Manamatu Herald. SATURDAY, AUGUST 12, 1898. Mr J. G. Wilon on the Flax Industry.

Manawatu Herald, 12 August 1893, Page 2

Manamatu Herald. SATURDAY, AUGUST 12, 1898. Mr J. G. Wilon on the Flax Industry.

- — — • „ We are; just in receipt of a; <ap;y of Hansard containing Mr J. 'G. Wilson's speech asideliVered' 'on the 20th July on the Financial Statement. The remarks on the flax industry call for first attention, (though the whole speech is excellent), and we reproduce in extenso as follows : — " I wish to refer to the question of the flax industry. lam sorry to say that that is a subject in which many honourable members do not take any particular interest; but I may say that I think' the Government have been seriously, wrong in not considering it. It is a very important industry, and, although I do not desire to see it protected, or that the Government should put a sum on the estimates for it, wad although those engaged in it do not ask for any bonus on export, still it is an

* iV '.' ~ ~ ~ v ~ ~ 7~iK industry; whidh should receive 'more con-' sidei-ation 1 at the hands of the Govern'^ merit. tt : is a native- industry; and it' emplojs'ft'large number of J may nay thut tlie Ij'oxtoy Hkhaw), which may bTB considered the organ of the flax industry, says of it, — " As Parliament is sitting, we hold the question is of sufficient importance to bring -bef oi'»» tho»» •Houße-j-HMacl—thett-^Mwiatefs-might UTHlerstaniUhftt it is not simply a (jueH,tif<ii. ai'iyctin^ a few persons of perhaps" a" vrdrig colour, -but vs 1 'ttffectiiig 1,2(59' poor pevsoiis, and an industry which brings irr-fr Wveti lie fraiirTje'v^na^'flie'^colou'v "oT £214,542," • '•^P^i Mii'i'l'-lAay sa.y|tlja|(that industry was stavlqcf in greatly disiressed times, and it found occnp:Uion for a large number of ,people who would otherwise have been thrown on the Government— thfey , would 'v/oal<l liave lieen sn-elliiijf tlie ranks of the unemnloy.Qd., In the Foxton district alone a thousand people were employed in this industry at higher wages than the Go- | vernnient could have given; but latterly many of those, who have put their money into the enterprise have been losing considerable by it. Many years ago— l forget how. m^ny— the, late Sir Harry Atkinson promised to give a bonus of £10,0,00 for improved machinery ' for this J frTdiistry. When the present Ministry came into office the matter was,br.ought before them, not orly by those interested in the industry but by tho3e who supported the Government, and thef promised to consider the matter, d may .reiterdte ithktuit is a j matter of greatv importatee: that there should be a bonus, given for improved flax machinery. There«are only-a few mills working in the colony-^say fifty— and the machinery used by them is of the oldest description. It is. the, same of machinery that has been in use for the last thirty years. The men who work it now are more skilled than ihey were before, but.sts]|l the machinery is very old in style. There are only about, a .hundred •istrippers in these mills,' and it is impossible to expect persons to invent new machinery when so small a number of rnills, would use it, because it would not ■pay them. A hundred strippers only bring in a very few pounds each. Even at £5 a stripper that would only amount to. £500, and the royalty on that amount would be small; and the result is that no one finds it worth his whjle to inVentliew 'machiiieVyt Tliis is why we ask that a bonus 1 ; should be given for improved mac*hfnery,*or an improved proceps, such as was recommended by the Flax Committee of"185)0. I see there is a sum of £500 on tho estimates as ,a bonus .for the manufacture of salt, and there are; large sums as bonuses for other industries ; but when one turns to that part of the estimates where r one would expect to ' find someithing for thp^flfis .industry, one finds nothing. I say that, considering the enormous amount which this industry brings to the colony — some £214,000 a year — it should receive some consideration from the Government, and they are very wrong in not giving moro attention to it. I do not mean to say H that this bonus should.be given away-,. unless, they got proper machinery. Under . Jheir . own regulations, of which J, have a qopy, I see that they