DAIRY PRODUCE PRICES

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21812, 18 June 1936, Page 10

DAIRY PRODUCE PRICES

INDICATION GIVEN BY MINISTER BETTER THAN IN LAST THREE YEARS ! FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS COMPLETED IPEESS ASSOCIATION TELEOBAM.) HASTINGS, June 17, A statement that the Government had no intention of dealing with anything but dairy produce during the present season jn its export marketing proposals was made to the National Dairy Conference this afternoon by the Minister for Marketing, the Hon. W. Nash. “One great object we set out to achieve was the remoyal for all time of the fear of price falls and the ecstasies of price rises,” he said. “Of course, the.farmer dees not mind the ecstasies, but there are often very unfortunate sequels, and it is to avoid these that the Government’s policy is designed.” Mr Nash said he had been reminded, he added, of Dickens’s “Great Expectations.” He did not know whether these expectations would be realised, nor could he tell what the price this year would be; but it would be more than the price obtained last year or the year before or the year before that. Dealing with the provisions of the act, Mr Nash said the Marketing Department would ultimately take control of the marketing of all primary produce. That did not mean that meat and wool would be taken in now, or at any time in the immediate future, but when an imperative need of such control had been proved, the same procedure as had been applied to dairy produce could be applied to other products. Those at the head of the fruit-grow-ing industry, said Mr Nash, had already expressed their anxiety that the same procedure should be made to apply to the export of fruit. He had answered that he would discuss the request next year, as it was not the Government’s intention to include any produce other than butter and cheese under the act this year. The Meat Producers’ Board and the Fruit Export Control Board would be used as the machinery for putting into operation the marketing system as it would apply to the fruit and meat industries. Source of the Money The great question was where was the Government going to get the money, Mr Nash continued. Before the passir g of the act, he had discussed the financial aspects with Mr Leslie Lefeaux, director of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and had arranged for whatever money might be necessary to enable the dairy produce export policy of the Government to be put into effect. There would be in the Reserve Bank an account into which all th.j money from the guaranteed prices would be paid, and into which the proceeds from the sale of produce overseas would be paid. All that could be done at this end, and if it were to be successful it must be supplemented at the other end. and not solely by Tooley street. The Tooley street merchants would obtain the most profitable results by co-operating with the New Zealand Government, and the Government had not had advice that they were unwilling to do so. They would have to carry out their marketing in accordance with the Government’s intentions, and they would be paid as well as it was humanly possible to pay them for their services. The dairy export policy, continued Mr Nash, could not be put into effect unless the Government could establish a reciprocal trading agreement with the British Government. Under the new methods of marketing, it would be possible for him to say to the British Government: “We can produce 150,000 tons of butter, v/e have taken every step to ensure its uniform and maximum quality. We can let you have it at the minimum price, according to what the farmer ought to be paid for the work of producing it, and we agree to take from you goods to the value of what we receive for our butter. You take this £15,000,000 worth of butter from us and we will, in turn, after provision for interest and for redemption of the debt we owe you, use the money in Britain for buying what we want.” Those principles, said Mr Nash, would be in being among all countries within the next 10 years. “That may mean,” Mr Nash added, “that our produce will be taken nowhere else; but I won’t worry. It may mean that we will have to take all our cotton goods from Bncaln, and not, say, from Japan.” Bi-lateral Agreements If there were products that might be brought Into being in New Zealand, and that were not wanted by Britain, then the Government would make bilateral agreements with countries that would take those products. Explaining his conception of the world as one economic unit, Mr Nash said the rest of the world could not keep Germany or Japan or India on a lower level than itself. “If we have resources that are not available to other countries,” he said, “then we must make bilateral agreements with those countries.” Mr Nash said he had Been asked whether, if the prices realised were greater than the guaranteed prices, the excess would belong to the farmer or to the Government. As the Prime Minister. Mr Savage had said, the Government did not want to make a profit out of any industry. If there -was an excess, it would be credited to the Dairy Industry Account and used for the benefit of the industry. Why not a bonus? he had been asked. There would be no bonus. He could say, however, that the excess, if any, would not be used without consultation with representatives of the industry. Under the policy of the Government, no section of the community would benefit at the expense of another section. The Government was trying to ensure that every man on the land, every man on the waterfront, every clerk in an office, was paid a legitimate share of the wealth he brought into the country. In. answer to a question which dealt with tiie possibility that men offered 16s a day on public works will not be willing to work on farms, and consequently farm labour may be difficult to engage, Mr Nash said the Government was taking steps to ensure that farm labour would be available, and rates of pay. had already been determined.- It meant that if work were not available on public works and farm labour were available, men refusing to accept farm work would not be paid sustenance.