DAIRY CONTROL

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 59, 10 March 1926, Page 10

DAIRY CONTROL

A MANAWATU PROTEST

FREE MARKETING MEETING

THE ANTI-ABSOLUTE VIEW.

"Be moderate, think moderately, talk moderately, and use all your influence to have the Dairy Control Board act moderately."

This was the conclusion of a speech by.Mr.L.D., Gardner, organiser of the Free Marketing League, at Palmerston North yesterday. Mr. J. A. Nash, M.P., presided, and the meeting was representative of the Mana-watu dairy industry by_ the attendance of suppliers and company directors of 24 district fac- ' tones. . The following abridged account of the proceedings is from the "Manawatu Daily Times" full report:— Mr. Nash is reported to have said that both in and out .if Parliament he had opposed the Dairy Control Board. He was not against some forms of control such as the regulation of shipping and grading, ant all those things which were going to make for the betterment of'the farmer generally, but he strongly protested against any body of men being set up, as it was to-day, to tell the factories how and when their butter and cheese should be sold. As one.who had been connected with the dairy industry for many years,! and having a pretty good knowledge of the Home market and those in control there, he said the companies, owing to competition and better financial stability, were able to sell their own butter and the majority desired to do ■o. , Heavy overhead charges were being inflicted by the Board on the companies, some of which couldn't afford to pay.' His own company had been mulcted in £500, some of which, of course, could be well spent in contributing to the cost of grading and shipping. The sum; levied from farmers for control expenses amounted to £ 77,955, and £36,905 had been invested in Government inscribed stock, redemption bonds, and deposits. In thejjhort time the Board had been in existence £41,050, of which sum £4638 had been incurred at Wembley, had been swallowed up in expenses. The cost of the Exhibition display was money well ■pent, but the. balance of £36,050 had gone in travelling expenses, cost .of board meetings,; honoraria, and so forth, with a jaunt to the Old Country, while another .trip for members was projected. . . A PROMISE. The price realised for the farcers' produce was low enough, and he wanted all he could get of that price. The Board was now controlling the export o- butter; no supplies from his company had been shipped since 3rd February. They much preferred to ship the butter themselves. They had sufficient confidence in the people with whom they had been tealing to keep them properly advised when and where not to sell. He promised the ! mee,tihg to leave no stone unturned to stop control being put into effect on Ist August, and he hoped they would be successful. •■Mr. L. G. Gardner, organising secretary of the Free Marketing League, appealed to his hearers on the question of compulsion on a broad national basis. The dairying industry was faced with several facts that required answering: (a) The statement of the Control Board that it had the. majority of the people with it, for which it cited the referendum as proof. This had since been proved to be wrong. (b) The withholding of supplies to create evenness of prices. This was pointed out as impossible and then the board had said it was endeavouring to regulate supplies, of which the Free Marketing League had been a strong advocate. ■ — (c) The producers were faced with, ever-increasing opposition from the people of England, who bought their butter,and.cheese. The food controller had. vast pcweis, said the speaker, and instanced the embargo on. New Zealand hops. The free breakfast table •was a definite political principle with Englishmen, and he did not think it would ever be altered. The speaker also stressed the financial loss to factories through deferred settlements, and referred to the necessity of the campaign for the ward system. GROWING OPPOSITION. There was a growing and increasing protest on the part of all primary producers against compulsion' coming into force on Ist Atfgust. In Southland_2B factories had protested, not one raising its voice for the board's proposed policy; in Otago the majority were for the postponement of absolute control; at Bangiora only two" had dissented from postponement out of one hundred producers; and at Dunedin, at a meeting addressed by Mr. Grounds, a similar resolution had been carried on the voices. AGAINST COMPULSION. Over 95 per cent, of the dairy industry realised the need for some sort of control, bnt over 80 per cent, were against the present employment of -compulsion. Postponement of the enforcement of thev compulsory clauses did not mean that it should be done away with —but it did mean that the Ijgard wculd earn the goodwill of the large majority. Should the board undertake compulsory marketing and should it prove a failure, it would mean the wrecking of the whole organisation. If the Control Board took over the regulation of shipments and the one hundred and one other things that could be done to improve conditions, and after operating successfully along these lines, could prove that compulsion was still necessary, he. did not hesitate to say it would be strongly supported. Mr. J. Hine (North Taranaki) referred to the "grave danger threatening the industry." He also stated that the late Mr. Massey said absolute control •would not be enforced. Messrs. Nos■worthy, Hawken, and Vernon Reed had assured him, (the speaker) that there ■was no fear of compulsion being exercised. - ■ ■ If a Labour Cabinet had done this thing they would have, raised the roof, but unfortunately it came'from a party that was allegedly safe and stable, and their suspicions had been lulled. "THE LAST MAN, THE LAST >-< SHILLING." Mr. A. E. Mansford. declared that if absolute cdntrol came into force on' Ist August, it would go down as one ©f the biggest political and commercial scandals in the history of the country. The board did not have the confidence of the farmer. Suppose Tooley Street's sympathy were alienated by the proposed action of the board, what could it do? It could influence consumers, whose first point of their political creed was a free breakfast table, as ihe first Baldwin Government Lad found to its cost four or five yars ago. He said the new regulation would need an army of officials and nobody knew when they would get a final payment. They were being asked to back the board with twenty millions sterling, and he would advise them to fight control "to the last man and the last shilling." CONTROL INOPPORTUNE. Mr. P. Dixon (MaKowhai) moved—That this meeting considers the time inopportune for the taking of the Dairy Board of compulsory control." Mr. C. J. Woodley seconded. Mr.. James. (Shannon) deprecated

some of the remarks made about the board, declaring that they could not be justified. The chairman. had thrown up a "smoke screen" about the expense of operations, but the levies had placed no hardship on the companies. While he was in favour of staving off compulsory.. control, they should not rule out the board altogether. Mr. J. W. Teale (Palmerston North) said they were not there to condemn the board, but absolute' control. When engaged in propaganda to get the board established, his instructions were to give every assurance that farmers would always have the right to sell or confine their butter and cheese. He had learned since of the inner working and wire-pulling associated with the board, and had he known as much then as he knew now, he would have been opposed,to it. They had not had a straight, clean run. He also referred to the English repugnance to anything that increased the price of their food supplies. The motion was carried with two dis- • sentients, Mr. Nash remarked that the speakers had made it plain that they were not against the board. Their quarrel, was -with control.