A GREAT PARADOX

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3150, 31 July 1917, Page 6

A GREAT PARADOX

HIGH PRICES WITH FOOD IN

ABUNDANCE

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN

AUSTRALIA

At no time (says an Australian contemporary) could the term "a. land of plenty" bo- applied to Australia better than at the present. Thanks to bounteous harvests and a rich season the cool stores of the Commonwealth are filled vith produce of all descriptions; bags of wheat by the million are stacked by the railway linos and at tho wharves, and thousands of crates of rabbits, carcasses of lamb and mutton and cases of butter lie uselfss in the chilly silences of tho stores. In addition, the prospects for the immediate future, in so far as they can be judged, are excellent, and the estimates of the nossible production of various commodities for the next ypar are of the rosiest description—so much eo, for instance, that the fruit growers are in fear of an unmanageable glut owing to the shortage of shipping. Yet in the midst of all this plenty the extraordinary fact stands out that prices in Australia rfmain at a high level, which is crippling the financial strength of the people, and pinching the poorer classes. The cost of living rises, through lack of a bold price-fixing policy, and household bills grow larger despite the fact that the grave lack of shippinglikely to become graver still for a time at loast—is the exnort of the produce to Europe. The paradox of hieh prices amid superabundance would be almost comical had it not its cruel side. At. the present moment the Commonwealth authorities are engaged in procuring returns showing the amounts of various types of produce held in Commonwealth cool stores, and these returns will be available shortlv. In the meantime, in Victoria only, the following position was disclosed on inquiry yesterday:— Now in Victorian Cool Stores. Vain*Butter, tons 651 ... £10,310 Babbits (Vic), crates 121,618) Babbits (S.A.), crates 4,361) ... 225,616 Babbits (N.S.TVO, crates 139,454) Tegs, wethers, and lambs carcasses 20,238 ... 26,914 It is pointed out, with regard to rabbits, that all those now in store belong to the Imperial Government, having been purchased by that Government from tho exporters, tho Commonwealth Government acting as agent, and that in tho British Medical .Journal" of the Imperial Government is paying a Bum per crate- for the storage. But the fact remains that, with rabbits as with butter and carcaSs meat, there is little or no freight space available as yet. Day after day the food lies there useless, and in the meanwhile the consumer in Australia ' dips deeply into the household purse to : pay the high food prices ruling. The position, however, is far more startling when the estimates for the future are examined. Naturally, these estimates must be broad based, and may not bo reached; on the other hand, they may be exceeded , , and it has to be borne in "mind that the shipping position is likely to remain very serious for a considerable time. It is certain that nothing like the normal export quantities of produco will be sent away, so that the country will become more and more glutted with the best food, which if common sense ruled, should be made available in abundance at Home at cheap prices. It was estimated fcy an authority the other day that liefcween now and Christmas the huge amount of 20,000 tons of butter will be produced above the amount ordinarily eaten in the Commonwealth. In other words, 20,000 tonß of butter will represent the exportable surplus. At present very little butter is being sent away; but, as has been previously indicated, it is hoped to sell a large amount outside the Commonwealth. Again, in regard to lambs and sheep, an authority recently estimated that the exportable Commonwealth surplus for next season—the amount for which it rilay be impossible to find anything like sufficient shipping—may reach from 5,000,000 to 8,000,000 carcasses; and in regard to fruit, some 4,000,000 bushels may well be counted upon as surplus above tho ordinary consumption; while in the Commonwealth at the present moment some ■JOO.OOO crates of rabbits are lying in storage awaiting a chance of shinmont. , . . , For Victoria alone the agricultural authorities supply the following figurfs j as a rough estimate of the "exportable snrnrus" in this State of various commodities which may be available for shipment from July 1, 1917, to June 30, 1918:— Possible Surplus in Victoria. Tons. Butter 17,500 Rabbits • 6,000 Meat (1,050,000 carcasses) 15,000 Cases. Fruit ■...-••••• 4OV" 10 These figures aro naturally only approximate, but they can serve as a guide to the probable amounts of food which would in normal circumstances, be shipped away from this State only. In regard to butter, the factory managers are bein" advised to make as much cheese as possible, and if this is done the figures above may read-butter surplus, 12,000 tons; cheese surplus, 13,000 tons. As the circumstances are very abnormal and freight spaco is likely to be so greatly curtailed, the estimates quoted can only suggest that the maintenance of high fool prices in Australia, in the midst of plenty is as ridiculous 'a paradox as could well be devised.