STATE TIMBER MILLS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3033, 21 March 1917, Page 6

STATE TIMBER MILLS

ROYAL COMMISSION SUGGESTED.

During the sitting of the Conciliation . Council in Auckland to deal with the dispute in the timber trade; Mr. Ellis, N one- of the assessors for the employers, 6aid he had been asked to bring under, notice of members the question of the* unfair competition of the State timber - mills at Mamaku with private concerns. Mr. Ellis said they .had to face that-, trouble along the Main Trunk line for some time past, but now complaints were-being received from Mamaku. It. seemed to him unfair that the State should compete with private mills, which were bound by conditions that did not apply'to,the Government. Mr. T. Harle Giles said he had received the' following letter upon the subject from; Messrs. O'Brien and Conner, of Ngongotaha:-"When speaking to you a few days ago, re-State sawmills at Mamaku being keen competitors in the--timber trade, you asked for some authentic proof. At the present time there are_ two' wagons loads of timber in this siding 'consigned to a local resident. I saw this man, who had been working for us, and asked him why he did not get the timber from us. He informed me- that ' -we could not supply it at 7s. 6d. per 100 ft. superficial, price paid by him to th«. Government. We could not produce it, let alone supply it at this price., 'What we want to point out is that we cannot compete with the Government on' these lines. Especially so when we pay our employees a higher rate of wages than the Government pay their sawmill employees." i * Mr. Ellis: "That is a'-very clear and definite statement,' but this has been going on for years." Mr. Ellis added that the Government used the best timber -for its own purposes, and then jobbed away the cheaper lines, .which were not wanted for their particular work. He claimed that a lot of the timber thus sold could be used by ,the, State for other purposes. ; Mr.—Butler moved: "That, in view of the fact that complaints- are being made that the State' sawmills arc entering into unfair competition with sawmillers in the Northern Industrial district, in the opinion of this council the Government be asked to appoint a. Royal Commission to inquire into the matter." . . This was scconded.br Mr. Phelan, pnd agreed to unanimously, and the Commissioner was asked to forward a copy to the Acting Prime Minister.