PRIMARY PRODUCE

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 208, 29 May 1940, Page 11

PRIMARY PRODUCE

Importance Of Higher Output BUTTER AND CHEESE Local Restriction On Use Not Desirable The importance of New Zealand increasing its output of primary produce to the limits of its capacity was stressed yesterday by the Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser. The Minister of Marketing, he said, had already given a definite assurance that whatever was producer would be paid for. That would be the Government’s responsibility, and it was a responsibility which the Government willingly accepted. “There still appears to be some misconception regarding tho extent to which New Zealand is fulfilling her undertaking to make available to Britain the maximum possible supplies ot foodstuffs,” said the Prime Minister. This misconception is evidenced particularly in the suggestions which continue to be made for rationing the. consumption Off butter and cheese within the Dominion in order that increased quantities might be made available for the needs of the United Kingdom. Though I have no doubt that such proposals are very will intenticmed, they overlook the fact which Mr. Nash emphasized in his recent broadcast address, that the United Kingdom has so far agreed to take only a stipulated quantity of produce. Butter for Britain. •‘ln the case of butter, the United Kingdom has undertaken to buy, this season, 115,000 tons. The actual quantity which on present production figures New Zealand can make available this season for shipment to Britain will be approximately 125,000 tons. That is to say, without any restriction of local consumption this season will result in a surplus of 10,000 tons over and above the United Kingdom’s stipulated requirements. “A similar position exists in regard to cheese. The British Government has given an undertaking, however, to buy from us within the limits of its requirements, additional quantities which New Zealand might have available for export, subject to shipping space being available. The Government is hopeful that satisfactory arrangements for shipping the surplus over and above the contract figure will be completed. “It will be appreciated that the preferential position which margaiine at present enjoys in the British market on acocunt of its relative cheapness and the fact that butter is severely rationed, necessarily limits the total quantity of butter we can expect to ship, however willing we may be to make increasing quantities available. Local Market Supplies, "It will be clear, therefore, that restriction of supplies for the local maiiket can serve no useful purpose and might, indeed, by imposing additional demands on existing cool-storage and shipping facilities have the very opposite effect. Britain must, after all, be the final judge as to how her war effort will best be assisted. “At the same time,” added Mr. Fraser, “even though it has not been possible up to the present for the New Zealand Government to make arrangements with the Government of the United Kingdom for the purchase of all we can produce, it is nevertheless of the utmost importance that our production t>e sustained to the maximum. We do not know how the situation may alter in the future, and we would be manifestly failing in our duty to the Mother Country and our Allies if we did not maintain and increase our output of butter and cheese and other primary produce to the limit of our capacity.” PURCHASE BY CROWN All Production For Export ASSURANCE BY MINISTER “The Government will buy all that is produced for export, and it wishes production to be increased in all lines, more particularly in pig meat, and cheese,” said the Minister of Marketing, Mr. Nash, when referring to the country’s exportable surplus of butter, cheese and meat, in an address last evening. Discussing the question of butter and margarine, Mr., Nash said the prime essential, in fact the only essential, waste see that the health of the people and fighting forces of the United Kingdom and their Allies were maintained to the full from all resources available Resources available included shipping facilities, and this, of course, limited the amount that could be taken from this country; refrigerated space was important and was a specialized facility. Unless this could be multiplied the physical limit to supplying the United Kingdom with foodstuffs from New Zealand was not so much our productive capacity as our capacity both here and in Bugland to organize the transport of this butter and cheese from factories to the Old Country 12,000 miles away. One could understand, therefore, that margarine was being availed of more in England, and it was being sold at a price which was well within the means of the British people to pay. For ins-lance, the best niargaine was being sold at fid. a lb., and the cheapest, the cooking variety, at sd. u lb., whereas the official minimum price of butter in England was 1/7. The ration of butter was originally fixed at 4oz. a person a week, and it was later announced that it would be raised to Boz., but it had been recently announced that as from June 3 it would be again reduced to the previous figure of 4oz. Less Butter Consumed. “The relatively high price of butter in England compared with margarine and in general the feeling that it was patriotic to eat. margarine led to a very sharp fall in the consumption of batter, and a big increase in the consumption of margarine,” said Mr. Nash. “The result is that though the importation of North European butters into the United Kingdom has practically ceased, and British imports have been cut down by almost one half, the imports still coming from other countries (almost wholly inside the British Empire) are still probably equal to the total United Kingdom consumption. “We have told the British Government that our farms, our men, and our factories are available to ensure that as much as it is iti our power the supplies of butter and cheese shall be

multiplied. We are taking the step of saying that everything that is produced will be brought at: least by the New Zealand Government and we will continue negotiating to try to get this surplus away. I would again emphttsze that organization is necessary, not only the organization of ships but the organization of ports, the organization of transport, of dairy factories, and of farms. We must produce to the maximum in this country,.”