The Mayor on Flax.

Manawatu Herald, 16 July 1898, Page 3

The Mayor on Flax.

The following letters explain themselves : — f To the Hon. the Minister for Agriculture. Sir, — The following are some of the reasons we adduce in favour of granting the petition as presented to you re quotation of flax in London for the information oi flax-millers in New Zealand, and the quotation coming from the Agent-General through the Government would be reliable. I might point out for your information that there has been no account for the last two months of any quotation of New Zealand hemp in the commercial columns ot the daily papers, how or by whom the information is withheld I am not prepared to say, but nearly every other article of colonial produce is quoted. During the time above quoted flax has risen from £g ios per ton f.o.b. Wellington, and since sold as high as £21 spot delivery Wellington, and has now receded to I believe about £14. Not a telegram has appeared in the daily papers conveying any information to the men that produce the article, who I claim ought to derive the* benefit ot any increase in the price, and not the people who have sufficient influence or power either in London or the colonies to cause the Press Association to withhold the said information. I further claim that the employment given by the flax-mills some 8 or 9 years ago to a very large extent solved the unemployed difficulty ; that being so is it not much better than the Government having to find work for the unemployed, and it would at the same time decrease the demand tor charitable aid. Also that there is not an industry in the colony that for the amount of capital invested in it employs as much labour, and all the money is circulated in the colony, thus increasing the revenue of the colony, as there are no absentee mill-owners, but being nearly all poor men have to help work their mills. I wish to draw your attention to the fact that this is not a question of merely local interest but it affects the whole of the colony of New Zealand, as upon the price of flax a large amount of the working men are depending for a living. And while on the flax question I Should respectfully draw your attention to a petition presented last session asking the government to conserve o^ooo acres of the flax land on the

Motoa Estate, the petitioners offering to lease same from the government at a rental of 5 per cent, on capital value of £2 an acre. Since, the estate are gradually grubbing up and burning the flax, tenders having been let only last Wednesday for destroying 200 acres of splendid flax, and it is only a question of a very short time before the splendid flax on the estate will have been destroyed, the colony thus losing a splendid means of employing labour as in place ofthe flax it will grow grass that will run so many sheep and cattle per acre, instead of finding employment for working men. I am, &c, J. R. Stansekl. Mayor of Foxton.

-Wellington, July. 12. His Worship the Mayor, Sir, — In reply to your letter of the 9th instant I beg to say that I have transmitted to the Hon. the Minister of Agriculture the petition together with your covering letter, requesting the desirability of having prompt information as to the price of flax from the AgentGeneral in London. I have also written to the Minister in support of your application, and will transmit his reply to you so soon as I have received it. Yours faithfully, John Stevens.