THE HEMP INDUSTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 70, 12 March 1908, Page 4

THE HEMP INDUSTRY.

JO u Ul fcf collapse. Act-orilitifj to tin- High Commissioner the t-po) (jiiotalion for good fail- grade liemp is ,C2~> per ton, n fall of 20s, as compared with last week, ami £l2 10s per ton lota than at the corresponding date of last year. March-Hay shipments of the same grade are cjuoted at £24 10s, as against £37 last year, and private cable messages from London forecast a further decline. At £24 10s hemp is a losing proposition, for. according to the most reliable authorities, the cost of production and transportation and other charges approximate to (.'2(l. This shows a loss of £1 10s per ton, and we have not taken into consideration interest on capital, and the fire risk, which are appreciable. The royalties, it may be mentioned, have been reduced in thp districts contiguous to Wellington by from 22s lid to about lis per ton. An effort on tile part of mill- ; crs to get a readjustment of wages by friendly conference with the workers has proved futile, and the millers have been told to "close down" if they cannot pay wages. When the wage question was before the Arbitration Court the undosireableness ol' fixing wages for a period of time was urged, and it was pointed out that thp, market was liable to fluctuations. Jiut the Court fixed the wages at a time when the industry was l>oomiug, and when the general feeling was one of optimism, The Court held that if the industry could not pay a reasonable wage, it should ceasj to'exist.—Dominion.