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THE EXCISE REGU
LATIONS.
?-W ?
AND LOCAL MANUFACTURES.
DEPUTATION TO SENATOR BEST,
CHANCE8 OP GETTING REFUNDS.
'NOT THE SLIGHTEST HOPE,'
This morning a deputation from the
Perth Chamber of Commerce was In
troduood to Senator Best, the Federal
Government's representative In the
Senate, by Mr. Sydney Stubbs,
Mr. Rosenstamm explained to the
Senator that It had not been deemed
necessary to wait to be Introduced by
? I..... ..4 Dn«llnmAnf Q n A QIIAtHni*
» mOlIJUBJ UJ. .t~tU»»tHI»V-lll, IHIU »l.Wk»tv.
thing, they desired ,to have tho mat
ters .they wished to bring before him
discussed in a conversational wayi so
that he could be shown how, under
present condition?, the manufacturers
of the Btato wero suffering hardships
through the unequal labor conditions
prevailing in the Enstern States.
Mr. Purser (Messrs. R. Purser and
Co,) said he contemplated manufactu
ring- agricultural machinery in the
?State, and wished to know, In view
of the fact that the wages ruling hero
wpre much higher than In the Eastern
States,' would the Federal Government
allow th« manufacturers In this State,
to add the freight and charges to the
Eastern States' selling price of tho
implements concerned? So far ns he
could see, unless tho local manufactu
rer received 0°mo sucl1 Pr°tectlon' M
had no chance of competing with the
manufacturer in u« iiju«u-»u«ku»»:-'
Mr. Hodda (Messrs. Goode, Durrant,
and Co.) said the previous speaker had
referred to industries tho wages In
which wero governed by an Arbitra
tion Court's award. He wished to
know whether the excise regulations
referring to other Industries than har
vesters and the distilling of whisky
?and other splritK were .still In (fioree,
and If not, whether they would be
made retrospective, and were being
passed by Parliament? (2) Whether
each manufacturer was expected to
apply individually for exemption?
Mr. Rosenfitamm asked what chance
Hin niM-r-ViRnts hfifl of lOCOlving TO
funds for moneys paid on deposit or
under protest?
Mr. Best said It was an almost uni
versal practice for deputations to bo
Introduced by a member of the Fede
ral Parliament, and ho would 1)o very
toleased if In future they would follow
yhe old practice.'
Mr. RoBenstamm said the hurried
arrangement of the engagement and
tho absence of any members explain
ed this.
Mr. Besrt, after ascertaining thero
was no copy of the Act on tho pre
mises, expressed his regret that ho
could not give such a specific reply to
.their questions aa ho would have desir
ed. There Were three apecillc Actfl, ho
said.deallngwlththematter, Ouo dealt
with Industry, and referred to tho
agricultural Implements machinery,
and went on to fix the rates at which
these must be sold to the public. Thero
was a duty of £12 placed on har
vesters, but this was uot to bo levied
If the manufacturer was paying fair
and reasonable wages. That duty was)
to nave nen lewea an rrom January i,
1907. Various delnys had unfortu
nately occurred, and later in the year
tho parties In Victoria wero Invited by
Mr. Justice O'Connor to meet and
come to some settlement on tho scoro
of wages, These conferences occupied
four months, at the end of which no
progress had been mado. Mr, Justice
O'Connor had, however, dotormlned on
certain exemptions, and had stipulated
that these should continue so long -is,
the manufacturer gave fair and
reasonable working conditions to. tho
workers, ? This dealt with wages In
South Australia. Then a large num
ber of manufacturers mado application
to Mr, Justice Higgins for exemption,
and they would remember the M'Kay
case, which was one of those heard,
The ruling, which included ia scale oi
wages, In these cases unfortunately
differed from that of Mr. Justice
O'Connor. The Government, rocog
n'slng that tho Excise Act would in
flict hardships- in some caBes, declared,
If approved security were given, the
Act would not be enforced, He pre
sumed the 'members of tho deputation
had received a circular dated Novem
ber 12, wWch embodied tho vlows of
tho Government hi this connection,
Mr. Turser Baia ho had not yet re»
celved the circular,
Mr. Best said It was difficult to un
derstand why one had not been re
ceived. ' . '
Mr. Purser; We are not yet manu
facturing, but only contemplating? It,
Mr. Beat! That explains it, thon. He
s&'.d he had' roughly outlined the
scheme of the Government. They had
recognised the reasonableness of ' pro
viding that tire employees should re
ceive a fair wage, Even then tho Gov
ernment hesitated, as riianufocturers
had made their computations on ex-,
ISting wages, pin iiiuu mr. uuauva
Higgins mode what he depmed fair
and reasonable wages, and ? embraced
them In his award. If the wages ruling
here were In, excess of those governing
similar industries In Melbourne, It
would undoubtedly weigh' favorably
with the court In their appllcatlpn for
exemption from the regulations. The
new protection had for Its object the
raising of the condition of the workers,
and tWs was to be extended to other
classes of workers In addition to those
already provided for, The main prin
ciples in the bill would probably be
announced durjng the week jby the
Prime Minister, but he (Mr. Best) was
not yet at l'berty to announce them,
The distilling industry under the Act
had to pay a fair and reasonable wage,
and the 12 months mentioned expired
on October 12, The Minister then' sent
word to the manufacturers that they
1 would have to satisfy him they were
paying a fair and reasonable wage,
Mr. Purser: Does not the Federal
Act overrale tho Rtate Arbitration
Act? ? -,
Mr, Best said It aid a«W .
