THE FLAX INDUSTRY.

Manawatu Herald, 23 August 1898, Page 2

THE FLAX INDUSTRY.

DEPUTATION TO THE PREMIER AND MINISTER FOR LANDS. (Continuation of report.) Mr Hennesay said he thorigfei there was something wrong in the latter statement. '" - , ■ Mr Foster: There is something i awfully wrong and that is why we are cutting it down f Mr Hennessy : I think I paid tfife greater amount of that over for ptt# party. Mr Foster said that the figures so far as he knew were accurate. The Premier : What is the total area and value of the estate ? Mr Foster said it contained 9007 acres, and the reserve price put on it was £6 5s per acre. At that price a purchaser was now looking at it, an,d an engineer had been sent to report on ifc. ' The Premier: How much of that area is in flax ? Mr Foster : You would have to buy at least 3000 acres to take in the remaining flax land as the flax was scattered a good bit. Mr Thynne asked what the unimproved value of the estate was as determined by the Government valuators. „; . Mr Foster said he could not give the unimproved value off hand. Mr Thynne said he understood that the unimproved value was £2 per acre and the improved value £5 per acre ; but the portion the deputation had in view was the lowest and least valuable portion of the estate. Mr Foster considered the deputation's value of the land they wanted was not up to date. The Premier said that from the representations of the deputation the land in question would appear to be the moat valuable. (Langhter.) Mr Thynne said the information given by Mr Foster as to the probability of the estate being pur chased at £6 5s per acre was of an alarming charaoter. They would have no power to deal with the pur chaser if the purchase was completed, and he urged upon the Go vernment the desirability of acquiring the estate before it fell into private hands. The Premier remarked that the estate had been open for purchase for months. Mr Stansell pointed out that the Realisation Board were rated on an unimproved value of £2 per acre. M" Gardner said he had waited on Mr Foster a short time ago and asked him what area cf flax would be reserved, and he had understood him to say that it was the polioy of the Realisation Board to clear the flax off the estate. Mr Foster : To clear it off as far as possible. Mr Gardner said they did not wish 8000 acres reserved until they found (bat the Board was cutting down to an area barely sufficient to keep the mills supplied. They had then entered a protest. The Premier said the question of the flax on the estate had not been taken into consideration by the in • tending purchaser, and if an offer was made for the whole of the estate the Realisation Board must have something more definite than the deputation had outlined before they had any grounds to refuse the offer. The Minister for Lands paid that the statements made by the deputa tion proved beyond doubt that a mistake had been made in the past and those comprising the deputation were not altogether responsible for it. If the flax was of such great value the land should never have been disposed of by the Grown, but should have been reserved, and not granted to any individual. Had that been done they would not have been met with the present difficulty. The present position was, that supposing the original purchaser of Motua had not got into trouble with the Bank of New Zealand, and the property fallen into the hands of the Realisation Board they would not have had any voice in the matter. If the pro perty had belonged to a private individual nothing could have been done. So far as he was concerned, the position was, that when he received the petition from Foxton flax-millers asking that the estate should be pur chased by the Government, he had communicated with the Land Purchase Board. And here they must : understand that he had no power to

