FREEZING COMPANIES CRITICISED

Evening Post, Volume XCIV, Issue 68, 18 September 1917, Page 7

FREEZING COMPANIES CRITICISED

During the sitting pf the House of Representatives la3t night, , when questions were being discussed, Mr. J. Vigor Brown complained of the fact that certain freezing companies ill- Wellington had been favoured so as to enable, them to send away over £400,000 worth of lamb. . , ■

Mr*'.Massey said the shipments were divided among six companies* Mr.. Vigor Browji said that these companies made about half a million pounds in the, process; He argued that the only way out of the difficulty Was an export tax. There was no doubt, he said, that syndicates were at work, and the farmers were being robbed all the time. "The farmer looks after the 3d arid 6d," he said, "but the syndicate Gomes along, in a biggei' way and scoops the pool." Mr. YoUng Said the New Zealand producer was woikiiig at a disadvantage, in that he had to sell his meat to the Imperial Government through nominated iirnis. Some of those firms could sell surplus meat at a big ■profit, which might otherwise have come to the New Zealand producer. He was glad to hear from the Commissioner of Taxes that the taxation law Was sufficient to tax the agents responsible for food dealings in the Dominion... . It. was essential that, steps should be taken to see that firms such as he hud mentioned should not evade the income-tax law of the Dominion.