THE PRICE OF BUTTER.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 149, 24 June 1911, Page 9

THE PRICE OF BUTTER.

A'-PROTEST .'AND A REPLY. 'A local manifestation of ;the struggle for existence that is at present occupying the ;of the Auckland branch of the N.Z. Labour party as the increasea price .of butter. At a meeting yesterday evening it was decided that the executive, should confer with the executive of the Employees' Federation to discuss the question of holding a mass meeting to enter a strong protest against the raising of the price of butter, and' ±o urge the for Cus.tonis to repeal the .-tariff on Australian butter. to a "Star" reporter this morning, a member of the Labour party stated that it was the general opinion of the party that there was no adequate justification for the increase, ibut "thai; "the supply was controlled in one place, and the situation was taken, advantage of to exploit "the consumer. He added that in addition to paying an increased price, the consumer had to take on trust the weight of the pound #nd >half-,po.und_(pats of 'butter as being correct, and he had demonstrated by "Weighing themthat they "were not uncom;monly short-of Aheir r eputed, avoirdupois, i As •to the-effect of the proposed action! fby the Labour party, be was not hopeful; of any improvement, because the supply! ■■was controlled, lie said, by one 'body in' Australia as it was in New Zealand, and; should the tariff be removed it "would; simply mean the combination of the two : bodies. The effective remedy that hej proposed was the nationalisation of Ahe; dairying industry.

A representative of this paper this .morning waited also upon the secretary of the N.Z. Dairy Association to askiori ■information on the present position. The secretary, who was interviewed', said it was a matter of regret that high prices ruled for 'butter in that the circumstances which, "had caused -these -high prices ■were unfortunate for the consumer and; no advantage to the producer. These circumstances were, however, ibeyond human control. The absence of rain during the .past autucxe uras a very- -serious right through the colony J This -had caused the .dairy farmers of New Zealand a loss of at least £323,000. The fact of supplies being seriously curtailed had also increased the .pro rata cost of making Tratter considerably, so that prices did not even pay for, much less give a profit upon, the butter which.was now being.manufactured. The same statement applied to the butter made during May and late April. The factories were then running to deal with quantities which -were from half to a third or less than what should have ■been Teceived, and the expenses of manufacture were proportionately greater. Thus although the prices were high at the present time they did not give a to anyone, owing to the larger proportion of the cost of labour, etc., in producing the commodity. In answer to a question as to -vvTiether there -was any organisation in New Zealand for regulating the price of Gutter, the secretary that as far as Auckland and Wellington were concerned there certainly was not any such organisation, and: that unfettered, competition had been unusually keen between the several competing companies. Owing to the short supplies merchants were at present not looking ■for new husiness, but they were naturally anxious to maintain their present connections.

"Any talk of a corner in butter," said ■the secretary, "is altogether inconsistent with t/he present conditions. The fact is there is a. genuine shortage due to unlooked for curtailment in supplies after the shipping season closed." Referring rto the possibility of importing from Australia to prevent any further advance here, the secretary sadd that it was probably wrong to suppose that there were excessive stocks of butter in Australia. Heports indicated that the Australian stocks were barely enough for local needs, this, opinion being confirmed by the fact that prices had during the last ifew weeks, advanced rapidly and' -were now reported at 120/ per cwt free on board at Sydney, -which figure would make importation to New Zealand im-. possible for sale at the present rates. An early spring supply was looked for, and immediately the new season commenced prices -would fall again.