THE SAWMILLING INDUSTRY

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3491, 20 May 1920, Page 5

THE SAWMILLING INDUSTRY

A COMPLIMENTARI BANQUET.

Last night members pf the Rangitikei General and Co-operativeVTimbe'i-,Co., Ltd, tendered ,a banquet to‘ Mr F J. A. Buslgptheir chairman, and to Mr G. Syme, Jullr., a member of the Executive, wlao are on the eve ‘of paying a visit to the Old Country. .. It was a large and Comprehensive, gathering, severely taxing the holding Zzapacity Of Mr P. E. Wakeman’s large diningroom. In addition to members of the

company ‘there’ were present men interested in the timber industry from so far afield as Melbourne, all denoting the uniformly high est‘e‘é’fil in

wfiich the two guests of honour are

held. On this occasion the chair was occupied by ex-chairman" Haybittle, whose resource of humour did not permit of a single dull moment_ The value of such gatherings to the inclustry was-in evidence from beginning to end of the function,- and it is probably due to such gatherings being periodically. held that a marked fraternity prevails amongst members of the Association, a goodfellowship and carmaraderie that is strikingly noticeable. . Unlike newspaper proprietors the sawmillers have lea.rned by past experience that “united they stand, divided they fall.” Some twenty or more apologies were received from Members of Parliament, and others, including the Director of} Forestry, but all were eulogistic of Mr Bush and Mr Syme. who they wished to honour. Among fhose present were Mr R. W. Smith,’ 3;1.P., Mr W. S. Glenn, M.P., local and visiting bankers, Major Wilson, R.A.D_S.O., Mr C. F. Millward, Mr M. Pearson, of Melbourne and others; a comprehensiveand representatiye meeting of men in the saw-milling industry, and of others closely linked up with it. The banquet—r.oom in Ern’s Hotel had been specially decorated for the occasion, patriotic colours, emblems, and portraits, largely predominating. If it is correct to say a table can groan under a load of luxury, i_t is certainly permissible to state that the banquet tables last night positively howled with the load of dainties they can-ied,_nothing"i'v‘as too good or too dainty "tor the purpose of feteing the two Who sawmillers sbught tohonour, and Host Wakeman seemed to have made an effort to see Whether the maximum in furnishing a banquet table was achievable. in Taihape. After an hours feasting

f“ A LENGTHY TOAST LIST was commenéed by “The King-” being proposed by the Chairrfian, which was musically honoured by the assembl. age. In proposing “The Guests,” the Chairman paid a lengthy tribute to the -virtlies zfifd capabilities of both Mr Bush and Mr Syme. They were both men in whom the utmost trust could be placed, and they were deservedly held in‘“the highest esteem by every man in the timber industry with whom they had come in contact. Mr Bush had admirably and success~ fully represented the timber industry before the Board of Trade, leading him (the speaker) to decide that it was time for him to resign the Chairmanship to let Mr Bush in_ Mr Bush had started at the lowest rung "in the Association in 1905 and finished in 1918 at the very top, and was still their Chairman. °

‘After wishing both guests a pleasant journey and an ‘enjoyable holiday in England, the Chairman.‘ ‘presented, on behalf of members of the Rangitikei Sawmillers’ Company, to Mr Bush a very high-class gold hunting Watch and chain as a token of. regard, and of appreciation of the valuable services renflered to the timber industry of New Zealand. Mr Geo, Syme was presented with 2. magnificent pair of binoculars as a memento of the hig-hesteem in which he was held by all members of the Association. Mr Bush and Mr Syme were also the recipients of presents as tokens of friendship and esteem by ‘Mr Geo._ Gamman, of Gamm‘an and Co. A song was then contrihtited by Mr P. E. Wakeman.

