THE GUARANTEED PRICE

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22437, 25 June 1938, Page 16

THE GUARANTEED PRICE

Tribunal Plan ABANDONMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT (THE PRESS Special Service.] WELLINGTON, June 24. In view of the decision of the National Dairy Conference at New Plymouth, rejecting the proposal for the establishment of an independent tribunal • comprising a Supreme Court Judge and two 1 assessors, one appointed by the Government and one by the industry, to fix the guaranteed price for dairy produce, it is not the intention of the Government to proceed further with the proposal. In announcing this in an interview this evening, the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage) said that the only thing to be c<?nsidered now was what provision could be made for proper evidence to be given to the Government by the industry for its own benefit, and for the benefit of the Government in determining the price. “The only conclusion I can come to is that those who asked for a tribunal, with a Judge as president, to fix the price did not represem the dairy farmers at all, Mr Savage said. “During my tour of the southern part of the North Island last week I did not meet one man who wanted it. They all told me they would rather deal with the Government. It is quite clear fromthedecision of the conference that they have more confidence in the present method of fixing the price than they would have in any less authoritative institution or tribunal.

Advisory Suggestion The conference gave its support to a report urging the appointmentof an advisory body to make recommendations to the Government about prices, leaving with the Government the responsibility of fixing them. This advisory body, the conference suggested, should consist of three members ap pointed by the industry, three appointed by the Crown, and a Judge the Supreme Court, appointed after consultation with the other six mem b6 In commenting on Prime Minister said that as long as the industry wanted the Government to have the last say it could do any one of three things—-adopt the recommendation of the tribunal, make the figure less, or make it more, “So why have a tribunal at all? he aS Mr d Savage said that he regarded the New Plymouth conference as sufficiently representative to enable him to say. in view of the decision made, that the Government would not be held up oy waiting for any further representations in the matter. By the end of July the Government would be right into the responsibility of being able to tell the farmers what they could expect for their next season’s produce. “It is quite evident to me, from the decision of the conference, and from what I have seen myself, that it would not be right to force a tribunal on the industry,” the Prime Minister continued. “we never had any intention in the wide world of attempting to try to hide behind any tribunal. The suggestion of a tribunal came from a conference of the industry in the first place.” Providing for Evidence At the conference of the dairy industry called by the Dairy Board, and held on March 1. the Minister for Marketing (the Hon. W. Nash), told the delegates that If they wanted a tribunal he would go to the Cabinet and recommend that they should have it. but he also said that he did not think it would be in the interests of the industry to adopt that procedure. “The only thing to be considered now is what provision we can make for proper evidence to be given by the industry itself for its own benefit and for our benefit in fixing the price,” said Mr Savage. “We want to do justice. They talk about compensated prices, but there, is nothing that can be left out of account under the system we are operating to-day. Costs and everything else relating to life on dairy farms have to be considered, and will be considered, before we can intelligently fix the price.”