TIMBER-CUTTING PRICES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22985, 14 September 1936, Page 11

TIMBER-CUTTING PRICES

10 TIXE EDITOR. Sir, —I am sure that you will readily admit that, in the midst of all this change and adjustment brought about by this present Government, there are bound to be some who arc missed out. I admit that the Government has tried to do its best so that everybody will benefit, but there are some who have been missed. It so happens that I am a member of a group of workers w'ho are very necessary in the general scheme of things. I am referring to the men who are cutting firewood for the town supply. We have no union or association to ensure that we are treated fairly, and only too often are we played off one against the other, and so victimised. Before the slump a cutter could get from 15s to 30s a cord for manuka on the side of the road or in the paddock, the payment vaVying according to locality. Needless to say we are not getting that now; the top price being about £l, which is absolutely not a payable price. It is high time that we obtained our rise. The re-sellers, of course, will not admit thin; they are all experts at chanting that it cannot be done, but .1 think it can. If 22 bags per cord be taken at an average price of 2s 9d—because some sell at 2s 6d and some at 3s—this gives a return of £3. That is a balance of £2 to recoup the re-sellers their Handling charges and show a good profit as against our £l, out of which one half goes in horse feed, royalties, etc. Further, one cannot work In wet weather, but the horses have to be fed all the same. Then take these re-sellers who advertise a large number of bags per pound. This is a joke, but a joke on the general public. The trick is to make the 'bags smaller and it works out about the same in the long run. I would make an appeal to other cutters to air their views. Why should not we have an association and set the price at a figure which would pay us? The remedy is in our own hands, for manuka is getting scarcer every day, and there is no danger of the market being flooded while the present demand exists. In the district where 1 operate there are several cullers, and we are all agreed on the matter, and it is on their behalf and on my own that this letter is being penned—l am, etc Red Manuka.