COMING WELLINGTON SALES

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 34, 9 August 1921, Page 7

COMING WELLINGTON SALES

V MR. MASSEY ON PROFITS.

The total catalogue of the Wellington wool sale, to be held on 19th .August, will be between 10,000 and II.OOJ bates." Future sale dates have yet to be arranged. - . . , ■ -:

Millions, of pounds are claimed by tha New Zealand Government from the 1m- ■ pel'ial Treasury on account ot wool profits. The London Daily Telegraph gava currency to-the report, explaining 'that .the claimwas' for profits resulting from .sales of two New Zealand clips, 1916, ■ 1918. Mr. Massey, while in London, commented upon tho stat-enio'nt, in.tho following terms:— , ..■'.'■- ... ■'■,: "The Imperial Government wa-nfcsd tha wool, and both the Com.i!b»,wenit-h and 1, Dominion Governments sold at \yliat.Avas considered a fair price, though'a, prica not equal to the value which free woo} was, fetching in~the open market. • Consideration, however, was given <U> tha fact that most of the wool'was wanted, for Army purposes, and that tho necessary shipping to carry it, was beirtg 'p.rcvidied by the purchasers. • The'ai'range-' ment was that wool used for Army,pur- , poses should stand at" the priceJptf'WljicU ; it was purchased,! but if wool wns used! for civilian purposes, and realised.-* profit when sold, then half the profit: went to the country where the wool was *prodwced—that, is, to the producers. .That the wool was sold well within its- value) was proved by the fact that, until"recently, every "time New Zealand wools was placed on the open market it realised considerably more than was paid fes it by tho authorities in the United Kingdom. "The arrangement worked very; well until July N of last yeai, when a telegram was received by the New, Zealand Government,/ indicating that there was approximately a million and a-half sterling of profits belonging, to the New; Zealand sneep-farmm (which the Depaitment here was prepared to hand over), and stating explicitly that further dividends would be forthcoming; In a te'.egram from the Secretary of' State.for tli© Colonies it was stated that the dividend thus distributed was toW jii-s an interim '.dividend, and final dividends shall be based 1 on ascertained profits ovsr the whole of the dip* purchased.' "The wool growers in the Dominion .•were asking for their money, and tha ' {few Zealand Government agreed to tha ■.jjuggestkm from Tiere. On 4th January, •1921, a telegram was received from the Secretary of.State:,for the Colonies^ of which the following is an extract':—'Uii-' distributed profits on New Zealand wool estimated _-at * little under £8,000,000 $efoTe writing down stocks,' but loss .on present stocks estimated to cost approximately £22,000,000 will, it in ' feared, substantially exceed undist.rita.ted profits on sales since 31st March, 1919.' .... ■ ■ . .". ' *

/ "This meant that ttoa whole of th'd £8,000,000 was being held for the purpose of meeting any possible loss-, thati might b& made on the wool now'in stock," Mr. MaSgey continued 1. r "Tha' \wool on which, as the telegram' says, there has been £8,000,000 ■undistributed] profits waa all- sold for civilian purposes, and," therefore, according to the last arrahgetoent mad*—viz., that the slare of-: profits" actually realised should be paid to N<ew Zealand, calculated a^. the sama rate per pound of wool delivered as wasi paid to yie Commonwealth GbvernMreiiE —a very large proportion, if not. tha whole, of the £8,000,000 may be claimed! to belong to the Now Zealand producers. They are not, however, asking .for that. They are only asking for what is reasonable. They claim that what the representative* of the Imperial Government; propose is not carrying out the spirit of, the agreement, and I must say I agresi with them. So far as the 'aerious friction', referred to in the paragraph ia ooncarnaoV I know nothing of it. Eight -. through the war period the business relations between thie two Governments hare been of the pleasantest chaigicter, and I regret exceedingly that aay attempt should now-b» mad* to maka trouble out. of what has taken place iit this connection. I have confidence,,however, that the difficulty will, be settled! A satisfactorily." ' _, ■