SAWMILLING SECTION.

Progress, Volume XV, Issue 11, 1 July 1920, Page 840

SAWMILLING SECTION.

[This Section is published by arrangement with the Dominion Federated Sawmillers' Association (Incorp.) in the interests of the Sawmilling Industry of N.Z.I Editor: IRVINE.

The great demand for timber, has been the means of increasing the number of mills, and on the West Coast we understand something approaching twenty are in course of erection. A Uhristchurch company under the title of the "Great Western Timber Co., Ltd.," has just issued a prospectus with a capital of £125,000 to operate about 10,000 acres of milling rights near —South Westland— another large company has been formed to take over the Auckland Rimu Timber Co., Rotorua, and acquire the milling rights of increased areas of milling bush on Lake Rotoiti, to be called the Rotoiti Timber Co., Ltd., with a capital of £75,000. Notwithstanding the present shortage of timber, for building purposes, it would appear that the supply may catch up with the demand sooner than expected, in which case we may require to look for increased overseas trade. Millers are doing their utmost to supply local needs, but if these are met up to the limit of their capacity they cannot be expected to wholly discontinue trade with Australia, with the chance of cutting off a connection that may be of great value later on.

Building regulations have now been gazetted and it will be necessary to obtain a permit for the supply of cement, bricks, and timber for any building involving an expenditure of over £2O. Local bodies throughout the Dominion have been supplied wtih application forms so that no unnecessary delay may occur, and they are authorised to grant permits for essential buildings such as dwellings and farm houses. Other applications for permits must be forwarded through the local Inspector of Factories, to the Secretary Board of Trade.

Since the new Award for the Auckland Industrial District came into force on 10th May, application has been made to the Board of Trade for an increase in the price of timber to compensate for the increased cost of production. A further new award is being applied for by the Wellington Timber Workers' Union, and also by the King Country Timber Workers' Union. Meantime wages have been steadily increased owing to various causes, and the millers in many instances have already anticipated the new awards. In consequence the Board of Trade has agreed to an increase of prices ranging from 1/- on half inch lining to 2/6 on heart lines and 3/3 on Kauri—which will take effect from Ist July. So far as the West Coast is concerned f.o.b. Greymouth prices have been increased 1/6 per 100 ft., and owing to this and increased freight, the Christchurch merchants have increased their prices 3/- per 100 ft.

The Timber Workers' Federation lias just concluded lis Annual (Jonrerenee in Wellington, ana lue following are suine of the resolutions mac were passea, viz.:—••iliac the principle of an eight-Hour day from mill to mill be approved for busnmen." ■That the Government be urged to appoint inspectors to inspect bridges, tram lines, and SKids —to ensure safe working." "That boys under lb' years of age be prohibited from employment in bush sawmills." "That the Government be asked to provide adequate pensions for all widows and orphans." "That the Bankruptcy Act be amended to ensure payment of wages, as a first claim against all estates." "That all Inspectors of macnmery be instructed to see that breast bench saws are provided with a 'fin' to protect the sawyerand that locomotives have effective brakes."

The Exhibition of Timbers produced within the Empire has opened in London and according to the cables India takes pride of place. New Zealand is mentioned but as the Forestry Dept. and the Government did not countenance an official exhibit, we presume private enterprise has done something to show the resources of this Dominion and the beauty of its timbers. Irrespective of any export restriction it is surely a good thing to show the natural products of all the Dominions, when an Empire exhibition has been organised for that purpose.

"The Needs of Forestry in New Zealand" was the subject of an address delivered by Captain M. Ellis, Director of Forestry, before the conference of the Council of Agriculture. In the course of his remarks he made special reference to landholders and their responsibilities. "It ought to appeal to farmers with particular force," he said, "that the unwise devastation of forest lands, apart from the immediate and terrible waste it involves, has done a great deal to accentuate the problem of coping with the onset of noxious weeds. Obviously land areas which, once stripped or forest, are incapable, or hardly capable, of yielding even poor grazing, are in many cases those on which noxious weeds find a breeding-ground, and flourish and spread unchecked. On the other hand, as 'forest restoration extends, much will be done to limit the range and spread of noxious weeds. In the existing state of the timber market, great importance attaches to the point that orderly methods will avert a great waste of timber, and at the same time that the development work which is required to put forests into a state of permanent production will permit the harvesting of timber which at present is

to all intents and purposes inaccessible. The waste of timber in existing conditions has long been recognised."

Captain Ellis declared that if the Forestry Department was to carry out its work efficiently and economically, if its national forest policy was to be in all respects successful, the State must be pledged that: i i i : .' t i

1. All the forest resources of the country will be managed by the forest service.

2. All the non-agricultural lands of the country carrying forest values, or that are more suitable for tree growth than for agriculture, will be grouped into national forests dedicated in perpetuity to the people of New Zealand.

3. A comprehensive inventory of the forest resources of the Dominion will be begun as soon as forest technicians are available.

4. A policy of enterprise will be adopted as to forest education.

5. There will be a businesslike management adopted, one in which a full and harmonious co-operation is secured beween the State Forest Service, public bodies and private corporations and individuals.

6. There will be an expansion of the principle of co-operative profit-sharing and assistance in treeplanting by individuals, private and public bodies. 7. There will be worked out a system of equitable forest taxation, such as is now in vogue in Great Britain, France, and in several States of the U.S.A., by which it will be possible for the individual to practice forestry, and thus ensure to himself a supply of timber, and a profit to the community. 8. A Forest Act will be enacted at an early date—an Act which will be broad enough and liberal enough to permit of deliberate action over a period of years.

9. A forest products laboratory will be established to investigate all wood problems and the economical utilsation of the timber resources of the country. _ Lastly, Captain Ellis emphasised that it was essential that the Forestry Department should be given a free hand in its own sphere.

We think the Forestry Department and Government are to be congratulated on the appointment of Captain Ellis to the important position he now holds as Director of Forestry, and that the sawmilling industry throughout the country will receive from him every sympathetic consideration. In addition to his scientific qualifications, we believe Captain Ellis is thoroughly alive to the commercial side of the problems he will be required to solve in the interests of the country as a whole.

One of the objects of the Australian Forest League is the advancement of educational and legislative measures, and the encouragement of individual effort tending to ensure the maintainance, extension and renewal of the forests of Australia.