NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE AND CONTROL

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 151, 30 June 1925, Page 4

NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE AND CONTROL

DICTATING HANDLING OF FOOD

MEANING" OF "CONTROL."

, (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) •..: May. Some ' 'Readers of Your Journal' '—The Grocers' Review—write. from Liverpool to protest against Government Control. " A' more delicate control than 'the 'home' control (they say) is being imposed upon us by the Dominion of New Zea-_ land. Have we no warning to give to New Zealand—that we shall not tolerate for one moment any one of our Colonies imposing its.will on us, and barefacedly telling us they are controlling their produce, and are going to regulate the distribution and prices—in other words, that if we do not submit to their dictation they are going-, to starve us out? That is what is meant by 'control.' The,full meaning of this new 'control' is not quite realised by the British public, nor by the British traders. One has billy to examine New Zealand politics to find that the 'hard-done-by-farmer' now dominates tho New Zealand iParliament. One would say, without fear of cantradiation, that the farmers would never be satisfied if their returns were all profit. And these are the men who are dictating how Great Britain's food shall be handled—to their own advantage ! They have already dictated to the Is rew Zealand dairy companies, under most severe penalties,- that they must not sell Great Britain any of'their produce. All of it must be sold to the Control Board. Did we write 'sold' ? . All of it must be passed over to the Control Board, who will regulate the price, and say how much they will give the. dairy company for it. Produce will be mortgaged to a bank, and only a certain percentage of the actual worth of the goocls will be paid to the dairy company pending the final settling of the goocls when sold in Great Britain. A portion of this Control Board is to be installed in London to regulate shipments and prices here. What we will not have from an Imperial Government^ are we to tolerate from a Dominion Government? Tho answer should be 'No.' ■

As wo all know, 'control' means fat salaries and securo Jobs for a few permanent officials, to the detriment of the British public, whether 'control' is forced, on ns by an Imperial or by a Dominion povermnoiili. Therefore, if this 'Dominion Control' means 'Imperial Preference' the answer should be : 'We do not want, your.produce,'-because Imperial Preference should mean 'give and take,' but it appears that the Colonies want to tako all without giving—and what is more, put all British traders out of.business".