The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 1935. SHOCK FOR MEAT PRODUCERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 57, 8 March 1935, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun.

FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 1935. SHOCK FOR MEAT PRODUCERS.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrong that needs resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that ice can do.

Against the strong representations of the Dominions, and against the advice of many at Home who' seek the expansion of Empire trade, the British Government proposes to abandon the central features of the Ottawa meat policy and give unrestricted entry to foreign suppliers. This is the new policy which has emerged after months of discussion and negotiation. What is to become of Dominion producers and the meat industry of the overseas Empire generally if these proposals are ever adopted? Difficult as the position is to-day, it would be worse, perhaps chaotic, under uncontrolled, cut-throat competition. Only the British farmer would be in a position to contemplate this position with equanimity. Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Elliot and the easy acquiescence of the British Government, he would be comfortably sheltered behind an insulated wall, and nothing that occurred in the outside world would be of much importance to him.

But what is the position of New Zealand and the other Dominions'? At Ottawa they were assured that the British Government's policy, after safeguarding the development of Home production, would be directed to giving them an expanding share of the British market. Regulation of supplies was given a trial for two years, to the end of last June, and since then the British Government, in consultation with the Dominions, has been considering the question of a permanent arrangement. Failing agreement, the regulation of Britain's imports of meat may be continued until August, 1937. It is for the Dominions to say whether they will accept earlier variation. They are now invited to become parties to a set of proposals which could have nothing but an immediate damaging effect, and might undermine the prosperity of a well-established but now struggling industry. They cannot give their approval to a change like this. A preferential levy, with a halfpenny charged on Empire meat landed in Britain, and double that rate on foreign, would not safeguard the Dominions. A country with the vast producing capacity of the Argentine could surmount such an obstacle with the greatest of ease, and the Dominions would be virtually at the mercy of this powerful rival.

To see the British scheme in its real light it is only necessary to consider how it -would work. The fund to subsidise Home producers would grow as imports grew. That is, the larger the amount of meat shipped to Britain by the Argentine and the Dominions, the larger would be the sum available for distribution in subsidies. As supplies increased, therefore, the tendency would be for the Home farmer to receive a larger share of his income from the meat levy and a smaller share from the sale of his meat. It would be a matter of indifference to him whether he got much or little of his income from the meat market provided the total result assured him of a profit. In this state of affairs the best, the Dominions could do would be to reduce their costs, improve the quality and ship larger quantities in the hope of offsetting low prices by larger sales. But if they did this they would still further depress prices and put still more into the pockets of British competitors. They would be caught in a vicious circle from which the only escape would be some agreement among all overseas producers, Empire and foreign, to regulate their supplies and share the market, which would be a practical impossibility; or for Britain to do as the Dominions propose, and regulate supplies, giving the Empire an expanding share. There is no real alternative to the plan advocated by the Dominions. Britain offers a choice between a quota and a levy, but these are equally obnoxious.