PRICE GUARANTEE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 226, 24 September 1938, Page 12

PRICE GUARANTEE.

POLICY UNDER FIRE.

MR. NASH AND INTERJECTORS.

COMMITTEE'S ATTITUDE. (By Telegraph.—rress Association.) PALMERSTON NORTH, Friday. During an explanation of the guaranteed price machinery when speaking at Kimbolton to-night, the Minister of finance, the Hon. W. Nash, said it had been stated that if the Government adopted the committee's recommendation for the new season the industry would be wrecked. "Why did you not pay the committee's price?" asked an interjeetor. 'T will tell you later," replied the Minister. "Was the statement that the committee's recommendation if •given effect to would wreck the industry right or wrong''" asked the interjeetor. The Minister was subjected to a good many interjections, wherein members of the audience persisted in asking why the committee's recommendations were not given effect to. The Minister: Because it was wrong. "Why then employ a committee':"' was the next question, which was lost in the noise. Reasons Given. At a later stage Mr. Nash said the Government had not adopted the committee's recommendations because it would, wreck the guaranteed price, and he was not going to do anything to bring that about. Another reason was that it was 110 use the dairy farmer, as a section of the community, imagining that he could build up his standards higher than other sections of the community performing the same service.

"Waterside workers have done that,'" interjected a member of the audience. Mr. Nash: I am quite prepared to argue that later.

The Minister added that if the price was fixed at a' higher scale than the circumstances, justified, it would have started an orgy of land speculation.

Asked if he intended to sell butter on the local market* at a loss of a penny halfpenny a pound, ilr. Nash said it was not proposed to do *0. The position was that, in anticipation of a higher guaranteed price, a lot of speculators had bought up a lot of butter, and already prices were tending to rise. Ihe Government was. investigating the position with the object of eliminating this speculation. In the meantime there would be no loss to the Dairy Industry Account or the farmer. If there was I any loss, then the Government would stand that loss. There, was some little difficulty over the speculation element, and the Government intended to deal with it.