have power to determine whether the machinery or process is worth giving a bonus to— a point_whioh would be no doubt reported on by a committee of experts :, if nqt, then .there wpuld be no expenditure aT all. ' It would pay the colony immensely if the Government were to give a bonus of several thousand^* of w pounds^so avto~.in.dnc9.. same American/ they being of ad jinV&^tiVpf tnr -js£. or > better stttl,"sdmerNew '2?alantl inventive genius, to give his attention to this question. I must say that out of the surplus which we have got I think something .should be 'given to this industry. Another question which I should like, to bring under the notice of the Government is that of grading. A few days ago them was a mooting ,of the ;.flaxmillers. mv .the' Manawatu district, and they decided to ask the Minister to appoint an expert to grade flax at Uip port. They came down and ? laced their views bef ore; t he Ministejv and am sorry to say that I was not ablo to be present, being confined^ to.ta : . sickbed. Thfiy'/werft told that ','tliere "%yere"' great difficnltie's in the : way which 'the' Govern, menthadto consider and until all the fla.xjnillß agreed a? to Nyljat: should, be' flone they did not see their way to do anything. This was very discouraging. Why should they not appoint a grader, nnd allow those who wished to take advantage of his work to do so. The argument was used that a butter exp°rt had been asked for, and atyev ponsrd^paU^rJhs.^rqWirpment had tffl refuse^ti^l/tto^r|pt'.aiibl|itliere is the Blfghtss't "sfiriifanfy Tjetween these two matters. I admit there is a great difficulty in appointments experts for butter; for, batter is brought) t!» !W-6Uitigton an,d nhVced qn. the whajf^andjis there exkmmea by the expert, arid ' graded, it is qthW provable thafirwilf Afterwards be, placed in such a pqditipn4hat the^jb^at of the^sun 'Will. 'fall upon i^, aria the butter be cbtfseqtiehtly' apoileaV Then' :: .^'- > gtfe'a to England, and is foundto.be bad* althbugh; it has the Government brand on it, and the consequence is that the Government brand would be of no use. Therefore the grading of butter in, this 1^ colony -is. r very difficult. , But, with regard to,. flax it is quite a' different thing. ' If'an' exper'tt were^ : appbirite'fl', ever^- bale'Vould he bpe&ed and' : the flax would be "• graded. 'Id the 1 case at flax, there would be the certainty. !that it would arrive in England in the same condition in which it was shipped — axcept, of course, in the case of injury on the fW>J«P t b ¥i s f a «- V ( somettjing^f R that ! kinaV hW^e riied feaf no difficulty ir^, tha(<i-yespec,t. .ior tho ye^selii now are veiy mudteyfteicfthan 4hey-n*ed to be. I do not think there is much to fear in that respect as far as grading flax is concerned. To those wjio know anything about these two products it is obvious that flax is in a different position from butter as regards grading. I would like to say to the Gojvirruhept thai? tHe\ friiJlers)awßJ(iitiW|pregofs out of Wellington would bring in £600 a year ; and the millers are perfectly prepared to pay that.._AH that thpy want is that fen expert may be appointed, so that, the quality may be determined, and the Government brand put upon.it. ( Surely that ' is .a; 'i'rnall pi atter. The G6 vernrtien t • may 'say' that *thte ''-tailfeW are hot' ; agreed upon the subject. What does that mattery if it is the case that a return such as I have indicated is made by the majority o : the millers ? Ifc will cost the colony nothing, and the colony will reap the benefit of it. The present practice is this : The merchant in males' a contract with the /millers He J gays to: 'the miller, "I mil give you so much for fair average Welling, ton or good Wellington " : they have certain technical terms jp.jgie, trad?. The contr&ctas made .in tb,a^ wfty.. So lpng as the* prices are'gSoa there is no difficulty about the grading; but if the prices go down the merchSTttat onoe says the flax is not so good quality as was agreed upon; and therefore he cannot3tak£itK' The flax js thuß> throw .upon^he jnjller'B hands, ■»nd he has to tell it forwh«t'it'is worth in, Wellington, and perhaps lose a large sum of money upon it. The millers would like the Government to appoint an expert wh 0

