"THE MEETING OF THE TIMBER TRADE."

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 78, 10 July 1878, Page 2

"THE MEETING OF THE TIMBER TRADE."

TO THE EDITOB. ' Sib,— l was never more surprised io . my life than to lfearn, ipn my return.* from New Plymouth yesterday, of thee misrepresentation of my action at the 1 meeting of the timber trade at Feilding^ of the public meeting at Foxton, and of the manner in which I have* been' censured and charged with all 'sorts, of efii designs against Foxton, especially byMr Thynne, at the public meeting ; tbV whole apparently, arising out of the fact that Mr Cross,of Wanganui, was present at the Feilding meeting and there mad©- .. an erroneous statement with regard to 'the depth of water on the Manawata Bar. -,: Nowj Sir, so fer from any utteranceor action ofj mine, either At the meeting; or before^or •ince,^beifig antagonistic to> Fo^toh, the exact opp/)sh^4s^be|ca*e^ When in Wellington, I called^poh l&ps^ Minister for Pnblic Works, ana urged: on him the advantage to the district and' to the Eailway receipts, on lessening: the freight on white pine for shipment by way of Foxton, and the argument II used to him was that as the line fromHaicombe to Foxton 'was most of the way a series of level straight ruaw, the haulage capacity of the engines was ahnost: unlimited. I o^d not even naentionWanganui, nor did I think of asking: any concession in that direction, because I knew the difficulties and expense of haulage. My visit to the Minister Wat consequent on conversations witbM«s«r» 'Nannestad- and Jenssen and other mill-; owners, who all expressed the opihioa that a very slight reduction in*the expense of carriage on white pine would enable them to send it to 'southern markets in very large quantities. "Again, in my circular calljng tbi>' meeting, I referred to the reduction oir . the freight on white pine timber «- peciallyfrom the PortofJFb9tona,s th> principal subject for consideration. ' At the meeting I repeated ihe arguments I had used to the Minister fqr_ Public Works as the only argument he could accept as a reason for granting a reduction, and expressed my opinion that in asking a reduction both ways instead of to Foxton alone we were less likely to get it granted, but as the meeting was in favor of asking for tho reduction both ways I as a matter of course gave way. Again, in drawing but the memorial . to the Minister for Public Work's; I , wrote:— "The export by sea from the' ports of Wanganui and Foxton is capable of being increased to almost any extent." And again— speaking of the trade generally-f" Besides this present and probable demand by jray of " ; ganui, a large export, oapable of indefii nite extension, is going oh at the port of Foxton." ; m v - Lastly, and especially in reply to the charge reported to have been made by J . Mr Thynne,— "That Mr Halcombe should have thought proper tq have stirred : up ill-feeling on the subject^'* * I have hot seen one of the gentlemen who were present at the Feilding meet- : ing since that meeting took, place with the exception of Mr Macarthur, but j confidently assert that there is not one of them who will not readily testify that not a single remark or act of mine. at the meeting or in connection with it could be fairly construed into any endeavor, by implication or otherwise, to raise or pander to any feeling of local jealousies, or to depreciate the value of ■ " • the port of Foxton, or to put forward! Wanganui in antagonism to Foxton^ u while every act for - whiob^^mitdlelyj "■. I responsible was entirely in.favpr: r bf^ 'Foxton. This being the case, and I ■ " challenge its disproof, J consider ttiat'l" have been very unfairly treated, and tnat I am entitled to an apology at least \. < from Mr Thynne for the way in which, if the report, is correot, my acts and in-. - tentions were misrepresented to the Foxton meeting. -■-.—. . As to Mr Cross's presence, the ■pecial object of the meeting was to bring to- .; gether the sawmill owners whe produce the timber, and the merchants whb are* - the purchasers, and Mr Cross— as one -■

of the largest timber merchants in TVanganui-^had every right and reason to be there and express his opinion. It is quite true that Mr Cross's remarks with regard to the Foxton Harbor were not correct, but it was not my place, a* chairman of the meeting, to contradict every speaker who, in my opinion, might have made an erroneous statement; and the fact that other gentlemen (Mr Bartholomew for instance; and Mry Jenssen) were jpresent who are large -shippers from Foxton, and took no notice of his remarks, should prove that as it was not 'the businet? { df the meeting to enter into the respective merits of the two ports, no one thought it worth while to enter into _ the discussion with him, and it was impossible for any of us to foresee that so great prominence would be given in the published report of the meeting to his remarks about the relative merits, of Wanganui and Foxton. We were all; certainly interested to learn from Mr Cross that there was a possibility of this district finding that Wanganui, as well as Foxton*, might be able to take our timber for export as well as for local consumption ; but until Mr Cross suggested how it might be done, I do not think that any of the millowners present, any more than myself, had any idea of such an additional outlet at present. Thai the meeting did not; enter into the question of additional wharf accommodation at Foxton is very easily exEvery person present wasaware that the Foxton Harbor Board Was moving heaven and earth to get this done, and that the Government had recognised the necessity^for doing it. It was better, therefore, to confine themselves to matters about which no one else was moving.: It must be borne 'in mind that the interests of the timber trade are con-' cerned in getting a*i- many outlets as possible for, their timber. The only outlets at present are by sea from Fox* ton, and by railway to supply the local demand at Wanganui. Surely, Sir, if the people at Foxton will take an unprejudiced view of the question, the ' sawmill owners — as representing a large area of bush which I wish to see converted into saleable timber— are not to be blamed, or charged with all sorts of sinisterdetighs if * when still another outlet is, suggested, vis., by sea from Wanganui, is suggested, we exert ourselves to have it made available. The increase of facilities for export simply means increased production; It is not a question whether we should •hip from Wanganui instead of Foxton, the question is whether we shall export from both or only one port; and the position which Mr Cross put before the meetinfwas this :; That many vessels which load to Wanganui and go away empty would fill up with our. timber if there was' any direct communication with itwharf from the railway, which at present there, ii not. I have too b|gh an opinion of the timber-producing power of this great district to suppose lor a moment that if we send more timber than at present to Wanganui we shall send less to Foxton. I believe .that as wharf Mwmiaodation and' railway facilities increase both ways, the export w^l also, increase both ways^ and that'-whetiier't^ Wanganui or to Foxton, the prosperity of the whole district largely depends on oar working heartily together to in. " crease the export, and, therefore, the production, in every possible way. This is my object, and nothing could have been or can be farther from my thoughts than to attempt in any way to deprecate the Port of Foxton, the value of whioh,'if; .one of Our main outlets I most. fuUy; recognise; and I am glad that nowever much I may have been •bused in this discussion, it will at all events have directed attention to the importance of our timber trade, and whether my. suggestions are carried out through the meeting at Feilding or by the meeting at Foxton, is a matter of, Srfeot indifference, so that thing is no.— l am, Ao., A. Follet Halcombe.