WHEAT SALES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVII, Issue 9052, 24 July 1917, Page 3

WHEAT SALES.

AGENTS' HUGE COMMISSIONS.

Something.. over £20,000,000 has been receiveel fr ; «m-. the. t . British . Gqy,- ; eminent by che^'oUeriil' 'Government for wheat sold. The shipments have boon put through tour agency firms, \vmeh have offices in London, and the agents receive commission on the transactions. A thrill of horror passed through all good Australians the other day. (says an 1 Australian correspondent) when there went around the distressing report that the commissions thus far collected by the a gents amounted to £54,000. Senator Russell (the Federal representative on the Wheat Board) was asked to make a statement and allay public alarm. Senator llussell thereupon made the astounding announcement that, . instead of £54,000, the agents had had £75,000 distributed among them. This was bad enough, in the eyes of those who .suffer pain at the very thoiight that any person in private practice should draw money from the State; but when the senator proceeded to justify the expenditure, the discontented ones,.led by the " Age," made quite a demonstration. Yet Senator Russell quoted chapter and verse to show that the. £75,000 had been fully earned. The critics seemed to think that the Commonwealth officials, here and in -London, might have attended to the whole matter of shipping and distribution,' and thus saved £75,000. Senator Russell was able to prove that therein they showed their ignorance of the subject. The contract with the British Government was practically c.i.f.— which meant that the seller was responsible not only for shipment, but for quality, condition, and weight. The wheat, from the time it left tho stack, had to be expertly handled, allotted among available ships so that there would be no waste of space, economically handled again in tho various British ports, and then split into parcels, often as many as 50, for distribution in. Britain. These duties required the assistance of expert wheat shippers. If they tried to do the work with Government officials, inexperienced hands would cause losses, and dislocations that might quite conceivably cost far more than the agents' commissions.

Senator Russell added that the £75,000 was not by any means clear profit. The agents had to pay the cost of offices, staff, travelling expenses, cablegrams, etc., and perform a multitude of duties. Although the sum appeared large; tho quantity of wheat handled was so large that the effect on the price per bushel was inappreciable. The million bushels sold to New Zealand, he said, were absolutely free of commissions.