would declare whertier, tb> flax was " fair average " or " good " Wellington. If the flax were thus branded,, the miller could go . fo.tlie 'merchant Here is the Government brand ; w*e liacve nothing to do with the matter at all; this is good quality and we insist on yoti taking it." This is why the millers aro so an dous for this appointment.

. Messrs Abraham & Williams hold their '.stock .s.aias at Awahuri on Tuesday, and at Palmer? ton on Thursday. " 3^ssTT*Gorto*n*&"??on irbi'd ' their sale' af Campbell town on Friday next. It is surprising to find Judge Richmond placing so much reliance on the affidavit of the Foxton Licensing Committee when we learn that the following statement was also marie in it, viz.: — " Prior to Uis -loaf ■nwetimj nn application- .for- any neio license was wade tQ.thepr^aUcomnj.i^e^ '' ; though,; as our readers. wilL reni§siberf.?liat at. the annual meeting -last' year^W«bnjrtuttee refused the of Thomas Keegan ! ! ! :■ : ' The roadJto-Sandpn is in many-places for good distances under water. . To show !^hat strong winds have been blowing, it isSiforth ifeentioning that though the heavy* tatn'* has been experienced at Sanson as ..elfev^eVe,T^,«t'-, ; on -Tfiift'rsdfty afternoon -gb^;ms^ dry that cl^a^ranit^te blowing about.- --■ The only hitherto' repdi'ted.casesiijfself.sacrifice on tne--jiart;of;l{&^eF^tn''*^^:;j'n^ I remarking on the reasonableness : of theii? bills of costs, until, inbw, , when ; from' a\ report in an English paper we find it/reVcorded that/a solicitor, was so grieved at a client of his being sentenced- to 14 days imprisonment for drunkenness and assaulting the police, that he offered to go to gaol for him! Of course he did not go, as the law does not recognise substituted service in such cases, which the solicitor must have known. The offer may have therefore been made from any motive and perhaps t answered its purpose. ¥ . ' . \ -. A special train onjfiating of IC> trucks loaded with young store* beasts from tfio Motoa estate left the station on Thursday afternoon for Danevirke. A very good ouggestion was thrown put the other day, owing to the little animation shown in the management of ' the public library, and that was a book club should be organised and regular parcels obtained from some library in Wellington. We are much interested in our town library but ithereis.no doubt the present Couucil does nothing to increase its usefalness or popularity. „.-.>. , . . ; We Have been informed on excellent authority that Mr Fitzherbert of Palmerston intends to contest this electorate at the coming election. Mr Filzherbert will be a supporter of the present Government. A member of the Foxton Licensing Committee appeared in the R.M.."-C6ur£ on Thursday as a plaintiff in an action for debt, and on being asked, by. the .(lefen-f dant's solicitor if ue^wujdjagj:^' to i rjk duction, forgot that he-was in -ft Magistrate's Court and used a very wrong and a., very strong expression to signify nig dissent* to the proposal. Fortunately for him the I!.M. appeared^ not J;o hear it.-, ..-- -. ■ •, • Maories fetVe'a" great advantage "over Europeans in Court cases. They insist on having evidence interpreted tg-Jthem;4ho.ngh *tki w call-generally understancV English/ alwihus they gain time to arrange an answer. On Thursday r a rNar^e-^ov^ghiy^tfavßi'hitnself faway. for 'haying -had' the^'evidenetf 'iaterpseted for some time, the European explained a point, to the interpreter, when .to, the as tonib'hme'iit' 'of the* audience it riot' of the Court, the 'Native ejacujaled; in English "I know what' ybu' say is all right but and began to give his version. H« stopped hastily l having appreciated his position ; Lady Tryon has refused the pension offered by the Admiralty. At the Southampton Regatta, the Royal 'Victoria Race was /won by the Britannia, ' with the American yacht Navahoe second ; Sitting in Banco on Wednesday morning, i the ffV.ii.iw. reports, His Honour the Chief • Justice had ' before him; an appeal by Win, Ody^ra^llcjnsee of- the Telegraph Hotel, I Otaki, from a conviction recorded against 1 him tor allowing drunkenness on his lio^ns J 'e'd i premises. Mr Skerrett appeared for the appellant, and urged that the decision of the Magistrate was wrong in law. Mr Bell, who opposed, raised the objection that t-ho evidence jgiven for the define.' liid not been set but, and it was iigreeiL.tq. e«nd tlie>cage hack r ta the..Magisni'a&'urileVati ai'fhngbm^nttbuia become i to, between the counsel .on , either s.ide. In the' meanwhile the case stands' over. Who is the richest man in the world ? The FihctnciaiHVbrlU name as Han Quay, a Chinese banker, worth the almost inoonjqejvable s,ura of dqls. . A great number of the largest banks 1 in the Chinese 1 empire are believed to be under his control'. I'■'1 '■' ' The latest applicants for the Dunmow . flitch: are an aged' couple living iniLqn'don, ■ whose united ages amount, to ;160 y*ars. They have been roamed fifty jseven years, and .have brought . up : eleven children. 1 Their claim to the' time^h'onqdiieu' ' gif t of bacon' is favourably entertained. Seven a couples have applied : this -yearj but . only . ; t wo or tjxree .will undergo, the Inrdeaj of the ancient 'trial, which takes place on August ' Mr W. Bro'dick; member .for /Guildford, : addressing apolitical meeting, stigmatised Mr Gladstones an old donkey, sand said it was time he, was turned .out. The audience. became .violently indignant, and turned on' Mr Brodrick, who fled from the meeting arid took refuge 'in' a farmhouse. Wallath, the highwayman,. was brought befbre the New Plymouth Resident Magistrate on Wednesday morning charged with .trying .to. escape from gaol, and sentenced to be kept in irons for 30 days. The Waikato Railway line botween Merger and Huntly is still, in many plaoes, under water. The railway authorities, on the representation of a deputation/ of Auckland 'merchants', ' arranged t6 take goods through to Waikato, by getting the . Bfeamet Freetrader to ply between Meccer ancf Huntly. : , The Post says it is the intention of the Manawatu Railway Company, we understand, to appoint a stationuaaster for '' 'Shannon very shortly! During the past week no less than 25 head of cattle have died oh one estate in Lower Rangitikci. This unaccountable and serious death rate has caused considerable anxiety to farmers in that part of the djstric^J).d, w J e w nnder ; s);and,.3,tep3 are beingraJren- tV ascertain, 1 rf possible, the cause of the mortality. — Advocate. Mr Buckland is reported by the Post to have aaid of the Licensing Bill. "Itis an Attentp.t to Close Public Houses Bill " and before his i6hriek, died away a mild-eyed ; messenger tendered the presumably thirsty [ mail a glass of water on a tray. But with I a magnificient wave of the hand he was | bidden avaunt. " I want uo water," oned „ the member, and,, the rpegsenger retired in ''confusion, while the House laughed bo long and so loud that the orator had to stop.

