Inter alia, ho said that though his firm had been manufacturing iron . windows, for many years, yet, for tho windows for Hie new post office, it had been thought uteessary to send to England. The Minister: Homo windows had been specified in tho contract. Mr. Milligan: Yes. Mr. Luko said he desired to remove ,-.n impression that existed that a duty of 20 per cent, existed on all ironwork' imported. This was not so, for on sonic material—for dairy and mining purposes--the tariff was only 5 per cent. MINISTER'S REPLY.

TARIFF CHANGES UNLIKELY. The Minister, in his reply, stated that it would be almost impossible to grant the reriuest of the deputation this coming session. Tho session was likely to be ;• very short cue, and as there was a good deal to be done, it. was unlikely that an titration of the tariff could be undertaken. There might be some articles '-n tho tariff which could be increased. Us recognised that the industry had languished considerably within the last fewyears; but, in . altering the tariff, the Government would have to carefully consider how far they ought to go. Mr. Cameron's report would also have to be nwsiited. When it came to hand, the matter would bo laid be.'lore Cabinet. He could not promise that the request v,'onld bo granted; it .was. not likely that tho farmers and miners would allow an increase in the tariff. But, if the Government, could be assured that, tho cost of goods would not be increased, he was inclined to think that the Houso would favour some encouragement to the industry. He did not attach much importance to the statement that young men we.ro leaving the Dominion, because they would go in any ease 'o improve their knowledge and value, and it was an excellent thing that they should. Most of them, he found, came back again. It bad been said that an iiim-atcd tariff drove people away from the country, but tho census showed that tho increase in New Zealand was much bigger than was recorded in any of the Australian States. It was just possible that ironwork could be brought under the provisions of the Commercial Trusts Act of last session, si that the tariffs could be either taken off or added according to whether fines increased with the additional levies. He would put the matter before Cabinet, but he was satisfied that nothing would bo done until Mr. Cameron's report was received, and he had great doubts whether anything" would be dono this coming session.