CARE NEEDED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 76, 31 March 1941, Page 3

CARE NEEDED.

PRODUCTION POLICY.

J COMMENT BY MR. FRASER.

(P.A.) NEW PLYMOUTH. Sunday.

Coinmontiug on the reported r-tate-ment" regarding butter exports by the! Minuter of Marketing, tlie Hon. J. (i. . Barclay, the Prime Minister, the Rt. i Hon. P. rra.-er. said in an interview at | New Plymouth to-night that clearly . New Zealand had to exorcise the utmost care in reorganising its primary produe- ' tion in accnrdancc with external : marketing prospects, and the warnings to be gained a- a result of the restrictions placed on meat could tint be , ignored. It was tine thai ad\ ice bad been received from the United Kingdom (Government that the maximum elTori ! should Uv made to organise the production <>f cheese, the demand for which was likely to be much bettor than for butter. x j "I (should like to add." continued Mr. j I'rascr, "that the (Government has made j full representations to the United King- i dom authorities on the marketing position, and a reply has been received to-day in which the British (Government) states that it fully appreciate-, the eon- j sequences of the curtailment of our meat j exports, and that it is considering proposals which the Xew Zealand Government has placed before it for meeting what must be regarded as a common j problem. i Switch Over to Cheese. \ '"Until we know what the United Kingdom has decided upon, it would lie , futile on our part to lay down any speeifie policy for dairy produce, except I in one respect, and that is the desirability of switching over further from Gutter to cheese. "The Minister of Marketing had this fact in mind when he spoke in I'hristehurch yesterday."' said the Prime Minister, "and 1 would like to say while F am in Taranaki that this switch over should be carried out a? quickly as possible. It si.ould lie stressed also that, while Britain needs more cheese, this can best be done by a change over within the present limits of the dairy industry and not by replacement of she-ep by ; dairy stock. I "It would seem from prices realised ! for dairy stock that there max- be a ten- ! dency to expand our butter production to counteract the effects of the restrictions on sheep and cattle. His knowledge of the position of the dairy industry and the high prices Ijeing realised for stock was the reason which induced the Minister of Marketing to make his announcement, and he is anxious to re-emphasise the fact that prospects certainly do not warrant any appreciation in the price of dairy stock. "In the light of these considerations," concluded Mr. Fraser, "care and common sense are needed. Negotiations with the United Kingdom are proceeding and the possible effects of restrictive action on our economy are fully realised by the United Kingdom, and we may be assured of the maximum co-operation between the two (Governments to meet the existing circumstances.' 1