INCREASES MADE

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 54, 1 September 1926, Page 5

INCREASES MADE

MOTOR VEHICLES AND TIMBER

PISCOUBAGING FOEEIGN CARS.

Tariff resolutions designed to dis-courage-the importation of'foreign motor-cars and to afford greater protection for: the timber industry -,•;;: were- introduced into _the. House of : .;'•'.■ Representatives' by the Minister of Customs (the Hon. W. Downie Btewart) last.'night.. . . . The Minister said, that some time ago It. was ; stated' that there would be no , general revision of the Tariff this year, but. there .were one or two points which It.was desired'to deal with this year as ">th'ey;were considered to be urgent. JA^ Bill would be introduced later in- the week,.probably Friday,.to give effect to (the resolutions.. . ■'• ."'.- . ... ■. , . ,>, ; THREE OBJECTS IN VIEW. ' ■ ...'With; regard to motor: vehicles, the said that there were three objjects -in view -in • the alterat ions. Other .itbms •besides the actual motor vehicles were, mentioned such as rubber- tires, \ bicycl-is, .and tricycles, as. they were always classified-togetner in the Customs ■jrdriffi so ,'as to avoid difficulties in adttimstration..j The'alteration proposed irtithe motor vehicles duty was first of airto iricreaso. the rate on foreign cars from 25 per cent, to 35 per cent. The second object'was to arrange that the .. dutiesj on the bodies of. cars, instead of being oil., a flat basis, should bo increas- ■ led ; according to. the value of- the. car,, •aridj-;,thirdly,, it- was desired to avoid 'having to' make distinctions between (different'types-of bodies. The Minis,*ter: said he thought it would be agreed that "the general opinion in New Zealand was that the importation of motor'caTS, especially from America, had been somewhat-excessive in recent years. He '::-:^S3''rebeived many, letters :in the last ;|tw,elve months asking the Government j jto take some action because the fact of motor-cars being sold on the time^pay- j .'menti,'system was embarrassing a,great! iumb'er of people.: However, it was not proposed to take any action in-con-nection with the sale1 Of on credit. ;With referenise.tOjthe general .propos- j ..:'sls''tO;increaso the duty on'foreign.cars itfrbm- 35. to 35 percent., the Minister BSiid that there had been a decrease in importation- of, British cars, and the .British manufacturers had been labouring under very considerable difficulties, ipuring.the whole of the war the.energies' of the British manufacturers were ■..ile'voted to munition work. .-".. •Mr.. P.- Fraser (Wellington Central): "They-don't .make- cars' at Home «uit.kblo for this .country.',? ..- .' . MEETING- doiiONIAL REQUIRE- ■-'--■:--■■■■..;; ; ansNTs. . . ' The' Minister .replied that he -underr »tqod that in the near future British cars '}■ would ..be coming on. the'- market .-which,had been specially designed for • colonial- requirements in every '■ way. At first the British .manufacturers might 1 not' find;the -market- free from, competition,'but.'the increase would help them to get on the market.' / He had been.led to "believe that the British manufacturers . would ■make, a- very special effort „ init'he.jnext .twelve months., to make a better showing.' .. . . ..■' .',.., ' . ■i .'• With jegard to body duties, the Minister said that, at present the duties on bodies or cars were fixed .'a? follows: — British 'cars,- £s*for single-seated, £10 ■ .for. dottble-Eeatedjvand-: £15 for. bodies, 1 with .'fixed .or movable" tanbpy ''top's.. - There was a fixed amountof'duty -whatever the kind of vehicle to which the ■ body, waii to be attached, 'ancFthat basis was- not:' satisfactory. ;... Considerable , 'difficulty was -experienced in distinguishing, between the bodies, and, re-"centlyj-various kinds'of bodies had been, imported! which had caused confusion in classification. 'In :tho' scale proposed in the se'eond pfirt of the; schedule' the •body duty • would-, vary according to. the value of the car. ,\. ' .•-: ; ,The ;:.rhain,;pbject .of. the „ increased duties, on motor bodies wa3 to afford additional protection' to the body build-ers-ox. Now Zealand, whose trade had been' languishing- very, considerably .in recent; times.. There -had been, consid-. erable unemployment in Christchurch arid other centres where the body-build-. ■"ing had reached considerable '•': proportions:' The' industry had' made '.'