WHEAT DUTIES.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19728, 19 September 1929, Page 13

WHEAT DUTIES.

I evidence of master BAKERS. riKUAMEN TAR Y COMMITTEE'S ENQUIRY. (XBB run Special «errte« ] WELLINGTON. September 18. farther *» i<l nee was heard to-day by Ifci 4ekc> ( owraittee ot the House oi ntttivwe. which is considering ll) f question ol ihf wheat duties. Mr q 4, Wilkinson (Independent, EggpUt) presided, mid there were also H BW tf (he .Minister for Agriculture den Ur hirttes), the Alinistei for *jrcJu«irH» and Commerce uhe tion jjr Cobbe,, Mr J. ItmJieuei (Keiorui. Usttafcij, »ir 1). Jones (iteioriu, Alid Canterbury), Mr F. Wuite (Keforni. riathsi. dr 11 It. Jenkins (United, Puneil), Mr ('. Car-- (Labour, Tir«nii .ill J. A. Macpherson (United (Junaru,;, and Mr J. McCombs <Labtar. Lvttflt<"l I Mr W. l>. Hunt, representing UitCntuiplovui'lit l o iiiiHttee, suumitied a paptr wnich lie had prepared on the peftibihtit'M i• : i increased farm pruc'uc iton for th»* ust' of the Loramittetfb# tarrying out of the proposal be pui (•rward would make it neeensary to fwxwe all duties on stock fowls entering the country, which would include ySmt »"d wheat offal for consumption b» stock It would not be necessary fciwever, to interfere in any way with the duties on wheat or other grain* gild for human tonsumpt.on Jir Hunt tea It in detail with the farming poasibilities of New Zealand ■nd tatd lie was satisfied that pigs and poult(7 con Id be put on to a profitable Wis under New Zealand conditions fh®*» a market in England for pig and poultry products, and the question was whether New Zealand could compete with Denmark, which mm at present the largest «upplier to r*i*f pi<«» ami poultry on an export Wis. It was necessary to compete with wrld otMn Mr Hunt mid his recommendation *•* that all duties on stock foods •h' uld *>e renin ved.

Reaving to Mr Cob be, Mr Hunt saiu 1» wo* itr >ngly opposed to any subside Wing nai'l to the flourmillers. A sub«id» alw«rs had to br borne by some kdy. and it meant an extra 6d on ana tax or income tax or something of that sort. Subsidies only interfered trill! industry Mr Cob lie ■ Would you be in favour of Imperial Preference I - Mr Hunt: F,ve Trade within the Wpire? I think it would be the fintot thing we could have. The chiiii man : It's a long way off. Mr Hunt: Yes, it may be a long off '"«t it is worth striving for. Mr J. H. Darker, representing the Mister Makers of New Zealand, expressed rhe opinion that New Zealand ahonld be self-supporting, so far as its wheat was concerned Mr B»rl»r said that a decrease of £2 15s iri the price of flour was equivalent to approximately Jd in the price of a 2lb loaf rae oo&t of bread production in New Zealand raried rrry considerably. It was not the price -it which bread was •old that determined the profit to the baker, but rather the average amount par loaf that the baker was able to g#t. That varied considerably and t-mild only Ins correctly ascertained when consideration was given to the relative sales, retail and wholesale. Minus the l.ww resulting from the practice of taking back from stores unsold 'tread and the ever-recurring lons consequent on supply exceeding the demand.

Comparing Australian and New Zealand prices, Mr Barker said that in Wastern Au ralia, with flour at *l4 la per ton, the price of bread was 6d sad 6|tl; in Victoria, with flour at £l2 Sa od, it was 5J.1 and 6Jd; and in New Heath Wales, with flour at £lO 10a, it ttUB 6|<l and 6d. On that basis the bread in New Zealand would be ud 7d. In Australia the average Mtfovt of the bakeries was larger than is New Zealand.

