Manawatu Herald. [Established Aug. 27, 1978.] TUESDAY, SEPT., 20, 1904. Flax Monopoly.

Manawatu Herald, 20 September 1904, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. [Established Aug. 27, 1978.] TUESDAY, SEPT., 20, 1904. Flax Monopoly.

Mr R. T Bell who has just resigned the post of assistant hemp grader uttered a very sensible remark when replying to a presentation made to him by flaxrnillers and merchants in Wellington recently. He stated that it was necessary that the Government should pass legislation that would prohibit syndicates from holding large flax areas and extorting such high royalties from the millers, that the latter were unable to make the business pay as it should. This is the situation in a nutshell in our own town. The millers, or the majority of them, are dependent on one or two syndicates for their supplies of flax, and if the syndicates think fit to charge exorbitant royalties, the millers are invariably compelled to submit to their ruling. In this way the trade is very much hampered. Whether, indeed, the price of hemp be high or low makes little difference if the syndicates

have the power to vary the price of royalties as they choose. Nor is there any incentive under the existing system for the millers to develop the industry to any extent. The high royalties successfully prevent them from extending their field of operations or employing improved methods of dressing the flax; and even where the royalties are moderate, which is rarely the case now, the constant fear that they may be raised is an effectual bar to progression. The unsettled state of the hemp market is undoubtedly a check to enterprise, but we venture to say that the millers would be willing to undertake the risk if they were sure of obtaining their supplies of flax at a figure moderate enough to make the business profitable, and consistent with the state of the flax market. The Government with all its solicitude for the industries of the Colony has done practically nothing to conserve the flax trade. Mr Seddon, so loud voiced in his declamations against the accumulation of large estates, has silently permitted syndicates to acquire the freehold of large flax areas, and to deal with the millers after the arbitrary fashion of the trusts of America. The syndicates cannot be blamed for their action ; it is simply a matter of business with them ; but it is, to say the least, inconsistent, for a Government that professes to be so averse to the formation of trrtstS, to allow the system to floiirish unhindered in their midst. So long as the syndicates control the flax trade of the Colony, just so long will the industry remain in its present unsatisfactory condition.