OPERATIONS OF TRUSTS.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17293, 3 November 1921, Page 9

OPERATIONS OF TRUSTS.

ALLEGATIONS OF FARMERS' UNION PRESIDENT. (fRESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) WANGANUI, November 2. "I dis-agrt-o entirely witii tnists, as they are not in New Zealand for the producer's benefit" said Mr AV. J. Polton, Dominion president of tho .New Zealand Fanners' Union at a meeting of the Wanganui iSub-Centro of the Farmers' Union held to-day. "I- am hot in favour of' Armours, but I disapprove of tiic extraordinary way that tiie Government has gone about things. Armour and Co. have a legitimate grievance and could mulct the Government in heavy damages. They'put all tlieir cards on the table and told them what tney proposed to do, and alter they had done it, the Government, not by legislation, but under the Customs Act, came down on them. 1 want to Armours m'eat got out of the way. The point seems to be this: While tney are worrying about Armour and Co. not shifting meat, they are not worrying about trusts actually owning freezing works in New Zealand. Witliout a word from the Government at all at present, we are trying to build up a co-operative system to send our meat Home Sind market it to the retailer instead of middlemen getting enormous profits. But what is the use of that when the bulk of our freezing works are owned by foreign trusts? The Government are making a tremendous noise about Armour and Co. getting a quantity of meat out of New Zealand, but they should pass legislation to prevent foreign trusts owning any freezing works in New Zealand without the full consent of tho Government. They are bothering about tlin shadow and leaving the substance alone. Armour and Co. should be allowed to go on and get rid of the meat they have already bought. Trusts at the present time have practically a monopoly of the world's beef market, and butchers at Homo have to go to them, because they are dependent upon ;thojn,for mutton too. The result is that the trusts pay New Zealand producers what t-liey and sell afc "their,own price, , too. New Zealand ewe and wether mutton ia fetching at Home fid to 5H- There is authentic information that in no case is it retailed at less than 1b 6d per lb. a fact which has been backed up by cables from the High Commissioner During the war there was a regulation that Home butchers should only get 3d per lb profit, and they did particularly well. Now they complain through their trade journals that they are only getting 2d per lb profit. Seeing the price that New Zealand producers eet,- the question is, who is making the other lid or Is 2d. There is no question about powerful organisations in London making hundreds of thousands out of New Zealund products, and like ft lot of sheep, New Zealand people let them do it. -We want a concrete scheme to get. over this, and put that enormous amount of money in the pockets of New Zealand farmers. We must see too that trusts do not control our freezing works, and this is where legislation is needed.