PRICE OF BUTTER

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 240, 7 October 1916, Page 10

PRICE OF BUTTER

MOT RAISED ILOCAIXT. BOARD OF TRADE'S SCHEME. CONSERVING FOR LOCAL DEMAND. The Government has- decided that the local price of butter must not be raised. In order to assure this, the Board of Trade has prepared a scheme, by which a supply of butter is to be" conserved for the local market. The details have, however not yet been made public. "The Board of Trade will have justi-. Red its existence,"' remarked a commercial man to a representative of the "Auckland Star""' when discussing the matter this morning. •'Wealwaye reckon the consumption" of butter at about half a pound per week per head of the population. If the price of butter is kept from advancing tue extra twopence per pound, that means a saving of £5000 per week to the people. From a farmere' point of view it means they are, of course, getting so much less for the butter sold locally, . biit on the other hand they are getting excellent prices for what is exported."' SUGGESTED POOLING OF SUPPLIES. (By Telegraph.—Special to "Star.") WELLINGTON, this day. t Cabinet, the Board of Trade, officers of the Dairy Division of the Agricultural ( Department, and representatives of the New Zealand dairying interests are all busily concerned in important negotiations going on here to settle a difficulty due to the producers' demand for a local selling price proportionate to that obtained for butter in theJEnglish market. The Board of Trade has been extremely useful in collecting information for Ministers, who have held several meetings of Cabinet.to. discuss, a .possible arrangement under which no increase of local prices will be caused. "The difficulty appears to be that the elimination of the New Zealand price would severely penalise dairy companies doing a larger New Zealand trade than their rivals. This may be overcome by some system of pooling supplies for New Zealand use at a fixed price, and thus equalising any sacrifice through, catering for local demand, instead of exporting the whole of our production.