Mr. Purser: Could wo charge mork
for our Implements, as wngcB arj
higher here?
Mr, Best: No; that Is fixed by Act
of Parliament.
Mr. Purser: Wo reckon It wlll-coati V
us 15 per cent, more lievo to manufao* I. j
turo than In the eastern' States, Do -
you think It would be fair for UiQ
Federal Parliament to fix tho manu
facturing rate of wages? Under the
present conditions It means It would
not pay to manufacture here,
Mr. Best: To eompoto with tUe
manufacturers on the othor Bide?
Mr. Purser: No, to supply local ro«
quiremonta,
Mr, Best said ho would be surprised
If the wages liore wore mucli lilglior
than those incorporated in tho recent
award of Mr, Justice Wiggins,
'Mr, Rosenstamin said thoro was an ;
Increase jot about ID per' cent, in tho
wages In all trades In this State,
Mr, Purser said at 'prosont thoy had
to buy much of their raw material in
Melbourne, and with tho propound
bonus on Iron, tho price would doubt
less be further Increased,
Mr, Best; Havo you any faotoWea
here?
Mr. PurBer: No, but wo nro going to
have them If thoro la any money In IU
Mr, Best said Ills attention 'had boon
drawn to the desirability of manufac
turing locally harvesters nnd wood
drills, and ' a requost had been mado
whether freights and charges could ba
added. . Ho said lie did not think thero
was any constitutional power to do
this. ,
Mr. Purson The Fedoral regulations
should bo elautlo enough to allow .tlifl
(manufacturers of tho various 'parta at
Australia to eompoto on ovon torms,
Mr, Boat! But tho Federal Jog|sla«
tlon must bo uniform. Tho Govern,
ment cannot discriminate) between tho
States. Ho remarked that tile Stuto
was favorably endowed——
A Voice! And tho Federal Govern*
mont Is doing Us beat to crush It,
Mr. Best} Can you givo mo ono In*
stanco? /
Mr. Purser: In the Iron lndUBtry, the
bonus will only moan Increased ooslof
production to local nuinufa-Jturorfl,
Mr. Best: But you have no faotorloa
hero yet,
Another Voice: I havo mado 1,000
ploughs In this country,
Mr. Best mild if wcy would bring
under his notloo ono IiiHlnnco In whloh'
an industry was Hiiffurlng a Imrdfllilp,
he would be {{hid to ulvo it i]]|rt wil'tiOHt
consideration, and bring It undor tho
notlco of 'hl» coiioaguoH, It wan rather '
unworthy of them that they should
,blamo the Fedora! Govornmont bocaiiBo
one industry could not do an ?svoll hero
as elsowhero, Tholr grlovunoo would
undoubtedly bo minimised by tlio 12^
per cent .Increase In tho wagon mado
by Mr. Justlco Hlgglnfl In Victoria. Ho'
would; bo plensod to consult with Ills
colleagues on tho ?mal'tom limy had
brought under his notion, Ho .mention..
ed that an Excise 'Hoard was to bn
created, and a member of | hat board
with assessors would he appointed to
go round tlio various Mates to nmka
the necessary inquiries and hear com*
iplaints,
Mr. rtosonstamm: And about thii'
duties?
Mr. Best: The refunds? You hav*
not the slightest poaalblo liojjo.
Mr. RoseiiHUmim thankod Hemilor
Best /or po courlnously rocolvlnij UJeiUj
and tho deputation withdrew,
$