The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 1927. THE PLIGHT OE THE TIMBER INDUSTRY.

Hokitika Guardian, 9 March 1927, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 1927. THE PLIGHT OE THE TIMBER INDUSTRY.

I The meeting on Monday night with | regard to the timber industry did not I evidence a great deal of interest in the I present situation by the business peopie. Yet they are most directly inter- | osted. and unfortunately their conI eern is likely to he a growing qtian- | titv unless the unexpected happens, p The average business man in town or I country, who is complaining just now I about quiet times, perhaps, does not look to the cause which is creating a dullness in trade, or the reason why it | is less easy to collect hi< monthly accounts. It is manifest in a district such as this where under normal con-

ditions so much is being paid out porj iodieally in wages for those in and about the sawmilling trade. Ilia? any slackening in employment must have a baneful effect on general business, and that is exactly what is Impelling. The timber slump caused by the lack of orders has resulted in many mills actually stopping. Some are working shorter hours with lesser hands, while others have shortened hands—working half time in the hush and half time at the mill. The result is the same—a very material decline in the earning power of the community and consequently a loss in the amount of money for general circulation. Nor is it the mill hands only who are affected by a reduced income. The carrier has less work, and the tradesmen who provide the mill suppliers does less business. The income of several business people more or less identified with the carrying on of the industry is affected, and so the general result is a period of all round de- . pression. This is the more acute because there is no other industry or work to take its place. For that reason ' it is time the general public sat up and c tok notice of the situation, which is not mending, hut actually growing worse. And all the time oiir district contains a great crop of timlier" which " J in ordinary circumstances should he * realisable as an asset counting for the h

general benefit of trade. Willi all the wealth of forest about us. (here is tinder for till the Dominion, bill with trade as it is the commodity is a drug on the market, us witness the long line of timber stacks beside the water front, waiting for “orders" which are

so slow in coming, ami when we consider that till over N w Zealand, in overv suvtniHing centre, there is this

filleting of timber to wait, for a in aril of, we must realise how grave is tin

situation and its immediate outlook. The whole position calls for a i|iiiekening interest in tho all'airs of the timber trade, and a demand for a policy on the part of the country, which will lift the industry out of the slough of despond so that by New Zealanders using New Zealand timber, there will he a return of that general prosperity in trading which must reflect itse’f all ove r the Dominion. The huge stores of timber stacked bv Hie railway lines are a loss to Llio government, in freights, which cannot be earned, and the very movement of the vast i|iinntitie.s of timber alone would provide much additional employment. Rut while all this timber is without a market there

is a mania for importing and using foreign timbers to an extraordinary extent. These timbers are supplanting New Zealand timbers to an alarming degree, and it is high time a healthy public opinion was created on the subject. Such is the object of the Timber Industry Advancement League, a branch of which was formed here on Monday night. The League’s objective should have universal support in a community such as this. Funds are necessary to carry on publicity work, and business people in particular should assist by becoming financial members. As to the plight of the industry generally there are other aspects to touch on, and these will lie the subject, of consideration in future issues for the matter is one of tin* greatest importance to the district: at present. For the moment, therefore, the citizens generally should unite in a keen desire to see an influential branch of the League established here.