TIMBER SUPPLIES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 242, 1 July 1918, Page 8

TIMBER SUPPLIES

MILL-WORKERS SHOW ANXIETY MORE ABOUT WHITE PINE REGULATIONS COMING , Interest in tho conservation of our diminishing supplies of all kinds of timber, and particularly of white pine, was shown by a deputation from the Timber Workers' Federation, which wuited on Ministers of the Crown on Saturday. Mr. A. G. Wilkinson said that in Wellington there was an extreme shortage of timber for building, and many of tho timber merchants were quite unablo to supply orders from their customers. It was perhaps uot generally known that Australia took millions of feet of riimi every year, and he thought steps should be taken by the Government to regulate tho export of timber to Australia. Not only ««s riimi exported, but also kauri, totnra, and matai, and, most important of all, white pine. This matter of tho conservation of white pine was most serious, because if things were to bo allowed to go on as they were going there would be a shortage of this timber. Ho did not suggest that the butter-mak-ing industry of Australia should not bo allowed to nave such white pine timber as it needed, but there certainly should be some restriction on the export of tho timber, becauso he did not believe that twenty per cent, of the white pine that went into Australia, from New Zealand was used for butter boxes. Muck of it ■was used by Chineso furniture maker.?. He would propose that instead of allowing the timber to be exported in flitches : from New Zealand, it should be cut up I into butter-bos stock. This would eni sure that none of it would be used for anything but butter boxes, and incidentally this, measure would provide work for a number 'of people in this country instead of in Australia. He would not favour an export tax on timber, because he believed that the effect of an export i tax would be bad for this country, but j he did think that something should be ■ done to ensure that the local market was supplied before large quantities of timber were sent out of the country. Mr. E. Phelan said that he would go so far as to urge the Government to take ; over the sole control of:white pine timI ber, procure and. set up necessary maiii!. ,y. ami mill the timber to best advantage. If a substitute could , not 1)0 found for white pine in butter boxes, i then there should be boxes of some cheap j timber not of much use for other purposes, lined with a veneer of white pine. Also, if the Government took over the control of. white pine, and even other timbers, the best use would be made of : all logsi coining into the mill. At pre- : sent much useful timber was thrown on : to the slab heap, becauso as a commercial proposition it did not pay the sawyer j to bother with it, but this timber ought i not to be wasted in this way. , j , The Hon. AV. D. S. Mac Donald said : that Sir Prnncis Bell and he had been going into this matter of the conserva- i tion of timber supplies for a week or j two. They had had reports from various boards and commissions in connection with the matter, and at present Sir Francis Bell was drafting regulations, which, lit was expected, would be completed , ! ready to be submitted to Cabinet v on : Tuesday. Every one of the matters rais- ! Ed by the deputation would,be in the regulations to come before Cabinet in a few days, and he hoped that the regulations would be satisfactory to the workers, to the millers, and to fche counI try generally. He was quite in agreement with tho proposal that more experiments should be made to discover substitutes for white pine for the packing of butter for export.