PRICE OF BUTTER.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 231, 28 September 1915, Page 7

PRICE OF BUTTER.

CAT.SE OF THE INCREASE. The increase in the price of butter announced yesterday cau.~M some surprise to householders, and a

review of the market condition** will dp of internet. On May 5 the export of butter from \ew Zealand wa.J prohibited, the « hole-sale price loyally then l>cing 1/5 per Ib. There wa-« no immediate reduction in the price for home consumption, but on August 18, when tlic dairy factories had got into .swing with the new seasonV. operations, the wholesale price was reduced to 1/3 per pound. On September 11 the embargo on the export of butter »afi removed, and now the price of thp article to home consumers has boguu to mount

Naturally enough thp wage earner, who has for some month.*. pa=t been harassed by the increasing cost of living coming in i .injunction with patriotic appeals in hie pocket that, cannot b--overlooked. is somewhat suspicious of the rise in thp price of butter at tins stage. Most householders Mho are not in touch with business resent the »it nation that U>ey have to pay «"ar prrrrH for an article which is produced in the country, whore uiir oontliLion* do not rule. They feel that there is xometning wrong about it. and that in some man ncr they are being exploited.

This aspect of the situation was put before Mr. H. K. Pacey, manager of the New Zealand Dairy Association, by a "Star" representative this morning. Mr Pacry Ht.at.od that, be was quite sensible of that feeling amongst householders, and avmpathjsed with it. but the position vu the result of busine&s conditions. He admitted that thp export value of butUr determined the price to the locaJ consumer. The position, he explained, -was that there were a number of corporation* in the industry who supplied the locaJ markets as well as doing tome export, and kleo a number of agents of British firms who bought for export, and competition was keen Those who bought for the local markets had to give the same price for butter fat as those ajrenta who bought for export, or else they would lose their suppliers and have to go out of business. The high price for butter.fat *as caused by the competition of the Home buyers, and, of course, it in turn determined the price of butt*r for local con sumption. Thus, Mr. Pacer explained, no single interest or individual could be held responsible for the high price of butter.

There was a compensating factor, he pointed out. that people did not always consider. That was that the high price for butter-fat, which resulted in dear butter, meant prosperity to the producer*, and their prosperity su reflected in the business of the whole community tb the benefit eventually of the wageearaers. "What would business in New Zealand have been like to-day if it had not been for the prosperity of our export industries, of which the butter industry v one of the chief," he remarked. Respecting the difference between the wholesale and retail prices. Mr. Pacey explained that the wholesale price foi export wax for butter in bulk. That had to be put up in pound packages for the local markets, and the cost of the poundage and the incidental expenses was estimated at a penny a pound, 60 that the local wholesale price to re tail merchant* would be 1/5 pur lb.