.efforts to -meet- competition, but had been at ; a very serious, disadvantage. It was thought that the proposals now made would* assist 'the body-builders andenable a larger percentage of the bodies to; be mnnufactured in Now Zealand, if thfe resolutions were -passed," it was im-, ...pqrtant'.to notice .that,the lowest-priced British; oars .would not pay any increased duty,:; on the. contrary, several classes of them would pay' slightly less duty. There would •be ; a slight reduction in the duty *on •cars';which were-popular cars.- • Luxurious , or- more expensivecars would pay more duty-on the bodies. Although the amount of the proposed body duty increased as the .value of the .car increased, the Tate of duty fell.when . the value of. the duty on the motor vehicle "exceeded £200. The. reason for the, lower rate of duties on the ''hfgKcr-priced cars was that the body duty ivas- purely;,protective in tho interests of, the local body-builders. It did not.seem that the.higher rate which ivas necessary to give adequate protection'should be extended beyond the necessary point " for -giving protection. There .were also .special provisions, in. Preference to bodies'imported by themselves, and ; that was to meet, any, attempt to evade Buty. There was no gpecial duty on' the. bodies of commercial .'". -vehicles, because it was considered that the protection at present-afforded them was' sufficient.' ■:" Most of them were 'biiilt in New Zealand.. ..■•-.' ATTEMPT TO STAMPEDE HOUSE.' ' The Minister warnbd the House-that -ke had reason- to" believe that before ; v thp Bill was .brought down an attempt would bo made to. more or: loss stampede the" House as to whether, the. duties should be imposed or not. Ithappened that by.a strange coincidence a: document came into his,hands on Monday which showed the tactics that were pur- ' eiied.'.by various interested parties whenever any: attempt was mado to. assist local industry. The letter, marked -*'strictly confidential," was sent.to tho various agents of tho: Motor Traders' ' !Assoeiatiou, and tho following extract, said; the; Minister, would show what members might expect in the next day or .two: — -. . .-, ,'■ '.'•'■.- • ■ '<■'..'. ... Under :these.. circumstances- it is considered advisable ttiat' no effort ".■should bo spared on the of i motor : traders to combat this, and the committee is doing.all in ' its .power .to havo the question thoroughly investigated before the Tariff is -altered. ■ You are earnestly asked ;to watchthe papers; and if it'is reported that a proposal has bee^ sub : i. mittcd to Earlialnent to increase.the : -late of'-duty .-.in any. way on motor-' .:•. cars,-to immediately get as many of r.. your-clients as possiblo ..to. telegraph :,to the member representing them in .Parliament to. oppbso any increase in 'duties. It is possible that tho Government may.-back down at the last „',.'. i moment and defer the matter till next ■'. session, in which case no action on your part is required. I hope that yon will assist in this matter and watch for any report of. duties, being

increased, and then get in. as • many telegrams of protest as you can arrange for. As the session is expected to close next week, if the matter comes before the House it will be dealt with. quickly, and if protest is made, it must be made immediately ■it is known that the matter is before the House. If every motor trader arranges for two or three telegrams' ,of protest the number received will :be so large as to compel the attention of the Government, and you are asked to do your best to assist. ; The Minister said that ho thought ho was justified in putting the extract he had road before the House because he had experienced that sort of thing before. All he asked was that when the j debate did come on. the matter should be'considered impartially,' while at the same time giving every consideration to representations "which might be received... The matter, should bo considered .apart'from telegrams brought in by artificial, means. THE; TIMBER DUTIES. /Referring to the. proposed alterations in the duty on certain kinds of timber, the Minister 'recalled that the Committee- which sat J recently upon .the timber question reported, its: opinion that the general question of timber duties should stand. over in the meantime', and that an alteration should be made,, in connection, with those duties which:almost by accident went duty, free in" 1021. The general question of timber duties was an extremely complex one, and he had had a great many communications from all parts of New Zoaland bearing on every aspect of it, and'iinciuding a .very large number of objections to any -alteration in duties without adequate investigation, so that all parties could be heard. Mr. SJewart said he had come to the same conclusion: as the Committee before it submitted-its report. He was of: the opinion that the most relief he could grant was in respect to cedar, oaky, and mahogany, and other items which at-present canie in free. It was proposed to impose upon them the duty which' pertained to other rough-sawn timbers with the exception of such species, as wore used for furniture malting. They would be placed on the same footing as the other dutiable rough-sawn timbers: ■-.