WELLINGTON COMMENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 166, 15 July 1924, Page 8

WELLINGTON COMMENTS.

I , , POLITICS ASD BEER. J , I (By Telegraph.—Special to "Star.") WELLINGTON, July 14. For some time pa3t a. runiour has been current in Wellington that, brewing interests were actively concerned in engineering a dissolution. How this was to be accomplished was not indicated, but that the trade desired a dissolution and was working for the same was insisted. ]t would no doubt be a. tremendous monetary gain for the trade not to have a licensing vote taken for another three years, and one can understand the desire to bring this about. The rumour, while it did not altogether die down, was not taken seriously. The success of beer's efforts to bring about a dissolution was regarded as a possibility, 'but not a probability. Last week there was a fresh rumour. It was stated that h well-known member of the Reform party, who is believed to foe mirsing_a grievance, intended to vote against ttie Government on the want-of-confidence motion. This appeared to have an electrical effect on a certain class of ! speculator, for the shares of brewery concerns were in active demand and there ■were strong 'bids for Crown Brewery shares, Ward and Company's brewery shares, Manning and»- Co.'c brewery shares, and New Zealand Breweries shares, the latter now standing at a premium of 35 per cent to 40 per cent. Here we have another illustration of how closely politics and business are related. It is a great pity that it should be so. The Winter Show. Wellington's Winter Show closed on Saturday, in a howling northerly gale, , but the weather during the week was agreeable, the show was excellent and the whole thing has proved a success, that is to »ay, there will 'be a balance on the , right side of the ledger. There was the ; usual class of exhibits, but some of the ; exhibitors so arranged matters as to , make their exhibits a means of educating • the public. One such exhibit was that . of the New Zealand Bacon Company. This concern besides showing its own products exhibited flitches of bacon pro- - 3' cured from Denmark, England, and j Australia, and visitors to the exhibition j were able to compare the different proa ducts. It was noticeable that the t Danish and British sides of bacon were t rather longer than the New Zealand 4 bacon, though perhaps the curing may i not have -been any .better. It is obvious f that the British prefer the long sides, t and for New Zealand to gain a footing , c in the English market, it will be neces- , &ary to breed the class of hog which j will yield long sides of bacon. Wellington . has made a good start with the exhibij tion and ie determined , to profit by the . experience. Exhibitors have been asked » for suggestions. One farmer exhibitor f thought it would be an education to , farmer and citizen alike, if the principle employed in the bacon exhibit was carried further and applied to milking , cows and fat gheep. He thought it might t be arranged to have a first class dairy j ■ cow milking alongside a poor class dairy , cow, with a special plant for cooling f and testing of the milk and the mnnti- j , facture of butter to show, with a true j I object lesson the folly of keeping poor. t etocky Similarly five fat ehecp might be t shown alongside a pen of scrubbers, and t carcases, similarly displayed. In his t opinion it was the process rather than . the finished article that would interest the visitor. Fluctuating Butter Market. ' During the first week of the month the butter market advanced 2/ per cwt ' practically everj- day, and various opinions were expressed to account for 1 the advance. The consumptive demand 1 was reported good and it was urged that ' the spread of the demand was due to 3 the excellent advertisement Australian J and New Zealand butters were receiving at the Wembley Exhibition. Last week 1 prices receded, not as fast as they 3 advanced; still they fell appreciably, and ' no reason for this fall has been fortn- ' coming. In the long run prices are controlled by supply and demand, but [ our producers would no doubt .be glad ' to have some information that would throw light on these weekly and sometimes daily fluctuations. There is no statistical information to guide the producers. Surely it would be of value to know the shipments afloat for the United Kingdom from Australia and the Argentine, cay, once a fortnight; or, better still, would it not tic possible to ' get an authoritative review of the mar- • ket cabled to New Zealand once a week? ! The dairy industry is worth approxi- ) mately £18,000,000 to the country, but : it is not likely to stop at that, and > therefore to encourage the dairy fari mere and to give them an idea of what - is going on in the terminal market, an > effort should be made to procure the ; suggested information. Probably the i Dairy Control Board is waiting for the , return of its tourists before taking t action, but it is to be hoped that it will i move in this matter and give a .better i service than the Meat Board has been . able to arrange. i ' "