THE FLAX INDUSTRY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9111, 10 June 1908, Page 4

THE FLAX INDUSTRY.

Within a few months most of the flaxmills in the Dominion will be reopening for the season's operations, and, consequently, the fluctuations in the value of hemp are being anxiously watched by those interested in the industry. If prices do not recover substantially on what they were last season the industry will receive a check from which it will take a long time to recoup. For some years prior to last season very high prices for the product were realised, with the result that new mills were established all over the country, and the future prospects of the industry were most promising. With hardly any warning values declined until the prices for hemp were below the cost of and millers preferred to close down rather than work at a loss. The continued cheapness of Manila hemp is put down as'the cause of the slump in prices. This may be true, but the real trouble is the high rate of working expenses in the mills that exist, and cannot be reduced. The high rate of wages ruling in mills, which was fixed by thu Arbitration Court when the industry was in the height of its prosperity, is found to be a stumbling block to competition. Royalties, too, were fixed at a high price, but in many cases these are now being reduced. Some idea of the effect of the fall in the price of hemp rr-ay be gathered from the fact that last year the export figures declined to the extent of over £152,000 on the previous year's export total. It is to be hoped that the coming season will see a hardening in the price of hemp, and thus prevent the collapse of one of our important industries, which the Dominion can ill afford to lose.