-.>.'. ' ' • ■ ,If the figures for the six months ending' 30th June, 1925, and 30th June, 1026, were examined it would be noticed that tho importations of cedar, oak,, and mahogany had almost doubled. They increased from 3,900,000 odd*feet to 6,000,000 oftd-feet, whereas the dutiable timbers—Orogon v pine, -hemlock, arid spruCe, and other species—stood almost stationary. ; For■ the first. six. months of 1925 it was 9,000,000, and for the same period of .1926 it was 9,175,000 foot. -The Australian, hardwoods had dropped a little. In the grand', total -of. imported timbers, the items which showed,a very large incre'aso. were those which ho was' proposing .to place a duty upon. ' ; BELIEF TO SAWMILLERS. ' if. tho' House agreed to the. alteration, said Mr. Stewart, it would afford some relief to the sawmillers pending a" more complete investigation of, the duties, and*the, question as to how the interests of the community, as a whole were to: be protected in the same way as the sawmillers' interests were look--.ed.after.. It-would bb noticed that the names of .the timbers specified; in the second schedule were ■ given ■in . their botanical ■ detail. -.'■-.. ■:-, • The • Leader of the Opposition: *'What is the "reason for that?". ," . The Minister; said it was for the purpose of discriminating -between the different species of cedar and other timbers which' came '. from ... different countries, but .which; were not used for;building purposes, and those cedars' and other woods which were in actual competition with Now Zealand timbers;* arid .which were specifically- made^ dutiable. .There, seemed reason to believe .that; if they reimposed the duties the importation of timbers'which were displacing bur timbers for ordinary building purposes would show some reduction. .. ■'• .'.■';. .";-.■. ' • Alluding again to the question of motors, Mr. Stewart commented on the peculiar the motor body builders, in. Newr Zealand were in. Either the /duty, on motor- bodies should be made effective or. wiped out altogether. At present it was, not, sufficient to afford reasonable' protection to those engaged in-, the industry. One important pbilit was that when' chassis were bought.in America they' were charged for af a higher rate than if they were sold'with .the sbody attached. The result was that. if an. importer desired !to ..have bodies built in New Zealand .and placed an order (for a chassis instead of for a motor-car, he. had to pay a' higher price as compared with the factory cost than if he were to purchase a complete motor-car. This was a great handicap to - the . local : body builders, quite apart from tariff, protection alto-, gether. If a) relatively higher price was' charged for the chassis as against complete cars it seemed to ■ him that the-question of whether the motor body building industry was to' exist in New j Zealand or not vas >to: be determined in America or elsewhere, and that could not be tolerated so far as New Zealand •was, concerned. ; j; The Leader'of the Opposition (Mr. H. E.Holland) asked the-Minister if it would "not be a good principle to establish that^ .if the price of imported timbers was increased the duty should be automatically decreased, arid that if- the jlrice dropped the tariff should go. up.... The same principle might also beapplieddri respect to motor-cars, etc;' Mr. Holland Wanted to know if a provision:.to that; effect would,be included in the Bill. His suggestion, he said, was. on the lines of the report submit.ted, by a Committee of the House on the question of duties on imported timbers. -.'•".- '.-..,.