BUTTER MARKET.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 109, 11 May 1933, Page 7

BUTTER MARKET.

NEW COMPETITOR.

"PRESENT DUTIES FUTILE" QUESTION" OF THE QUOTA. "The present duties, of course, are quite futile to stop any future importations, as is evidenced by the way in which the Danes are meeting the duty, although they liavs had, the same as New Zealand, to inflate their currency to give the farmers a better return," remark the London principals of Joseph Nathan and Co., Ltd., in commenting on the butter marketing position. In the same communication is given the information that yet another competitor has made its appearance on the English market. This time it is Hungary. The firm's principals state: "One very interesting item this week was the arrival in England of delegates from Hungary with a consignment of salted . and unsalted butter packed in casks which were an exact replica' of the Danish packages. The report on the butter is tlu.t it is as good as Danish. This is astounding. We understand that there is quite a considerable quantity of it available, as a result of the fact that Hungary has a surplus and is not allowed to dump its butter into other Continental countries. Good old England is the dumping ground once more. Of course, as a new entity in importing to England, if quotas were fixed, Hungary, it is almost certain, would be excluded; but, just at this stage, until some arrangement is arrived at in regard to these matters, the influx of further butter is, of course, not lielpful." Helping the English Parmer. On the question of quotas the letter states: "We do not want to enter into any discussion on this question of quotas, except to pay. that, generally, none of us like them and the proposed application of them to New Zealand and Australia. The general feeling is that the extent of the quotas will not be at all helpful in the long run. . . There is a strong trend on the part of the National Government to assist the English agriculturist, but one doubts very much where butter is concerned if, on the fundamental cost of milk for manufacturing purposes here, butter can ever be made to compete with imported butter. The only way in which the English agriculturists can be protected where butter more particularly is concerned would be by prohibitiva tariffs against foreign imports. We sometimes wonder whether that would not be a better plan, as leading towards consolidation of Empire interests, rather than, as appears to be the recent trend of the National Government's policy, to try to find a satisfactory middle course between Empire interests and international interests. Some opinions are held that, doing so, they may fall between two stools. Hope in World Conference. "We can quite understand ourselves the immense amount of thought that will be given in Australia and New Zealand towards agreeing tb a quota, especially in the present .conditions, and, generally speaking, we hope that some other course may be found to meet the position, so that Australia and New Zealand will not suffer unduly through any quotas or other form of restriction.

"Finally, one would offer tlie suggestion that a precursor to these questions and an important factor to-day is some attempt to bring about better conditions where finance and monetary questions are concerned. This may come via the pending World Conference, but, if no), one hopes that some Empire action will be taken speedily to consolidate financial and monetary interests of the British Empire."