SPECIAL CHEESE PURCHASE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 179, 28 July 1917, Page 9

SPECIAL CHEESE PURCHASE.

pBOBABUB PRICE.

MOTHER LOCAL BUTTER PROBLEM.

c, TdEgWpb.-Pa'-liamentary Reporter.)

WELLINGTON, Friday. Thacker asked the Premier to-day *f si.cc they had been told Seventeen ships going away before eIW nTof September, the owners ot & l locked up m cool stores had put pound on their butter SBU H impossible for re*£Z'sell at 1/71. per pound, and »»ke a hare margin ot profit, v Mas=ev replied that the maximum M O/S'per pound still stood, and • P T B ot he off. He added that t «*Bot aware that the price had fe Lin the way the member sugHe would refer the question to of Trade, as it was quite imgsi« M» to go into all these I want you to take lively interest in the matter Vt Massey: Oh. I always do. Mr Poole asked a similar question, that he had been specially reVted as the price of butter in AuckSShad hardened as a result of the abo- !■« «f the lew Mr. Massey: "As a Sr of fad the butter-fat levy has Seen abolished-(Hear. hear.)-bui ttia "Oingto be.' , (Hear, hear, from anlher° section of the House.) He proLea to so into the question to-morrow. Terrain commitments had been made between the Board of Trade and the s-. w Zealand Dairy Company, by n-hieh Wwnent would have to be continued jßtil August 31. He and his colleagues Troold endeavour to remedy the difficulty; but the House should know that *&eJevy still existed.

CHEESE PURCHASE. ~ Xi. Field (Otaki) mentioned that ■jjjiy producers were much concerned Vhetter they ought to turn more attention to cheese, as shipping arrangements Wild be more easily made than for Hotter. . .. Jlr. Jlassey replied Siat negotiations not likely to go on fee some time regarimi both cheese and butter. Cheese •CTS uSd as an sinr ration, and butter Tras not required. Cheese producers con'ierred yesterday yvith iimself and ilr. HacDoaald regarding the requisition of -the greater part of the -output by the Imperial Government. Mr. Field asked if the- amount re«mred was 55,000 tons. ' it. ilassey: That's the output, but the number of men who are got away will cause a difference.

Mr. Wilkinson: It"s decreasing largely la Taranaki now.

Mr. Massey explained thst at the wmference producers asked the same jrice as Canadian farmers received, aJlovrnig for freight difference, which wss not unreJisonable. The Government bid not arrived at any definite understanding, lmt he had communicated the •result to the Imperial Authorities, and was ascertaining the exact freight and ether charges on Canadian cheese- The freight on Canadian cheese was a farthOn the other hand. fre|ght from Nβ - ? Zealand was three farthings. Another point to be considered was that Canadian cheese was always 2/ a cwt. slead of Zealand on the open marlet. For reasons he could not understand the Imperial Government paid a halfpenny a pound commission on Canadian purchases. XeT Zealand pTO■dwsrs thought they might get this commission, but this was not likely. The Imperial Government would take up to 50,000 tons, but in making arrangements the Government wished to make cure that there would be sufficient for the local population.

AnsK-iirin;; ilr. "Walker, the Premier eedarf.d that the Government would tod} local consumers' interests, and the «swt on butter.

ANOTHER ATVKWARD PROBLEiI. "If the cheese producers' conference forwarded to the Imperial 'Government, are accepted," the Premier added, •" it Trill mean payment of IOJd. per pound for next season's cheese, an advance of three farthings upon laet This will he extremely satisfactory to producers: hut the Government "tD he this faced with an awkward domestic problem, as. with cheese at IOJd. nee on board, butter should fetch 2/ « 2/2 to bring an equal return to lactones which turn their supplies into oitter. The result of an increased proportion of cheese compared wtth butter, **nick is dbvioTisly going to occur this S sll, he the kr^r «fey «nto. Though the latter will not **«%■ meet New Zealand's local butter ■jepirementa, the Government will have ■ Bec nre high prices next season by ' fma alternative to the butterfat levy." [ STORAGE DIFFICDLTT OVERCOME iv"t^ 3 - Te - ply to the deputation from farmers' conference, the 'framer stated that the butter difficulty a regard to the storage of next season's •mtput had been Gov . had arranged for the sending 'way of about 60,000 boxee of this sea■was.gnpply to enable the new season's Jwrtput to be stored.