In response Mr Bush thanked members for the kind Way in which the toast was received. He left the Old Country 15 years ago; his first position in New Zealand was with the Sawmillers’ 00., at Mangaweka, and as Mr Haybittle had stated, he started in the lowest position in the .ofl‘lce and finished up as Chairman of the Company.____ In his early days the great Kmmf sawmilling was orders, now

‘rere plenty of orders but the price of timber was too low_ Some people complained about the increase in timber prices, but prjces on ordinary building timß'er hadupnly been increased 1/ per 100 feet since November 1918. Ifi fact Bu'ililTn‘g timber was the lowest priced commodity used in house ‘erection at the preiteent time. Mr Geo. Syme, Junr., also ‘cknowledged tlie-toasfand tha.ncked.t:S§ members" _for their heartily exp:-essed' ;apf:reciation ‘o»f»wh‘a.te\'rer services he had been‘ able ‘-"£9 rend:-‘tho the industry};

"The Army and Navyi’ was very happily and appropriately‘ proposed by Mr C. L. Dymock. Major Wilson, in acknowledging the toast narrated some very interesting experiences and episodes he, with other New Zealanders, had met with in France. Mr Bush then favoured the gathering with a humorous song about a conversazione and a. gent from Dublin named Maloney, narrowly escaping an encore. Mr.R. J. Loughlan displayed splendid form in proposing the mast, “Parliament,” making one of the. of the most enjoyable speeches of the evening‘, getting all over his subject, like Mark Twain, and saying nothing. Mr W. S. Glenn, Member for Rangitikei appreciated what the proposer had stated, but, he said, the support a Member received from his constituency went a long Way towards making him vghat a Member of Pa.rlia.ment should be. His efforts would be to do the best he.could for every one in his constituency. regardless of whe—ther they had supported him ‘at the election or not. He was glad to see that hi§ friends Messrs Syme and Bush had been duly appreciated by the Company, and after a pleasant holiday he hoped to see them back again fit and well.‘

Mr R. W’. Smith, Member for \Vaimarino said a lawyer had recently asked him why Parliament persisted in trying to mafie laws as diflicult to understand as possible. He replied that the Statutes ‘Revision consisted lchiefly of of lawyers, there being one farmer and sawmiller. The position of the present Government was not anenviable one. and unless utmost ;support was given from all sides or the House it would be impossible for it, or any Government, to satisfy the wants of the people. The Opposition’s one aim should ‘be to forget they were in Opposition, and they should assist the ‘Government in every possible way. Mr Smith, after briefly dealing with the political situation paid "a High tribute to their-,guests——Mr Bush and Syme, wishing them Bon Voyage. Mr A. James in asking that the toast of the “Sawmilling Industry” be heartiuly honoured, stated that during his life in Taihagpe district he had come into very close" contact with’ sawmillers. and had invariably found them a very honourable. hm-d—wol-king body of men. There had been a I‘ath€-1' surprising lack of sympathy for sawmillers by people generally. They had sought to belittle the inclustry, and had it“not been for t-he Rangitikei Sawmillers’ Association some might. long ago have thrown up the sponge He traversed briefly the Timber Export question, and logically arrived at the conclusion that with all circumstances considered the export of timber to where highest prices were available was perfectly justifiable. He hoped the guests would have an enjoyalble trip and arrive home again safe and well.

Mr Geo, Gamman replied in a strain most befitting the occasion, Mr Bush said at one time the industry was not foo flourishing. In 1905 it was 7/4 per 100 feet, and whatever improvement hafl I'-esulted was not due to him but to the loyalty of sawmillers to the Association. .

“The Visitors” was proposed by Mr VV. T. Irvine in his well-known happy and able style. Mr C. F. Millward, Mr Pearson, .\lr Lawson and Mr A. J. Dixon, responding. Mr Pearson, of Melbourne, remarked that he did not understand why a reciprocal trade should be objected to. In return timber ships Australia returned wheat, coal, salt and leather which New Zealanrl needed as much as Australia needed. timlber, therefore Australia had a right to expect New Zealand to keep up its end‘ of the reciprocal arrangement.

“The Press.” was proposed by Mr S. Stone, Mayor ‘of Miramar, and responded to by Mr Papworth; “The Ladies” by Mr E. Mogridge, Mr Geo_ Gibbs being the responder. Mr Glenn, M.P., proposed the Chairman, which was enthusiastically honoured. and Mr R. W. Smith, M.P. proposed the Host, Hostess aird Staff, to which Mr P. E. Wakeman very fittingly replied.