The Manawatu Eoad Board refased to assist the Palmerston Porough Council to obtain an amendment to the Eating Act, whereby ten per cent interest per annum can be charged on overdue rates, says tho Tinw. The Wardens were unanimous in their opinion that the present clause of the Act, which provides for the recovery of overdue rates through the agency of the -fi.M. was sufficient for all requirements of a Road Board where the ratepayers were, in the great majority of cases, farmers who could afford to pay their rates. So far, we understand, six local bodies of this and adjoining districts have replied favorably to the circular sent out by the Borough Council. In the following remarks in the paragraph we cordially agree, viz, ; As the Act already empowers the local bodies to sue at once for overdue rates, it Beems to us that the proposed amendment is entirely unnecessary and might have an effect the r^verse;ol beneficial, as in some instances ■ fargelMtepayers might prefer to pay the interest rather than pay r up their rates. The local bodies should insist on all rates being paid by the specified dates. i Hobbe, a Bhipbroker, of Edinburgh, was sentenced to seven years, and Severn, a shipmaster, to five, for scuttling four ships and , burning another. They admitted having fabricated three bills of lading in order, to secure extra insurance. ' At a 'meeting of the Manufacturers and Industrie^ Committee, Mr J. G. Wilson was appointed chairman. The committee is tdineet next week to consider the queStiph'of grading flax. ; . ' The N,Z. Time* is sad at the conduct of some members of the party who voted for Sir Robert Stout's Bill. It commences a leader with—" The behaviour of fourteen of the Government Party on Wednesday night requires something more than a, passing notice." This conduct appears not to be exceptionable, however, as the leader concludes in these ominous words— " Continued refusal of trust Is* intolerable to any Government, and destructive of all hope and useful work." Poor old Government. double-seated l)uggy and harness isadvertised for sale cheap. Extraordinary success has marked our Great Salvages JSale at the Te Aro t ouse Branch, Main-street. . .But all good things come to an end and so will this Salvage Sale. We shall positively close it on Saturday next. A few days only remain in which our wonderful Salvage bargains can be secured, 'an look lieeh/, (tmt xtcure Ihttn without dthuj. Tiiose who are wise will profit by this announcement and hurry up to the sale during its last days and thereby save mouey . Those who are dilatory will miss this last chance of buying cheaply, and will lament ever afterwards. But this need not bo. , "There is time yet to secure the biggest bargains of the gale, only a few days howrever. 'We cannot prolong the sale beyond 'Saturday next tvt theTe Aro House Branch, Main-street, Foxton. : As"sliowing- the wonderful developmen t and steady progress of Colonial Manufactures during the past year or t vo, it is -worthy-of nottf that Messrs Boss & Saxdfort>. of th<? Bon March 6, Pahnerston North, are nosy relai ing to the public Men's All-wool Colouial Tweed Suits at the, wonderful low price of One Pound, quite as good as what could be bought a short time back for double this money This firm are now holding a gigantic Clearing Sale of the whole of their extensive and valuable stock and it will be to the interest o£ buyers of Clothing and 'ieneral Drapery to pay them an early visit; — Advt. '