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Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4438, 8 June 1893, Page 2

It boa often s'lruok us as surprising Ibat our flax trade does not • leoeivo more attention in the interests of sellers, assomowliere about one hundred and fifty tons a week reach Wellington, and yet the arrangements for its disposal are by no means so satis-fao'to'-y as they : should be. In ilie Wellington Provincial district there are about thirty-five mills' altogether, and these average approximately four tons a week,each. Now, the greater po'tton oflhia output is, we believe, solrl to merohanls who buy sometimes on a written agreement and sometimes under a verbal arrangement at specified prices, subject 'to certificate of quality from their expert in' Wel«. lington, The conditions ofoonlract, to begin with, are often all in favour of the buyer, while in addition the scl'er is to a considerable' extent at the meroy of the merchants' expert at (his end, as naturally ■ his sympathies are mainly with the man who employs him., In'a, rising market everything of at all like quality, iB of coui6e accepted and paid for at the stipulated price, but if the English' quota'ions weaken there is a great temptatioo to reject supplies on the ground that they do not come up .to fair ave< age siandard, and so the poor owner suffers, as he is not on the spot, nor is he, as a rule, represented as be'sbould be by an independent expert. Fkmillers should combino and form themselves into an Assoeialion, They could then see that tbeir interests were projected and that there was a qualified expert, who, on their behalf would ensure that flax was pioperly graded and not refused arbitrarily and unreasonably, to accommodate the fluctuations of the Euglish market, and the buyers pocket. There would not be muoh serious difference of opinion when both se'ler and buyer had an experienced man on eaoli side, and did any arise, reference to a third person would quickly deoide the point at issue, The result would be the prompt settlement of disputes, and the consequent avoidance of storage, insurance, and other expenses which are incurred by a refusal to accept the ilax at contract prices when it originally cornea to hand. Thon, too, there should lie some; uniformity in the terms of agreement between seller and buyer. With more systematic representation in Wellington and their ownagcnt.flaxmiliersconldbaveallthifl arranged and better forms of contract would be adopted forgeneialuse. Let us hope 1 that time and necessity will put matters right in'the respect we have alluded to, Of course, it must be admitted ; that at times a very inferior article is sent down by that section offlaxmiljers who are.without consciences, and that in these cases an'hnwdnted tigbmess in prices is a regular god-send, as they are enabled to work off flax of a character whiob would certainly, stand a poor chance of acceptance' were the inspection dependent upon the quality of the product, rather than upon the ourrent state of the market.