The Daily News. THURSDAY, JULY 8, 1920. TIMBER CONTROL.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 July 1920, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, JULY 8, 1920. TIMBER CONTROL.

The recent statement made by the Commissioner of State Forests (Sir Francis 'Bell), who is also Minister in charge of the regulations governing the export of certain classes of timber, was more remarkable for the cleverness with which the case of the Government was set forth, than for its clearness in explaining the full facts. Throughout is to be traced that legal subtlety which is attractive as an exhibition of dialectical skill, and lends itself to evading the chief point at issue. The Minister, at the outset, stated that export is controlled in such a manner that the limited permits "do not reduce by one board or plank the maximum supply available for the New Zealand market." To the average reader this would mean that the timber exported was not building timber, but such is not the case. Speaking "by the card" the statement was unassailable, though it fails to disclose that the maximum supply is the amount available after allowing for the maximum permitted to be exported, as fixed by Order-in-Council under the regulations of August, 1918. Later on in the same statement the Minister said that since April 1 "no building timber has been permitted to be exported —except from the •'West Coast of the South Island and the north of Auckland district." *The significance of the exceptions may be estimated from the information given in Official Year Book for 1919, wherein it is stated that the mills of the. Auckland district are responsible for almost half the total of the Dominion's output, while "Westland comes second- In other words, out of a total produo tion in 1915-16 of 308,568,273 superficial feet of timber, Auckland and the West Coast contributed 216,052,585 superficial feet. Reverting to the question of export, the Minister said that when the regulations for restricting export of building timber were gazetted, there was a fairly, large ex-

port trade with Australia by pertain mills, but immediate aetiou was taken to reduce these mills' exportation and to prevent exportation by new mills. According to the Year-Book, during 1918-19 the export of rimu amounted to 27,977,703 superficial feet, and kauri 9,280,213, the total quantity exported being 68,697,103 superficial feet, including white pine and birch. In the official abstract of statistics for June, 1920, the quantity of timber exported in the twelve months to May 31, 1920, is stated as 54,963,070 superficial feet, to which Auckland and the West Coast contributed 49,980,490 superficial feet. The Minister did not mention the amount of the fixed maximum quantity of rimu that could be exported, though he laid stress on the provision for a yearly reduction to enable the exporting mills to gradually readjust, their while he gave prominence to ' a statement that "at no time since the quantities of certain timbers for export were fixed, have the quantities so allotted amounted to the maximum stated in the Order-in-Council." In that pronouncement is to be found a key to his opening remarks relative to the limited permits not reducing by one board or plank the maximum supply available for the Dominion. A certain amount of license is always allowed to counsel for the defence, but those who are houseless for lack of timber supplies will probably prefer that Sir Francis Bell hail devoted some portion of his statement to making a frank, full and clear disclosure of the exact posV tion in regard to timber shortage, together with the means to be adopted to overcome that shortage. "At present," said the Min ister, "it is impossible to lift from these outlying mills (in north of Auckland and the West Coast) the whole of their output for the New Zealand market, and if expor; were absolutely prohibited, such a bar would not put another stick of building timber on the local market." The inference is that this timber can be shipped to Australia, but not to other parts of the Dominion. If this is the case, then the > Government cannot escape a cllarge of grave dereliction of duty in not making this timber available for use in an acute crisis like the present. The 1919 Year. Book states: "The Dominion 'a timber production is at present more than sufficient for home requirements. If that is so, why the present shortage? There is supposed to be no question of price, as the Government has fixed prices, but it is just possible that the millers are being tempted to give preference to orders at premium rates—a phase of human nature that can readily be understood. What is urgently required is prompt action to overcome the shortage, and the public naturally expect effective measures to be taken to that end.