OUR RAPIDLY-DIMINISHING TIMBER RESOURCES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 3701, 10 December 1912, Page 5

OUR RAPIDLY-DIMINISHING TIMBER RESOURCES.

CONTINUED ADVANCE IN PRICE OF BUILDING MATERIALS.

AN INTERESTING INTERVIEW

fBY TELEGRAPH—SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT] AUCKLAND, Dec. 9. Mr S. I. Clarke, who lias returned from Wellington where, as chairman of a special committee appointed by the Builders’ Federation, he approached the Government with regard to the rapidly-diminishing timber resources of the Dominion, was interviewed with regard to the continued advance in the price of building material. Mr Clarke' said there was still a continuous upward tendency. Within the'last few days the price of firstclass kauri had gone up about 3s per 100 ft, and although the other timbers had not risen in equal proportion there was still the tendency to rise. He could see no prospect of any likely decrease in price. Various causes conspired to bring this state of affairs, but it had to be noticed particularly that it was getting increasingly difficult to get out tie timber and- that the available large bush was now practically limited to the King Country. Tile rapid rate at which the bush was being eaten into from Tailiape on the south and from Taumarunui on the north made it only reasonable to suppose that there would soon be a meeting in the middle. It was no use crying over spilt milk, Mr Clarke remarked, in referring to the former enormous destruction of timber and to the millions of feet that had gone up in smoke and ashes. Above everything it was essential to look to the future and the Builders’ Association was now urging the Government to remove the question of afforestation from the region of experiment and to bring it to an actuality. There was' not now so much waste as there had been and land settlement was not permitted on bush land until the commercial timber had been turned into money. In the last 15 years, Mr Clark pointed out, the price of the best timbers had doubled itself. Giving evidence before the Timber Commission less than four years ago one of the largest timber merchants in the south had expressed the opinion that the price of timber would not rise much more and should never go beyond 11s per 100 feet. That, Mr Clarke remarked, was now the price of our cheapest timber.