DAIRY CONTROL.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19027, 15 June 1927, Page 10

DAIRY CONTROL.

MR PATERSON SEEKS

ENQUIRY V

MISKEPKdSENTATION ALLEGED.

(PRESS ASSOCTATIOK TBLSQBAU.)

WELLINGTON, June 14

Messrs Morrison Smith and Morrison, solicitors for Mr Stronach Paterson, late Government representative on the' London agency of the New Zealand Dairy Produce Control Board, today forwarded the following letter to Mr William Grounds, chairman of the New Zealand Dairy Produce Export Control Board:—

"Dear Sir,—We write to you as solicitors for, and under instructions from, Mr Stronach Paterson, until lately N.Z. Government representative on the London agency of your .board.

"iur raterson nas nad Drought unaer his notice various New Zealand newspapers, including the New Zieaiand uairy Produce Exporter' ot Maroh 2t>th last, containing wnat "purports to be your versions of the history of Mr Paterson s actions in his capacity as sucn Government representative, lou were, of course, aware at the time when you made your attack upon Mr faterson, that even if he desired to reply it was impossible for him to do so tor a periuu of at least several weeks. To reply m detail now, after such a lapse ot time, is obviously of very little use, particularly because such reply might well give rise to further controversy, and again, Mr Paterson's reply to you could not, by reason of his absence in England, be published until the lapse of many weeks after the publication of your own statement. Mr Paterson therefore does not consider it necessary or desirable that he should at this stage enter into a discussion of the merits or demerits of the price fixation of dairy produce in London. That issue, he point? out to us, is already settled, unfortunately at the expense of New Zealand in general, and New Zealand dairy-farmers in particular. # Nor does Mr Paterson regard it as his concern at the moment to answer what he regards as specious propaganda by yourself and some of your supporters, whose policy has brought the actual results achieved by price fixation to the detriment of the dairy industry of New Zealand, and the interests of the Dominion as a whole. But it is his concern—and it is for that purpose that this letter is written —to repudiate what he regards as your gross misrepresentation of his actions as New Zealand Government representative on the London agency of the _ Control Board, and in that connexion Mr Paterson would welcome an opportunity before a Royal Commission or other appropriate tribunal appointed to enquire into the reasons for the failure of the Board's policy of absolute control and price fixation of having his own actions fully investigated. "Mr Paterson also desires us to remind you that while you were in London you had several conversations with him under a clear and definite pledge of strict confidence on both sides. He desires us to point out that, for the purposes of your attack upon him, you have not hesitated to refer freely to those conversations. In his view your attack contains some complete mis» statements of fact; it distorts and misrepresents both his confidential conversations with you, and the general aims and effect of his works; and it insinuates responsibility on his part for maiiy happenings with which he was in no way concerned. "It would be useless to attempt to carry matters further at this stage, because, as we have already said, Mr Paterson is still in London, and unable, by reason of his absence, to continue the controversy with you now, but he expects to be back in New Zealand not later than October, and if you then desire any public investigation, such as that, for example, which would be afforded by a Royal Commission, into the affairs of the Control Board, and the true history of the actios* of its chairman and certain o? its members, and of himself, as Government representative on the London agency, and into the real causes of what he alleges are the disastrous results of the Board s policy, we assure you that Mr Paterson will be delighted to join with you in endeavouring to have such an invest j'satioij brought about. . "In. view of the fact that your attacks on Mr Paterson have been of a 'inst public character, we are instructed to hand copies of this letter to the newspaper Pr*ss, and we are accordingr ly adopting that course."

MR GROUNDS' COMMENT,

Interviewed to-night on the matter, the chairman of the Dairy Control Board (Mr W. Grounds) made the following comment: — "There has been no misrepresentation and no misstatement of fact, and if a Commission of .Enquiry could remove the harm that has been done I would gladly welcome it, but the damnever be repaired. I shall be prepared for the fullest investigation at any time."