H,—24.

186

[w. GOSS.

now for kauri, I have had a good deal of experience in kauri, and I want to say this for those who are supplying kauri, that I do not consider there is very much in it if you take the difference we have to pay for it here and what the Auckland merchant has to pay. 1 consider that the grading that is required to supply our market must of necessity carry an increased price. We have only one purpose for which we can use kauri, and that is for joinery-work, and therefore it is essential that the kauri kept in stock by the merchants here should be nothing but the very best grade. No merchant will take inferior kauri from the mills—we will only take the best. Mr. Seager has pointed out that there are differences in what is called the best kauri, and we strive to get the white kauri if it can be got, and we are careful that we get nothing but clean kauri. The sawmillers are always trying to get the merchants to buy an inferior grade of kauri so that they can produce it at a lesser cost, but, seeing that we will not do it, they have to charge the increased cost in order to supply the article we must have. Then, a point has been made with regard to Oregon pine being dry. The Oregon pine we get into our yards is not dry. It may have dried partially from the time it has been cut in the bush, but there has never been any system of drying with the Oregon. If one would take the trouble to cut up some of this stuff when it comes in you would find it was very wet. It certainly cannot be called dry, taking the stuff right through. We shall probably be asked in Christchurch here if anything can be done to better the existing state of the trade. Well, gentlemen, speaking from a purely parochial point of view, I consider the only thing that is going to make Christchurch a busy centre is our canal. Ido not want to preach canal here, but if we had the canal, and we could get our timber right alongside our yards, we should be making a great saving in expense. I have often envied the merchants in other centres on account of the ease with which they can get their timber into their yards. Could we do away with the handling at the railway I consider there would be great saving in the cost of handling the timber. Consider for a moment that if we were able to get down to the seaport we should have a harbour, and the timber would be landed on the wharf and carted to our yards, and in that way it would save a tremendous amount of handling. Without that we cannot possibly expect to be able to sell timber at the same price as they do in the other large centres. I have here the ruling prices of timber running back as far as October, 1900, and I might say that, as far as the alteration in the pricing of red-pine by the millers is concerned, that has only come into vogue since October, 1908. Before that we only had one price from the miller for his product, and I understand we must take what is called the product of the log. Well, it is true that there is a large amount of timber thrown out at the mill which is not a merchantable commodity, and the rest of the timber we have to take, whatever it is like, and that has always been the difficulty with us. Ido not say that we cannot get a better class of rimu, because we can, and we get all we want, but in getting all we want of the better class of timber we have to take such a large quantity of the poorer class. As a merchant it matters little to me whether I sell Oregon pine or red-pine, providing the profit is as large on the one as on the other. The merchant is here to supply the demand, but the difficulty I see is that if Oregon is coming into the place we must deal in it and we must have it. Then, gentlemen, what are we going to do with the inferior quality of red-pine? If that question can be satisfactorily answered to me I will then say Ido not fear Oregon pine. As Mr. Taylor has pointed out, Oregon is suitable for long joists and beams, but for studs and for the smaller sizes I consider that red-pine is quite equal to Oregon, but as merchants it matters little whether we deal in Oregon or not, providing we know what to do with the other, and that seems to me to be the difficulty. There is one other point I should like to emphasize, and that is with regard to what Mr. Taylor has told us, that in 1906 it cost less to build a house. Ido not propose to deal with the cost of the house, but with the cost of the timber. I have price-lists here for 190 G. In September, 1906, the price of sawn timber up to 12 in. wide was 15s. for red-pine retail; to-day the scantling size costs 14s. 6d., but the timber fit for dressing is 16s. 6d. That is the increase between then and now. It is not Is. 6d. increase, because there is a rebate of 6d. on the 0.8. sawn timber, while it is only the timber selected for dressing purposes that is up Is. 6d., so that is not a 10-per-cent. rise, taken all round. 3. Mr. Barber.] Do you mean to say that you did not pick the timber in 1906—that it was all 155., heart and ordinary building-timber?— The position, so far as the Christchurch merchant is concerned, is that they have always picked the timber. They have always been asked for the two classes of timber. We take the product of the log from the sawmiller, and up to the latter part of last year they charged one price at the mill, and it was left to us to do the best we could with the lot, 4. With regard to the price of 155., I want to know whether that was the universal price that the merchant charged for all-round timber? —At that time. The date of the price-list I have in my hand is 2nd July, 1906. The price of sawn timber at that time was 155., and then we had an extra shilling, all unseasoned timber selected for dressing was Is. per hundred feet above that price. That is equivalent to what we are selling to-day at 16s. 6d., and it was then 16s. What we are selling to-day at 14s. 6d. was then 15s. Mr. Taylor said there has been a rise in price of 10 per cent., but I submit it is no rise at all, and my figures will bear me out. Those are the absolute figures which we were charging in those days, the discount being exactly the same. There is one thing probably that might be of interest to the Commission, and that is this, that the Christchurch merchants have been apparently under a cloud for some considerable time. There has been a feeling abroad that the- Christchurch merchants have been robbing the public. We have been already tried and condemned by one of the newspapers here. The Commission undoubtedly is not responsible for that, but we want to clear up the position, and we are prepared to prove anything that may need proving. We want to clear up all doubts, and to show that we are doing a legitimate business here, and also that we are indispensable to the public; and for that purpose I should very much like the members of the Commission to take a turn round the yards and see how we are doing our business, and if the Commission would take the trouble to go round and see the yards I should be very glad to show them my yard and show them the expenses we are put to. Some little time ago the Minister of Labour made some statements with regard to the price we charged for