Manawatu Herald SATURDAY, MAY 13, 1905. THE HEMP INDUSTRY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 3521, 13 May 1905, Page 2

Manawatu Herald SATURDAY, MAY 13, 1905. THE HEMP INDUSTRY.

Few questions are of greater import- ] ance to the well-being «f any country i than the development of its natural re- | sources, and in this colony phormium i tcnax is the chief natural product of j the soil grown from the Bluff to Anck- j land on rich and poor land aWke. | Hitherto the Wellington province has I taken the lead in the exports of j dressed fibre, the hulk of which ha? been produced in the Mauawatn, a )d 1 the larger portion shipped from Foxton. I Recent statistics published by the Government show a decided falling•flf, where is every other port in New Zealand exhibits a substantial increas •, as will be seen from the under-noted j figures;—The colony for the year j ended March 31st last, produced j 155,920 bales of hemp, an increase of j 2*,292 bales on the previous season's j total, when the quantity graded for | export was 135,628 bales. The ship- . ments were as follows: I

There are several causes conUibnting to this result, not the least important being the excessive royalties demanded by the landowners from the millers in the Manawatu district who pay ios, las, and 15s pert ton, while in Auckland, Otago, and Southland royalties rarely exceed 73 6d and many pay only 33 6d to 5s per ton. Our millers are therefore handicapped with these j exhorbitant prices, which have reduced the export and consequently diminished j the spending power of the community. If the fibre market continues to fall, and no reduction will be made on the present royalties, it must be obvious that our export will still further decrease from Foxton, and, like Othello’s the millers’ occupation will be gone. This brings us to say that since 1897, when Mr John Holmes, the wellknown merchant, of Wellington, was chosen Fibre Commissioner, nothing has been done by the flaxmillers to capture any new markets for our hemp. In view of the present unsatisfactory condition of the market, with heavy unsold stocks in Loudon, and falling prices, it behoves the millers to speedily represent the matter to the Government, (which has already done so much for the industry), and urge upon it the many advantages that would be gained by a further effort to exploit new markets such as Mr Holmes so well and faithfully accomplished in 1897-8, when he acied as New Zealand Government Comrnis sioner, visiting Australia, South Africa, Great Britain, United States of America, Canada, and British Columbia. It will be remembered that his enthusiasm le j the Chambers of Commerce, Industrial Associations, and Agricultural Societies to assist in every practical way the flaxmillers and traders of Foxton," who initiated the movement, and who invited Mr Holmes to address the first public meeting at Foxton the subject. His powerful eloquence and practical knowledge of the trade carried cmviction to his audience, who unanimously passed several resolutions calling upon the Government to appoint a qualified commercial man to investigate the fibre trades of the w orld. The result of that investigation is already known. Our exports in 1897 had fallen to 1800 tons, valued at £ 20,000 , and since Mr Holmes’ report was received, and his recom mendations adopted, the fibre market has continued to improve until to-day the annual export has reached the large total of 25,000 tons valued at about £700,000. Excellent as this result has been there is a danger that our prosperity has led to indifference as to the future, and, as we have already pointed out, there are signs of a diminishing demand and a falling market. With the experience we have gained in the past we should not allow another day to elapse without 1 calling upon the Government to make further, investigation, and, if possible, to help us in maintaining our present fibre exports, the production of which gives employment to thousands of men in New Zealand.

1904 5 1903 4 Bales Bales Auckland ... ... 47,669 38,983 Wellington... ... 67.414 7 2 .348 Bluff ... 31,428 17,817 Dunedin 7J.50 3-447 Lyttelton ... ... 2,259 3. ,J 33 Totals... ... 155,920 135. 6 2S