DAIRY CONTROL

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 26, 30 July 1927, Page 11

DAIRY CONTROL

BOARD'S COMPOSITION

THE COMPULSION" ISSUE

"Various aspects of control legislation j were reviewed in the House of Repre- | sentatives yesterday in the discussion j on Mr. W. A. Veitch's Dairy Export Control Amendment Bill, which Mr. "Veitch sought leave to introduce. Speaking after "The Post" went to j press, the Minister of Lands (the Hon. A. D. M'Leod) said that the Government had followed the policy of trustI ing the people engaged in the dairy industry. That was clear. It was his personal opinion that once the producers decided to adopt absolute control there was no room for Government or commercial interests on the board. While partial control operated, however, all the interests had a right to be represented on the board. The commercial men were entitled to representation after they had bought the produce from the producers, because it was. then their own produce. He believed that the producers could be trusted. Colonel A. Bell (Bay of Islands) said that members of Parliament had had to accept what was given them in the matter of dairy control. All they wanted was for the Government to eliminato outside interests from the board and give the Act a fair run. The Press of New Zealand was actuated by commercial interests, and had taken a lead in the agitati^ against control. The producers should be allowed to run the board in their own way. Ho was not going to say that the board had not made a mistake in introducing pricerixing when it did, but he could not support the present Bill, for the reason that he saw behind it influences which had been trfing to break down every form of control. Mr. G. W. Forbes (Hurunui) said the great mistake the farmers had made was to come to the House and ask for control legislation. It would have been much wiser for them to have had a voluntary pool and to have conducted their own affairs. While some benefit might be obtained in the way of insurances f r o m the board, in the far wider beld of marketing he could not see how the farmers could achieve success unless they had a vast co-operative pool to present a united front to the interests which were ranged against the producers. * +iTf he i,Hil n- D- Buddo (Kaiapoi) saia that all the control boards should be amalgamated. That would enable a reduction to bo effected in the administrative costs. Any attempt to control the Home market, however, would not O t, Producers any good. Replying to the discussion, Mr. Veiteh said that it was necessary to restore to tho farmer the right to manage his own ailairs. Farmers were doing that when they formed themselves into co-opera-tive companies. What was wanted was a great co-operative organisation of efficient that every farmer would desire to go into it optionally. Despite the a° rJL\ tlOt? ?£° sontMl5 ontMl B°*ra, it was a tact that tho farmer got more for his produce in the days when ho was oss well organised than now. He believed t he board had been inspired By patnotic ideas, but tho chairman had become over-enthusiastic about control. Ihe speaker believed that the sending of New Zealand butter to England in large quantities and very irregularly had led to a great amount of speculation in the produce. Such a system almost made our people dependent on tho speculator as many of them want ed the money. He knew the board was Aomg its best to meet the situation, ml the more that was done to remedy it ™T ,d *",? t0 c^ mi"ato the TCMor fiitt- WaS introduced and ™ad a