Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. FRIDAY MARCH 8, 1935. THE MEAT PROBLEM.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 125, 8 March 1935, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. FRIDAY MARCH 8, 1935. THE MEAT PROBLEM.

The White Paper on the subject of imports of meat into Britain states the Government's firm intention to safeguard the position of the livestock industry of Great Britain. Nobody will deny the right, nay the duty, of the Home authorities to protect the interests of their own producers, but there is room for difference of opinion as to the best means of bringing about the desired end. The expression of this difference as between Britain and the Dominions has been carried on for some time, the difficulty being that the requirements of the one party have led to the introduction of a policy that is in certain aspects detrimental to the interests of the other party. In the consideration and discussion of the problem it must not be forgotten that each party has the inalienable right to advance its own interests, the consideration between friends being the exr tent to which such policy can be modified in order to impose the least possible disadvantage on the other. Latest advices from London indicate that little or no progress has been made toward devising a long-term agreement on meat policy. Mr Elliot is continuing the beef subsidy to British producers in the meanwhile. The breathing space is to be used to bring the importers, and particu arly the Dominions, to terms. It is clear, however, that Mr Elliot is more and more realising the complexity of the whole business. Difficulties crowd upon him. In the first place the success of the regulation of other products has not been very convincing. In some cases the results have been meagre and quite disproportionate to the effort; in others the planners are face to face with failure. Moreover the farmers, who were to benefit, are by no means convinced of the wisdom or the efficacy of the methods used on their behalf. The consumer in he meanwhile is waking up to the arbitrary fashion in which his foodstuffs are being manipulated and to the fact that he must either pay more or eat less. Shipping interests are becoming concerned about their cargoes; shipbuilders about new contract , manufacturers about the threat to their markets in primary Pacing countries; and the City of London about its investments overseas. Mr Elliot may shortly have to reckar, wrth these various influential interests, while he has still to win the confidence and support of the farmers. It may be assumed, according to a London cablegram, that BritauVs preferen e for a levy, just expressed, is due to general antagonism to quota scheme . The British Governments opinion .» that a levy on imported meat, with preference for the Dominions, will afford the best long-term solution o| the problem. There cannot be excluded fhe possibility that additionally some regulation of the market may be de-n-able in the interests of producers a p ticular times, but the Government Ls not regard as a satisfactory perma nent' arrangement the system under which responsibility for the regulation of the market would rest with rt alone. Its view is that the British Government's intervention should be limited to the collection of the levy and the application of £ the Home industry, leavmg overseas producers themselves to regulate the exports. This does not promise a soluof the problem as.t affects the PmnSre It mere y transfers the onus Dominions. The proposed £*»««£ to Empire-grown meat over foreign is n °ot sufficient to assist much in developing trade with the Dominions.