"FIGHT FAIR."

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1867, 29 September 1913, Page 8

"FIGHT FAIR."

THE SAWMILLERS' FEAR. OF STATE COMPETITION. A FEW OTHER GRIEVANCES. A deputation of sawmill owners who had been in conferencc for two days previously was to havo waited upon tho Hon. W. F- Massey, Prime Minister, on Saturday morning, but as Mr. Massey had been in the House until t> a.m., lie was unable to receive them. The sawmillers could not wait for another appointment, and tho Hon. H. D. 801 l heard the deputation on behalf of tho Prime Minister. There were about 15 millers present, but three times that number, from all parts of New Zealand where tlio timber industry, is carried on, had been at the conference. Mr. It. W. Smith, M.P. for Waimarino, introduced the deputation. In Reply to tho Workers. Mr. D. Tennent, the first speaker, referred to the replies given to deputations representing workers by Mr. Massey and Mr. Fisher which were to the effect) that the Ministers wero inclined to consider favourably the demand that engine-drivers at sawmills should not be required to leave their engines for the purpose of cutting firewood for their boiler fires. On behalf ofcthe deputation he asked tho Government, before making any chance in tho direction indicated, to consider:— 1. That in the history of sawmilling, extending over a period of forty years, there is no instance of accident recorded due to inoffectivo control. 2. That in the average sawmill the work of the engine driver is the least laborious in the mill. Many of the mills are now equipped with under-fired boilers necessitating firing at intervals extending to half an hour; that the slabs are usually thrown within thirty feet of the furnace, and where portablo engines are used it is a very easy matter for the driver to cross-out his own firewood, as the saw is usually placed within twenty feet of the engine. Firingjs usually dono; with green slabs; and in tho case of the engine-driver deciding to go outside for dry slabs, tho time taken need not at any time exceed five minutes, and as in many mills the engine can be controlled from tho saw bench no possiblo danger can ensue from tho driver's temporary absence from the engine. Any change in tho present system in the manner indicated by the Timber Workers' Union will bo most severely felt by small millers, and as there is no difference in effective control, whether applied to a sawmill, dairy factory, a thresning mill, traction engine, or any other industry whore limited power is employed, and where tho driver does, and safely can, help in many directions,\tho effect on other industries must be apparent, especially to the detriment of struggling men. Referring to -awards affecting sawmills he said: As the engine-driver in a mill is as much a timber-worker any man in the mill, we would ask that no separate award be made for engine-drivers apart from timber workers. Regarding preference to unionists, —As tho timber-workers in tho Dominion, including bushmcn, number in round figures 10,000 men, and thero are only 2426 registered unionists, including employees in wood and ooal yards, throughout the Dominion, we liope that tho Government will oppose -any suggestion, of preference to unionists as being contrary to the true spirit | of democracy."

Accommodation. Mr. ~T. E. Traill said that sawmillowners thought it a great hardship to bo compelled to comply with tho regulations as to accommodation relating to flaxmill workers and shearers. Tho mill and its appurtenances was only valuable so long as tho forest was standing, and when tho bush was cut out the cottages erected for the, men were of no value. Ho therefore urged that the accommodation required by the Act was extravagant and unnecessary, and the regulations generally were such that no employer could properly observe them. Much of the discomfort suffered by the men was not so much the fault of the accommodation as of their own negligence. Mr. W. G. Haybittle (chairman of the conference) entered an emphatic protest'against the allying of the sawmill workers with flaxmill workers and shearers. The industries had nothing in common, and the men were not in sympathy. • State Sawmills. Mr. J. W. Ellis discussed the Government's proposal to erect State saw- i mills from which to supply timber for sale. Millers, ho said, had not raised any objection when the State Bawmills were first started, realising as they did that it was quite' legitimate for tho Government to erect sawmills for their own Department. But the proposed new departure was one of the most radical steps ever taken by the Government or New Zealand. Tho Government now proposed to enter the lists and fight the. largest industry in New Zealand next to the pastoral and agricultural industries. an industry paying higher wages' than any other, and an industry in which there never had been a strike. The. deputation had not come to ask the Minister not to attack the industry. They considered the Government's action unfair and unwise, but did not wish to press that opinion. All that they wished to do was to make to the Government one reasonable request— that the Government fight fair. Let the new. Department be put on a fair commercial basis, let its accounts bo audited 'by an independent auditor, who would see that all items of expenditure were fairly charged against tho mills, let tho mills be debited with the full amount that a private miller would he charged for tho standing timber, let the accounts be charged with the cost of siding construction, and all the expenses an ordinary sawmiller had to bear. If all this were done, tho Government would be lighting the hie timber industry on equal terms. Hitherto the Kakahi mill, the Minister had said, had not been charged with royalties or tlio cost of siding construction. This was not fighting fair. Ho condemned tho action of the Government in coming to a decision to fight tho timber industry, and in reserving for State mills large areas of forest, without consulting Parliament. No industry had been subjected to eo many misstatements as the-timber industry. But it had stood tho fire of a Royal. Commission. and if tliat Commission proved anything, it proved that tho sawmiller was not deriving the benefit of the higher timber prices. Mr. J. Butler also protested against Government competition on unfair terms. The sawmillors, ho said, did not fear competition on equal terms, and to make tho terms equal ho urged that, the Government ought to tender for the forest in competition with private millers. the Minister's Reply. The Hon. H. D. Bell, in reply, apologised for tho absence of tho Primo Minister, but assured the deputation that all the requests would liavo just as full consideration from Mr. Massey as if tiioy had been addressed to him in person. Only one question ho (Mr. Bell) was able to answer himself, and that was the ono with reference to tho inclusion of engine-drivers in timber awards. A new clause in tho Arbitration Bill before Parliament would give employers in any particular industry power to come to an arrangomont with all tiiair employees whatever thoir work

might be. Tlio special object of this clauso was to oovcr the case of enginedrivers. If such an agreeinont wcro approvcd—and a condition was tli.it no worker should 1)6 put in a worse position under it. than ho would bo undor the award for his own industry—then it would be possiblo for an employer to havo his own award for his own mill. NO CAUSE FOR ALARM. MR. MASSEY EXPLAINS. The Prima Minister (tho Hon. W. F. Mnssey) explained yesterday to a Dominion reporter that tho Bawmillors wcro evidently under a misapprehension. Tho Government did not propose to mill timber for sale. All tho lirst-clnss timber cut would be taken by tho Railway Department and tho Public Works Department. It might bo necessary to dispose of some second-class timber, but tho Government woro not going into business in competition with private sawmillers.