A PROBLEM OF FOOD PRICES

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 86, 8 October 1914, Page 6

A PROBLEM OF FOOD PRICES

+ Dealers are forbidden to charge more than 4s 9d a bushel for wheat or £11 15s a ton for flour, but it is doubtful whether the law, in its present form, obliges them to sell at those prices. Several bakers in the South have been refused supplies of flour, and they have complained to members of Parliament. The Premier admits that a deadlock exists, and he hopes to have some aid from the Crown Law Office to make a) fairway through the obstacles. The work of the Commission, whatever prices it may fix, is brought to nought, from | the consumers' viewpoint, if the wheat and flour are tightly held. Mr. Massey has hinted rather vaguely that the Government may take over a small mill —perhaps two mills — and have an experiment. The purpose is not to compete with private millers, but to obtain | helpful knowledge. Much meaning may jbo read in those words. A fair deduc- ! tion is that the Government wishes to learn the inner workings of the milling business— the wheels within wheels — before it takes any drastic action. In short, the Government desires to take prudent safeguards against blunders. Ono of the difficulties in regard to flour is that all millers arc not in the same position in relation to prices paid for wheat. It is repotted that the biggpr operators secured largo quantities before the war, at figures below 4s (as low as 3s 6d in some eases). These millers can afford to sell at the Commission's prices, but some of the smaller men are not in the same pleasant situation. Their purchases were not extensive when wheat was under 4s, and some- aro complaining now that if they are compelled to sell at the gazetted rates they will lose money. The price , of protecting »ll BniftU milieu who got they, 1 whaat iv * dear market would be

enormous to the public — and it is not cheerful to think that the bulk of the protective impost would be pocketed by the larger men who bought their wheat cheaply, comparatively. But there is a very impoitant possibility for the people to face. Mr. Masscy said in the House of Representatives last night that some of the big millers seemed eager to squeeze the small men. The circumstances are favourable for an extinction of the minor millers, who might be able, in more fortunate times, to upset the plans of magnates. The squeezing process would mean flour at prices calculated to "kill" the small millers, and the public would have a temporary benefit, but what would be the ultimate result? With a lessening, of the element of competition, the millers will be in a correspondingly better position to levy tribute on the public. Who, then, would envy the Government its arduous task? The Ministry knows that it is necessary to take some action which will convince the public that the Government is in earnest with its efforts to put fair prices upon food. The hasty allegations that the Government's sympathies have been more with the millers and dealers than with the public have to be refuted by facts and by an active policy.