• .Mr. .Harris (Waitemata) said'that live Committee's recommendation was that in the event of the price being in-creased-protection should bo reduced, but there was no suggestion that if tho price dropped the tariff, should be increased.. .':..... INCREASE IN PRICE O? CARS, j '- The Eight Hon. Sir Joseph Ward (Invercargill) said that he had received | numerous communications regarding alterations in the tariff, and there were many people; who were seeking assistance, for the. secondary industries. He did not. like to see spasmodic alterations to the tariff, and if he were Minister' of .Finance he would expect to have applications, coming along regularly, for fchb next two years. He thought they were going to put up the prico of motor-cars in New Zealand by. 10-per cent:. The new tariff would result in that. There would also be an increase in tho price of locally-con-structed cars. The wholo matter was of vital importance, and he thought they were entitled to have more, information. Kef erring to the timber proposal, Sir Joseph said he did not think it would afford any rplicf. It gave relief on a certain section of timber, but it allowed Oregon to come in free of charge. Mr.' G. W. Forbes (Hurunui) said that tho figures in regard to timber had come as rather a surprise to the House, as it had been thought that the Government would do something in that respect. Tho importation of Oregon- into New Zealand had had the effect of putting a good many men out of work. Sir John Luko . (Wellington North) expressed.'the hopo that'the Minister would be able to assure tho House that something: would be done in connection .with the timber industry. In regard to motors, Sir John said that he thought they should do everything they could to encourage the importation, of British cars into the Dominion. Thejr ,

should also encourage the building of motor bodies in New Zealand, with a view to ultimately having the whole article turned out in New Zealand. The Dominion needed all the help that it could get in regard to its secondary industries. • Many industries were requiring just as much protection as the motor body building business, declared Mr. J. M'CQmbs (Lyttelton). The ' Government had yielded to pressure iv one direction, and one-could not wonder if other agitations were organised. He ventured to say that the Government would have been better advised, to give production to the boot industry. Voices: "Oh, rubbish!" Mr. M'Combs said that the Government had imposed a duty on cotton goods, the like of which were not manufactured in New Zealand, and the Labour Party would probably give the House an opportunity of reducing the duty on such goods and goods of common . necessity. A word for the woollen industry was put in by the Hon. D. Buddo (Kaiapoi), who urged that more assistance should be given so. far as by-products were concerned. • PRICE-FIXINGr TRIBUNAL SUGGESTED. There were other means of assisting' local.industries than by means of import duties, said Mr. H. T. Armstrong (Christchurch East);' .If duties were increased the public would have to pay more for. the article concerned, and he suggested that greater relief might be given to the timber industry if there was a decrease in royalties and freights (both by soa and rail). The freights on timber coming from Grcymouth to Wellington or from Ohakune to Wellington wore as great as, if not greater than,, the freights on timber' brought from Aiherica. There was no reason why they should not set up a tribunal1 in New Zealand to fix the price of tim-. ber, that would safeguard the public against exploitation. Mr. Harris said that one ha.d to be very careful about increasing the tariff, for it was known that, if there was an increase of 10 per cent, in the tariff the locally-manufactured article almost invariably'went up 9$ per cent. The whole question of the timber industry was complex with difficulties. Tho fact that many sawmilling companies were not paying their way was due [to the fact that many of them were out of date. The huge | importations of cedar into New Zealand had undoubtedly had an effect on. New Zealand timber, especially matai. The view of experts was that no matter what tariff they put on Oregon pine that class o,f timber would still be used very largely; " The average - carponter would handle 150 feet of Oregon while.he was handling 100 feet of. New .'Zealand building timber. He did not think that a • duty oh' Oregon, would, assist the' sawmilling industry. COMPETITION OF OREGON PINE. Disappointment with the proposals regarding'timber: was voiced, by Mr. T. E. •(?. Seddon (Westland), who said . that it had been thought that a duty would.be imposed on Oregon,' as it was I felt that the. importation of ' Oregon was having a marked effect on the New Zealand timber- industry. Importations of Oregon into New Zealand had increased in leaps and bounds since 1908.: •Mr. M. J. Savage (Auckland West) suggested that a speeding up-of the State mills might, help the, position very■ materially. He' was satisfied -tha(•. New Zealand, timber could find a New Zealand market. Mr. Savage said that, the Minister might be well advised to seek the co-operation of the Industries and Commerce Committee during the recess to not only go into the timber industry, but also into the whole of the secondary industries. .' ... . Mr. H. Atmore (Nelson) said, it was rumoured that nine million feet of tim.ber.was lying in the' State timber yards, ■as it was unsaleable. There was "no doubt that the real competition was coming, from imported Oregon timbor.: The sawmilling industry employed 9000 men, and it was not an industry that would go out in a few years. There was no doubt that the duty on cedar was'a .step in.the.right direction, but at the same time it should be rememborodthat Oregon was tho real competitor. 