TELEGRAMS.

Hokitika Guardian, 3 September 1920, Page 4

TELEGRAMS.

MOUSES ANI) TIMBER SAWMILLER’S VIEW. 1 POSITION LIKELY TO IMPROVE EXPORTS FREIGHTS "AN I) PROFITS. (Lyttelton Times correspondent.) HOKITIKA, August 31. With twenty additional sawmills now ■in course of construction on the West Coast, there is a prospect of considerable relief in the house-building situation before the end of tlie year. Mr W. J. Butler, President of tlie Sawmillcrs’ Federation of New 'Zealand, dealt with this and other important phases of tho question in a special interview with a representative of the “Lyttelton Times.” “The chief causes at the root of the shortage of houses,” said Mr Butler, “are lack of adequate shipping space and lack of adequate labour. A complaint has been made that New Zealand is short of seasoned timber because a certain amount is exported to Australia in order to secure the benefit of a price that means an additional 3s or 4s per hundred superficial feet. Those making the complaint say, “Canterbury builders art prepared to- pay the higher rate. Wtyy not give us all the timber ajnd stop the export to Australia?’ The real position is that for some time- the Sawmillers Federation, acting up to an undertaking given to the Board of Trade has seen to it that the export price does not control the New Zealand price. It has been contended that, if millers were permitted to charge the higher price in New Zealand, the timber going to Australia would be diverted for local use, and that, if the Union Steam Ship Company could find bottoms for that export trade, there was no reason why they should not find bottoms for the coastwise trade. I •wish to point out that our firm’s returns for the last six months show that the average export price, taken on an absolutely true basis, does not exceed the New Zealand average price by more than Is 7d per hundred feet, and that, since the half-year expired, the New Zealand price has been advanced Is 6d by permission of the Board of Trade. At the same time there lias been little or no comparative rise in the Australian price. The amount of rimu exported from Greymouth during 1919 was approximately 30,000,000 superficial feet, of which 8,000,000 went to Australia. A large percentage of the rime that went to Australia was of a class that would find no sale in New Zealand. It, therfore appears that it (would not be economcial, from h community point of view, to advance the price of the whole of that 30,000,000 feet by 3s or 4s per hundred feet, up to what is stated to be the Australian rat-e for tlie purpose of securing the additional 8,000,000 feet. It would, in fact, be tantamount to paying some I.ls extra for the amount exported. It does not even follow that the balance would be secured for building in New Zealand, because the Australian freight would continue to be available,' in consequence of vessels returning after bringing, coal from Newcastle. If thely had to do without return cargoes, they would revert to the Australian coastal trade. With respect to the part played by the Union Company, I can say that, during the six months’ period under review, tliis company only supplied 30 per cent, of the bottoms used in the*, export timber trade.” A SPECIAL PROVISION.

What would be the position if the Government said that no timber must go to Australia while the present shortage exists in New Zealand? “Well, one of the conditions agreed on between the Board of Trade and the Sawmillers’ Federation, when the federation agreed to assit in the control of tho timber trade, was that. the . mills which had established permanent connection with Australian merchants should be,allowed to continue that connection under the supervision of the Board. Another factor is that the greater part of the timber that goes out of the country is not suitable for building. Still another- is that our trade with Australia is reciprocal. We get necessary material in return. In any ease, why should the timber, business be singled out for liarsli restrictions? I consider that the Board of Trade acting on the advice of an advisory committee composed of members of the federation, is handling the situation as {well as possible and in the best interests of the community.” WHAT ARE THE REMEDIES?

Can you. suggest any means for a better supply of housing timber ? “The recent regulations drawn up by the Board of Trade concerning necessary buildings are the most effective methods that can be taken in the mean time to plage supplies where' they are, most needed. There are now about twenty additional mills in course of con struction on the West Coast, and, provided labour conditions improve, these will oo far to remove the existing shortage and catch up with the demand. Things to-day certainly show signs of improvement, though our mills find it hard to obtain the services' of sufficient semi-skilled men. It is undeniable that the mills are making a better profit now than they did before the war, but it is not more than is necessary to establish the various concerns on a basis comparable with that of other industries. The advances in the wholesale price 0 f timber are not m the same proportion, as the advances m the cost of material and machinery needed in the production of the timber. In the end the ultimate price to the user is controlled only to a very small degree bv the sawmillers. Freights and forwarding and distributing charges are responsible for an infinitely gieatei pio portion of the price paid by the consumer. “The opening of the tunnel will certainly have beneficial effects all round. One result will be the dispatch to Canterbury of a. large amount of timber that is now burned as waste at tie mills, on .account of the high shipping) rates, timber that will be very useful for farm and similar work.”