PRIME MINISTER IN AUCKLAND.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 158, 28 March 1908, Page 5

PRIME MINISTER IN AUCKLAND.

j y . — I FURTHER DEPUTATIONS, '/p i;X J ' - THE MILK 7 iuPPLY;." ' • ' PERCENTAGE OF BUTTER-FAT. ' '.'(BT TEtEGEAI'H.—TOESS''ASSOCIiTION.)>« Auckland, March 27. Milkj suppliers throughout the ;district havo of,latoWeen discussing thp' ( rcgulation',of t-hq! Govbrriment increasing the. minimum legal, percentage of butter-fat ~in milk supplied to' the consumer from 2.5 to '3.25. Tho matter was before the Promier today by a deputation introduced by Mr. F. Lam-y, MiP., and headed by Mr. John Mas'soy, President of tho Agricultural, Pastoral Assooiatiou '

Mr. Massoy said the now regulations gazetted provided for a standard; of 3.25 against 2.5 for millc supplied 'to' tdtraV'- Under'normal conditions this was easily, but under adverse conditions ~- the' farmers ."Were likely! to bo trapped, because on cold'wetmornings the percentage, of b'u.tt«r-fat' would' bo below .tho standardy fas- it: would ?also bo in hot weiithcr. • Taking an the year they could supply 3.75, but there .would, bo times when they; Would go below, 1 the'stan? dard, and the suppliers considered that a 3 per cent, limit , would be fair. The Premier ' said that: the, matter a very important one, and,. after quoting the regulation, said that the 3.25 per cent, necessary ;was fat' salts.. ''The' Government ■ was anxious' that the' countries with' which-New Zealand was. in competition-in the supply of milk 'products should not have the opportunity of saying that our 'standard was lower, than theirs,-,and 'so 'depreciate'our produce' to the benefit of their own. In Victoria they, had a staiyJard of 3.5,, and it. suggested that a standard should lio adopted in England. Ho suggested that, the Chief yeterinarian should 'supply.themwith''statistics of the tests, in -New Zealand, and . from these they could say. what test should be supplied .with' a view to keeping'up tho general qualities of. milk and milk products; He would have tho matter carefully looked-into.;; The Go?'orniiient wanted, to .assist the. milk industry all /it could, but. at the same .time it desired to see that tho people .were.getting what they paid for. Ho would see that /they wero supplied ..with the statistics he-hadlre-ferred to. -.- ■-- -.- • •

BORROWING POV/ERS OF LOCAL BODIES. : THE POSITION EXPLAINED. 1 A deputation of chairmen of Town Boards brought under tho Premier's notice the ..fact that ft'own; Boards could only borrow £300 per annum from the'iGoverUiueut,''- and "tins was not adequate. ;••.••". The, Premier stated, thg'.,Boards, would have to get 3omo, of the mpnoy, they!,re,quired outside. At.present" tfi'o'limit that' Counties could borrow was £6000. v: If: the. Town' Councils and Town Boards'.all . ovir 'tho' country woro to havo a similar limit,' and . were,..tp ask for, all their loans to come fronf tho Gov-: oriiment, tho amount required to ,bo raised would bo trebled at least; The-Government had. to -borrow the' money,, in,.the-,'first, .int stance,; and'sinco the total amount tp- bo borrowed each year was lihiitedj ail oxtonsion of the. amount lent to local bodies would mean a \ reduction in-tho amount availablo for public Works. Local bodies' "asked for loans from tho Governmeiit for such. things as drainage,- waterworks, and--sanitation, 1 ; but ■those could not bo complied with; and perma- : nent loans obtained from outside would bo necessary.' .If the; Government raised , tho town district limit to'TE2OOO; and granted all applications tho public works, expenditure would; have to be by half; and the people would not stand that. The Act was a most'useful one, and he would bo sorry to spring the limit to an extent which might eventually, break, it '- '.'' : r • AT THE STOCK EXCHANGE. , The Premier attended' the \inidday call "of tho Auckland Stock Exchaiige". "'""Ho .mentioned that a. similar prmlego a<jcor.ded him in. London and New -York/ and .said that whatever was necessary 'to .keop: Stack Ex-* change business on' the right line's would have his hearty support.;; He had', not .received a reply to New Zealand's invitation to tho American fleet, but ;Lbped *-it>woiild; bo accepted, in which event Auckland would probably bo the port visited. ■; ■•-:;•:", "SHORTAGE OF TRUCKS. In an interview to-night, Sir l Joseph Ward foreshadowed the enforcement of the demurrage clauso in the Railway Regulations" in re'spofct of :wagons in uso on the Auckland section, ascribing tho sh'ortago of'.track's to' dolays in loading and unloading on the part of consignees and consignors.