1 Mr. E. W. Smith (Waimarino) said if was. upon Oregon pine that the sa'w--millenj particularly wanted to- see the duty increased. .They would prefer to see cedar come in free and the tariff upon; Oregon pine stiffened up. The speaker asked what had become of the Government's slogan, "Trade Within the Empire." The Minister: "We are seeking now ...to put 10 per cent, more on foreign cars." ■■■■';'/ \ . ' TO ENCOURAGE BRITISH CARS. The Leader of the Opposition asked why 10 per cent, should be put on British: cars when cars were not manufactured in the Dominion. If the British car was let in free the purchaser1 would get it 10 per-cent, cheaper. He did not think a duty on cedar would prevent it from coming in. It seemed to him that nearly every move that was .being made in connection with industry in-New Zealand was uneconomical.'- _ MV. W. S. Glenn (Rangitikei) remark-' ed that at' any rate-the Minister had made some, attempt to make things easier,, for. the industry. Apparently the appeal made to the Government had been worth while. He was impressed, with the fact, that the sawmillers. had given a guarantee that the price of timber would not go up. He would oppose any proposal which would, lead to an increase in the price 'of timber. Mr. J. T. Horn (Wakatipu) expressed the view that they were sending too much money out of New Zealand al-1 togother, .considering, tho large timber, resources that; New Zealand possessed. VALUE OF COMPETITION. •;• The Minister of Agriculture . (the Hon. O. J. Hawken) said that tho average amount of timber produced in New Zealand to-day was 11,000 feet per acre. The idea that they should give j away tho State's assets which were tho royalties received for the timber, was unsound. Surely the timber royalties were not considered to be too great in , view of the fact that tho State grew the timber. It seemed that thty were arguing on wrong lines altogether; they had to be sure that the price they received for their assets was remunerative. The Government was faced with the necessity of growing timber to replace that which was used up, but they could not,do that-unless they received a reasonable price. The sawmillers had offered to guaranteo that prices would be kept down, but there was only one way. to get at a legitimate price; that was by competition. 'The Government could not be sure that, in tho event of the Government prohibiting imports, prices- would not soar again in -New Zealand. He believed that the competition from overseas was having the effect of making New Zealand sawmiilers more efficient. There was an accumulation of third-class timber in New Zealand, and it was extremely difficult to get rid of it, although he believed the people would be well advised to make use of it. Ho was in favour of the.duty of 2s that it was proposed to impose. The people who were working tho sawmills were to be placed at the mercy of their American friends, said Mr. W. H. Field (Otaki). Mr. Field summed up the proposed duty as "a miserable two shillings." PRICE-FIXING A FAILURE. Tho Minister of Financo said that he had thought the discussion would have boon deferred until the Bill came down. Nothing could be gained by discussing the question at this stage. The Government had been accused of being miserable over the matter, but the whole question had been carefuly considered bj- a Committee of the House, and it

would not be wise to go beyond the recommendation of the Committee. His experience had been that price-fixing had always been a failure. He did not attach much importance to the guarantee that there would be no increase in prices. The Leader of the Opposition: "I understood they were willing to leave that to the Government." The Minister: "That brings us back to price-fixing. On what basis are we | going to fix prices—on the efficient mill or the inefficient mill?" Replying to Mr. M'Coombs, the Minister stated that he had not stated that there would be:no amendments to the tariff this year. He had merely stated that there would be no general revision. The resolutions were agreed to.