THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1908. THE SAWMILLING INDUSTRY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 3057, 30 November 1908, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1908. THE SAWMILLING INDUSTRY.

It is very apparent from the statements made by a deputation of sawmillers, which waited upon the Premier on Friday last, that the sawmilling industry is in a parlous condition. The large importations of Oregon pine are considered to to have been the chief cause of the trouble, at the same time there are, no doubt, other circumstances that haye contributed to bring about a.

state of affairs that suggests .that the industry must go down if present conditions are allowed to continue. Such an eventuality would be, as the Minister for Labour contends, a National disaster. The Government, of course, cannot completely control the timber market, but they can do a. good deal to assist the sawmi tiers of the .country, and strenuous efforts in the direction mentioned should be made. The Premier extended a sympathetic hearing to the deputation, and it is gratifying to note that he is prepared to do what lie can to relieve the present situation until Parliament meets, but the object to the deputation, viz., to have an increased duty placed on Oregon pine caiuiot be ! dealt with by the Cabinet—it is a question for Parliament. One of the deputation, a Hawke's Bay sawmiller, put the. case fairly concisely when he remarked that the sawmilI lers had not created the present position. Oregon pine came into the Dominion for 10s 5d net, cash. Out of that 7s lid went back to America. That money belonged to the workers of the Dominion. New Zealand millers were landing timber at the Wellington railway station —a superior class of timber —at 10s 9d per hundred. The price of the timber merchant was lis, less 2h per cent., making a difference of 4d in the cost of the two timbers. Yet Oregon timber was sold for 2s 3d more than our own timber. If 13s was the price of New Zealand ordinary building timber, Oregon was sold at 15s and 15s (kl. ' u What benefit is this ?'" he asked, " to the poor man of the Dominion or anybody else, but the American importer, the J American workers, and the shipIping companies': 1 " Some eight ! million feet of Oregon had been lauded in the Dominion during the last four months, 'meaning that f £32,000 had left here in cash. Out Jof that the Government railways had lost £12,000, and the workers £20,000. The Government had received back a small proportion in duty. If the present position con- ■■; tinued all the millers would be i ruined. He asked that the duty i I on Oregon should be increased to J 4s per hundred feet, and the imi portation of battens, scantlings, j and ordinary boards be prohibited. As we have remarked thei'e are other reasons beside, the low duty i for the deplorably conditions of the sawmilling industry, but obviously the best way of assisting the industry on to its feet is by a substantial increase in the duty. A Royal Commission to inquire into the whole position, is, however, to be set up without delay, and the Premier is hopeful of granting temporary assistance by means of reduced railway freights.