influence the Board further than to btiDg before it any petition or request olacpfl before him by the people of he cblonv asking for lands for Settlenent. Th»» p'ertfon of the Foxton fl«xmillPM had been handed to the B »ard, which had reported that the Mototf foRptMemonr, and be was powerlpss t^ do anything farther with tbfe Board. A 8 the estate was liable to be flooded it .was -.joot- suitable. . to .^ttk^small Battlers nn in pmill areas, and nnder the Lands for Settlement Aot they had no power to purchase except for land settlement.^ Until fresh legislation was passed they would be powerless to do what the deputation waqfced. „ TheJ^ealisatjoh'- I»a*a hadfcg baeiS .«etyp£3)| ParPm^S>r the purpose of disposing of these estates, and it was never intended that it should continue to hold them for all time. From personal knowledge he did not know how 1750 acres of flax land could be cut out of the estate without damaging it. (Cries of No, No, it would improve the estate.) As to the statement that it would bejg necessary to take 8000 acres, that was a matter for experts to decide. B.j -fajp as-, h$ ? opuld. flee^iß> tiiqoght in the matter. They had the estate s for saje ; and if anyone came along and offji-ed them their prioe for it they would have no possible grounds chase of flax areas, and the desirabilitj,of introducing sqohiegw^tion WGtfJjl tie aqaesfionlor'bJS'Ojp^gueß to consider. It would be impossible for him so make a promise that it would be done until the matter had beon considered by cabinet. In his opinion it was not advisable to amend .the Lands foe Settlement, Ac 6in tnV diction; of the purchase of flax areas—^i would open the.,, door to . too many other alterations; It woald tfl betfter tb take the straight out fastte on the question of the acquisition of flax areas, and the disposal of the flax to those willing to manufacture it. So far as the Lands of Settlement Department was concerned it was impossible for it to purchase the estate, and sO far as the jße&lisatton v^bfrrd was concerned ifchad no> power to retain this or any other estate for all time. Therefore the only solution of the difficulty was to have special legislation dealing with it. The question whether it would pay the Government to acquire flax areas and deal with, them in the manner: indicated was one to be settled by expert?. He could cay nothing on the subject, but ho felt sure that the presence/of such liiMcgffideputa tion show 'H that they were in earnest and he wi" only sorry that they or their fathers had not been as earnest in conn^cion with reserving the flax on fche Mi?.o-t Estate. Mr 0. M. Like said that the deputation contained a sprinkling of Welin^on citizens who felt the imp->r aooe of the fin industry, and burl jaincd hands with those in Foxtoo in orttar to give them their moral support. It; was not a question merely affecting the Foxton district bul; affijetod many others. s The Government; would be justified in reserving a portion of she Motoa E-fcito for thj& encoqrag6inen£ pt ,the flix industry. ' The > targe j.Bumber present he considered was the mo9t eloquent speech that could have been delivered on a subject of 80 much importance. , Mr Stevens, M.H.R., said that in view of the importance of the subject the Government should send a surveyor to make a survey of the thousand acres on which the flax is most dense, so that they would have some definite information on the subject of whether that ana would keep the five mills going. He suggested that the surveyor should be sent as expeditiously as possible. The Premier said he would like someone to answer the question why the five flaxmillers and the whole community when they saw the great danger there was to them arid their industry did not attempt to lease the land from the Realisation Board and secure it for a time 9 It seemed to him that they had not been looking after themselves. Mr Gardner said they recognised that the parts of the estate already grubbed were the beat parts for grass purposes. The flaxmillers were not capitalists and had nb' security^ to offer — further than taking the risk of the flax trade. If they went to the Board and offered a fixed rental the Board would aek : What is your security? The Premier : In other words you ask that the Government should keep the flax there for the flaxmillers to take it if they wanted it.* Mr Gardner : That is the same position .under which the Government acquire lands for settlement. Mr Stanßell said there were five people willing to take up the flax land at a rental equivalent to five per cent on the capital value. Mr W. Fraser, M.H.R., and a member of the Realisation Board, said it ought to the clearly understood by the deputation that .the Board was in the position of a private individual as to the title it held the Motoa Estate under. Somo people thought it was Crown Lands . and that the Government could do * what they liked with respect to it, but before the Government could

