SOARING PRICES.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 November 1917, Page 3

SOARING PRICES.

j COST OF TIMBER. | ~ Great concern is felt in local building cirdlcs ut tho present high price of timber, coupled with the belief that a further advance is likely at any moment (says the Wanganui Chronicle). I'i'om the start of the war there has been a succession of rises in the price of timber delivered from the Main Trunk line mills—the chief source of the local supplies—until at the present moment building timber has reached, an almost prohibitivee cost. Each rise is passed on to the long suffering public, from the sawmillers to the timber merchants, from the timber merchants to the builders, though naturally the two latter named are unable to help themselves in the matter. SUCCESSIVE ADVANCES. Tho trade circulars issued by the Sawmillers' Association, which controls the Main Trunk mills, give a very clear /indication of the "steady rise policy" that has been pursued. One of the most used lines is 0.8. rimu, and the prices at various periods are indicated in the following table. The prices, it might be added, are per 100 feet, paid by local builders here:— s. d. October, 1913 v........... 11 3 ■ November, 1015 11 (j June, 1910 13 3 August, 1917 ..15 3 November, 1917 10 0 The rise on other quoted timbers is as follows: TOTARA. Building heart, pre-war 245, now 35s Od. JIATAI. Heart, pre-war 16s Cd, now 225. Similarly white pine has advanced from lis 3d to 193, and kauri from 41s ,to 50s. A local builder said the cost was really Is per 100 feet, in addition to the above figures, as that amount was' charged when particular lengths were ordered. The rise during the war, ho added, amounted to m'ore than the timber on tho trucks ten years ago. The present position lie regarded as a most serious one for local builders. EXPORT TRADE. Another of the local builders pointed out the Oregon pine trade had ceased, owing to war conditions, with the result that tho Sawmillers Association had things in their own hands. At the present time they were sending away practically all the timber to the Australian market, and local builders had in consequence great difficulty in getting requirements filled. From what could be gathered it ap. pcared that the export to Australia question was causing the gravest misgivings, and the consensus of opinion was tlmt tho Government should step in and prohibit export as long as it is detrimental to the Dominion's interests. "I know of one instance where the work of providing additional and most necessary cold ' storage accommodation for farmers' produce is beicng held up," said an architect to the Chronicle representative. ''Talk of patriotism!" ■fie added contemptuously. '-'Some time ago the sawmilling people urged us to be patriotic and use rimu instead of Oregon pine. Now. we cannot get rimu. because there is a better price offering in Australia." PROHIBITIVE PRICES. . Local architects arc just as much concerned as the builders at the upward tendency of the timber market, and in these circles the opinion is also shared that the export trade should be stop, ped. One of their representatives said the position was most serious, and any further rises would accentuate the aiready serious plight of the building trade. At the present time it was impossible to build workers' homes at a cost that would pay interest. Continuing, he said he knew of local instances where, under present condTtions, the cost of a wooden four-room-ed house amounted to £S2S, and where tenders for a five-roomed wooden house ranged from £9OO to £IOOO. The greatly increased cost was due in the .main to the high cost of timber. Seven years ago an ordinary wooden house could be built in Wanganui for Os per square foot floor area; to-day the cost was anything up to 10s or 12s. "TELEPATHIC INFLUENCE/' Another builder appeared inclined to look suspiciously on the operations of tho Sawmillers' Association. "Of course I don't suggest there is such a thing as a trust or a combine among the sawmillers on the Main Trunk line, he said. "It is perhaps one of those, beautiful illustrations of coincidence, community of thought by some telepathic—not telephonic—process, and complete harmony of action. When a rise comes it operates simultaneously at all the mills. The position is, however, getting unbearable, and some drastic remedy will have to be found. "A State sawmill," suggested the interviewer. "I am afraid Stat? enterprise is better in theory than in fact," said the builder reflectively. It would perhaps result in a case of "bosses" and no workmen. Still, as the choice of two evils, I would prefer a State monopoly to private combination."