WHEAT DUTIES.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19734, 26 September 1929, Page 10

WHEAT DUTIES.

COMMITTEE OF ENQUIRY. FLOURMIM-EKS* EVIDENCE CONCLUDED. I THE PRESS Special Serrlce.] V'rXLIX'iTON', September 25. Further evidence was given to day In-fore tins Select Committee of the }Tonne of Kepresentat i\ en which is considering the question of the wheat (illtU'H. Mr John C. fixing, of I'almerston Kortli, uiuitagtng director of Hodder nud Tolltsy, and a director of Dist.ilutorsi, Ltd., whose evidence was complete! yesterday, Has questioned by the chairman (Mr ('. A. Wilkinson') regarding the comparative prices of New Zealand and Australian pollard. The chairman: t'igur.s wo have here • how that Australian pollard costs £lO A* lid a ton to land, and New Zealand J'ollard £7 ltis. Why the necessity for tiutyi

Mr Young replied that the miller was merely the collecting agent for the juice the, farmer got. Duty on that claws of goods was hardly necessary today, but, it was necessary nt certain tunes of the year.

In order to safeguard against those particular periods you advocate that the duty should remain on all the year louud f —Yea.

The- Hon. Mr CVbbc (Minister for Industries ami Commerce): You recognise the great importance of having • heap food lor poultry. Is there any method by which milling wheat could bo subjected to duly and other qualities brought in freo 1 Witness: I think it would be a difficulty of administration to discriminate) let ween poultry wheat and other wheat. Mr R. K. lireland, chairman of Distributors, Ltd., was recalled and gave confidential information regarding the balance shoots of the concern and the industry generally. Replying to Mr J. MeConubs (Lab., Lytteltou), Mr Ireland said that in his opinion this year was going to show a very small return to the millers of New Zealand.

Mr R. ,T. Lyon, grain manager of Wood Bros., Ltd., fluurimtlers, of Christchurch, produced tho company's bal-ance-sheet for tho year ended last December, tho first full year in which the •liding-scalo system had been in force. This concluded the evidence on bekalf of the flounuillers. It was decided to call evidence from Dunedin, Christchurch, and Wellington bread contractor.

The Committee adjourned until Tues day next.

DUTY ON BACON.

AUSTRALIAN POLICY. The Molbourne "Argus" makes some pertinent observations in regard to the movement in the Commonwealth to increase the duty on New Zealand ham •nd bacon to 6d a lb.

*'Pig-raisers have joined the throng of petitioners waiting upou the Tariff Board to seek higher duties. They propone that a duty of (id a lb should be imposed on imported bacon and hams instead of the duty of 2d a lb charged at present. There seems to be little justification for the request, especially •• the quantity of bacon imported by A,uatralia is very small, and it could not affect the price of bacon on the hone market. If the duty were increased another blow would be struck at New Zealand, which has already suffered through the Australian tariff folicy. Almost all the bacon and hams tuported at present come from New Zealand. With a duty of 6d alb on New Zealand butter and an embargo •a New Zealand potatoes, a further step against New Zealand produce could hardly fail to increase the bitterness already evident in the Dominion. Representatives of Australian growers of dried fruits are at present seeking .to obtain preference from New Zealand for their produce, and this would be granted if Australia made a similar concession to some New Zealand product. Under present conditions the possibility of a concession from New Zealand is becoming more and more remote. If a duty on imported bacon were granted the price of bacon presumably would be increased in the Australian market. Already pig-raisers are receiving a payable price, and have been doing so for the last twelve months or more. A very high price could not do other than stimulate production, and before long an export surplus would be created which would have to be sold at export parity, a rate always much below the price ruling in Australia. Then the price of all bacon would decline to the price obtainable for the surplus unless action were taken on lines similar to the Paterson butter plan. Consumers have consented to pay an increased price for butter, but if all primary industries adopted similar methods the cost of living would be affected so much that the gains derived •nder present conditions would be aancelled."

WAITAKI POWER SCHEME.

TENDERS FOR EQUIPMENT,

Tha following tenders have been acMpted for equipment for the Waitaki power scheme: — Section 6: 120 ton overhead elee trie travelling crane—Cory-Wright and Salmon, £5218. Section 2: Auxilinry generating sets. and awitehgear—-Turbines, Boving and Co., Ltd., £3470; electrical equipment, British General Electric Co., £3470 17s. LANCASHIRE COTTON CORPORATION. NEW DIRECTOR ELECTED. toarciD mutts aaaocu'nox— by electric TauaaaAPH—COPYRIGHT.) (Received September 25th, 8.45 p.m.) LONDON, September 24. On the uominntiou of the Governor •f the Bunk of England Mr Frank Madges, ex •miner and ox-general secretary to the Minors' Federation, has been elected one of the directors of the Lancashire Cotton Corporation, already controlling forty-eight spinning and weaving companies.—Australian Press Associ-uion. rUKEMIRO COLLIERIES, LTD. [THB PSEBS Spactal Senrtea) AUCKLAND, September 23.

Tha annua; meeting t >f shareholders of Fliktmim Coliiei-iM. Limited, was held to4aV The annual report and balance-sheet wer* adopted and the payment of a dividend •f 35 per cent approved. A substantial bonua *a* voted to tha directors and ataff.

EXPORT BUTTER.

TWO GRADES SUGGESTED. The opinion that the dairying industry would be better served with a standard of first and second-grade butter, both lor cream and export, was stressed by Mr J. W. Kime, chairman of the Canterbury Central Co-operative Dairy t ompany, at its annual meeting vest*: relay. Air Kime said that last year the regulations governing the grading of cream wero amended to provide ior only two grades, kuown as hist and second grade, tor the months of June, July, and August in Che North Island, and June, July, August, and September in the South Island. The three grade—finest, tirst, ana second—would again operate as from October Ist. Dealing with the grading of butter, the chairman said that while the average grade of butter for the season was slightly higher than the previous season, it" still left room for improvement, but in this connexion the company must have the assistance of suppliers in receiving cream in the best possible condition. Other countries were fully alive to the necessity of improving the quality of their product, and were leaving no stone unturned to accomplish this. In replying to a vote of thanks to the staff, Mr J. Middleton, factory manager, suggested that an effort be made to secure only two grades of cream.

Mr A. E. Harris urged on the incoming directors that they should make serious efforts to get only two grades of cream.

The general manager (Mr S. J. Smith) said that owing to the small margin between finest and first grade in the London market, local producers were losing a very large sum of money annually. The only way that he could see that rt could be done would be by getting all the suppliers to sign a petition

Mr C. Morgan Williams said that the wholesale distributors in England were not at all unanimous on the need for three grades.

NEW MARKETS.

CANADA'S QUEST

(T7IHTBD fKESS ASSOCIATION—BT ELBCTBIO TEI.EQSAPH -C.OPTBIQHT.)

VANCOUVER, September 24.

"Canadian manufacturers and producers are seeking new world markets, as they hold the existing ones under a heavy handicap compared with their United States, competitors," declared Mr J. E. Walsh, general manager of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association, before a conference of business heads at Vancouver.

Giving an instance of the difference on the Pacific Coast alone, he quoted figures to show that while United States steamship lines were getting a yearly subsidy the Pacific Ocean services were mostly mail contracts -mounting to £4,750,000. Canadian lines were getting £606,000. United States subsidies provided for regular sailings to South America, Sydney, Auckland, Melbourne, and Manila. Canada was paying less subsidies than a decade ago. Steamship subsidies were important to the development of Canadian trade and were very necessary to the extension of the service from Vancouver to the Antipodes and other parts of the Empire.—Australian Press Association.