H> Barker said it was quits clear tiara could be oo reduction in the price «# broad without a relative reduction la the price of wheat and flour. Hr Jones expressed himself as dis appointed with the nature of the evi 4etee given by Mr Barker. No details as to costs had been given. Mr Barker said there wuuld be other witnesses, who would give evidence aa to floats. Mr F. H. Hawker, a master baker, of Cfcfistebureh, gave details of the costs taaimd ia the manufacture of bread. He «aid his firm was making a loss on tl» ( manufacturing of heavy bread of •> much as 0e 4d per sack of flour, and Ipfing a day about 55 sacks of flour *We used. The tally was made up on *as«y linea. Mt Jones asked what was the profit far sack ef flour on fancy bread. The witness said it was a difficult ■iltfr to separata the two. If they w«f» making heavy bread only they wenld cover expenses. Mr MtCombs: You would have to sell • tuse proportion of fancy bread to make a profit! Witness: We do sell a large propor Ilfty per cent.! —That's a bit high. The witness told Mr Jenkins that tlata was a trade war going on in W ' Uagtao. Bread delivered in Welling tea, was td, and the price to the "tore •tWW was sd. There was keen com PVUm for «,he store trade in Welling •an, Mid he did not think the prices *®jM role much longer. 9«Mtioned by the chairman, who HIM oat that on his figures the wit •ait was spending £■ 1300 a year m> •ilptising, Mr Hawker said that this *ilbt be a bit high. IB A. House, another master baker. Nil the costs of delivery had gone up •ataf'ta the spread of population. At •Wi.'fine people lived close to the but nowadays they lived at some flistmes from the towns, and the bakers l»# Ca follow them. Mr Hons** gave the following details •f the cost of producing a 21b loaf: — Wicm O.fiOd. fuel 0.13 d. upkeep of plant •JMil. salt and other ingredients 0.31 d ®IWW 3.20(1, administration costs 0.30 d. tttaawt at « per cent. O.OSd, delivery **gas O.STd, other delivery casts 0.23 d —total 5 50d. Mr W. A. Ketlow, a Wellington mas taker, said he worked out the cost a# delivered bread at 5.73 d per 2lh loaf. The committee adjourned until Tues 4ay a«*t. IXPORT SHIPMENTS. PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE SEEKS INFORMATION. ITHB PUSS Bjh>cUl Sertlee.] WELLINGTON. September 18. Tlw <-eport«d decision of the New ®*a'and Wheat growers' Co-operative A—ociatton to export its surplus wheat to Cog land was mentioned b,v Mr J MeCombs (Labour. Lyttelton) duriuji Onlay's sitting of the Belwt Cooimit®a» of th« Hotwe of Hepresentatives *"* h ts ooruiderina the wheat duties «r McCocnb® »aid the surplus had b««:n produced because of the Mnaj«r»gem«nt which had been given industry by the protective J- W Oollins (•eeretary of the «| loduatriaa aad Camr

merce) said that apparently it was intended to export the carry-over from lust season.

Mr MeCombs said the matter was a most important one, and he considered it was the duty of the Committee to recall the representatives of the Wheat Pool in order that they might obtain some -nformation on the point. He moved in that direction The Committee agreed to adopt the course by Mr MeCombs. ALLEGED ANOMALOUS POSITION. IMPORTATION FIGURES QUOTED. [THB FKESS Special Service.] DUNEDIN, September 18. In connexion with the decision of the New Zealand Wheatgrowers' Co-opera-tive Association, Ltd., to export wheat from the Dominion, and the statement by Mr R. McPherson, manager of the company, that a large amount of new money will be brought into the coun try, there is a distinct anomaly, according to a tfell-known Dunedin business man. He stated that there is at the present time a large amount of money going to Australia and Canada from New Zealand for the purchase of flour, and also to the former country for the purchase of wheat. To stress his point he stated that the following were the importations of flour at the various ports for the month of August:—Can ada 397 tons, Australia 194 tons, United States 40 tons- total 631 tons. The following are the importations to New Zealand for other months during this year:—February 792 tons, March 963 tons, April 903 tons, May 830 tons, June 673 tons, July 833 tons. Apart from flour importations a eon siderable quantity of unprepared grain is brought to the Dominion, as the fol lowing values for the seven months ended Julv 31st, 1929, will show:— 1929, £53,036; 1928, £182,015; 1927 £228,999. There is no doubt there is a considerable surplus of wheat in the Dominion at the present time, and that being so it seems strange that about 10,000 tons of flour should be imported every year. Taking 48 bushels to the ton of flour the position works out that in reality 480,000 bushels of wheat (in flour) are imported annually, and this in addition to the unprepared grain brougkt t» this country.