reserve the flax area on the estate they must first purchase it. One member of the deputation feared fchafc if the land got iafco fch^ hand* of a private purchaser what thy. dt>puta« tion wanted could not be done bat the Government could deal ju*t as well with a private purchaser as with the Board. The Board did. not wish to injure the people in Foxton bnt as they were in the poaitien of trustees they were bound to do what Parliament tiad appointed them to do- — that is the best for the Estate. They had done their beat, they could not do less, aid that mnch they must do. The question did not lie between the deputation and the Realisation Board but between them and the Govern • ment. Mr Foster said if the Fox ton flax millers were desirous of retaining the right to cut flax they should offer a fair rental, but in valuing the land at £2 per acre struck him as if the deputation wanted all the butter on their side of the bread. Between £40,000 and £50,000 had been spent in draining and fencing the land-, and this expenditure had increased the value of the Estate. It was possible that the Board would favourably consider a proposition to lease the flax lands on the deputations own calculations of a fair rental for a period of five or six years -such an arrangement would probably help to sell the place. Of course something satisfactory in the shape of a guarantee would have to accompany the proposition. Mr Gardner pointed out that the value of land was not determined by the money spent on it, but by its producing power. Mr Stansell referred to the request made for a guarantee by the Board, and said that it was on that account the deputation had approached the Government which would be prepared to take the risk without any guarantee. Mr Stevens said the question of guarantee could be easily overcome by inserting in the lease a provision that the rent should be paid half yearly in advance. Mr D Robertson considered the Minister of Lands suggestion was the right solution of the difficulty as it provided for a permanent reserve of the flax instead of a temporary reserve for five or six years. The Premier, in reply begged to assure the deputation that what they had placed before him would receive the earnest consideration of the Government. Theria were two or three sides to the question and they had placed before him this side that if the flax remained it meant permanant p|ftßPerty to the whole of Foxton aad^evey one in it. The flaxmillers, those employed by them and the business people of Foxton were interested in flax industry as well as Wellington residents liko Mepsrs Luke and Robertson. Yet when Mr Foster had said : Suppose we are prepared to entertain .your proposals what guarantee can you give ? : They answered- "that they j could give none. If the question! was of such interest to every property i owner in Foxton there should have ! been do difficulty in that respect, j. The Manawatu Company was j another party as it made a difference to it whether the mills were going or not. So far as the Government wa3 concerned he pointed out that! there were other places where flax ! was growing and where flaxmillers were established and they would certainly come to the Government under the same conditions and terms as those proposed by the deputation and the Government would not if it granted the request of the deputation be able to refuse like requests from other districts. He would not be a party to passing legislation dealing with the the question for any particular locality it must be for the advance of the colony as a whole. (A member of the deputation : We do not object to that.) Proceeding he said that the statement made by the deputation that they would rather deal with the Government than the Board, because the Government would not require a guarantee would tell against. the proposed legislation going through, as it would be argued by those not interested in the trade that if the flaxmillers refused to pay the royalty fixed by the Government, pressure would be brought to bear on the Government to reduce it. Then it had been said that this was not so much a profitable investment for the Government as for the general good of the community, but it was a mistake to take up that position. The mills could now afford to pay royalty and if the Government acquired these flax lands they would also be able to afford to pay royalty, and at least assure a return of five per cent on the amount invested by the colony. That had been the only discordant note during the deputation — namely to get the Government j to invest in these lands and then allow the flaxmillers to fix their own term c . Now, he would tell them that he was strong-hearted on that point. They must remember that the money belonged to the people and they should not a?k more than was reasonable, as otherwise they would simply stop the Government doing anything for them. He feared himself. io make the departure proposed as it was so entirely new -it was going into entirely a new channel and meant that the Government

i , wou'd directly invest the fund9of the colony in promo i» g a local industry. A«? to the wisdom of such a policy he ' would speak with no uncertain sound. Where it mpant the emp'oyrnent of labor, the investment of capital, and the sending out of the colony of a most important product, it was thu duty of the Governrmni, or wboiver was managing the colony, to see that reasonable opportunities w^ro given. If. had been de< m^d &? a r ght fhat tie Government should ncq ire thi* land, but there was no ugh d whatever unless on some br< adTjasis such as the Lands for Settlement Act. I Though it would be possible to make arrangement with a private pur. chaser as regards the Jeasing of these flax lands it might be found that he was more stony-hearted than the Board (A member of the deputation : is it possible ?) The Premier continuing said he did not know but he thought if any prospective private purchaser read the remarks made by the deputation he would feel inclined to purchase the estate the next morning. The deputation had indeed given the Board a great lift and he thought much more of the Motua Estate and the chances of its realisation than he did before. A meeting of the Board would be called to consider what the deputation had placed before him, and the Government was also in duty bound to take into consideration the representations they had made. It would take some little time before legislative sanction could be obtained to deal with the matter, but in the meantime it would be carefully considered by the Government and the Board. The Government would also consider the advisability of asking the Board to stay its hand until Parliament had had an opportunity of dealing with the subject. The result of the Government's and the Board's considerations would be conveyed for the deputation through the member for the district. Referring to Mr Holmes visit Home he said he felt that good would result from it. They were indebted, of course, to the trouble between America and Spain for some little advantage they now possessed. He considered the £500 subcribed by the Government to Mr Holmes' expenses had been money well spent and it would nullifying the good work he had done, if when he returned he was to find that there was no flax. After thanking the Premier and Minister for Lands, the deputation withdrew.