ORANGE DISCUSSION

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 68, 17 September 1936, Page 4

ORANGE DISCUSSION

A FINAL WORD

Referring again to statements made by the New South Wales., citrus fruit delegation and their reply to his correction, Mr. C. N. S. Mueller, representing South Australian • citrus fruit growers, states:— "General Heane and I have little to gain by a Press controversy or an attempt to ruffle public opinion in New Zealand. We are both vitally interested as growers in the advancement of the citrus industry of Australia and I hope the advancement, of Australia generally and my statement was only as- a correction of a palpable misstatement made first by Colonel Herrod in Australia and repeated in New Zea- j land by General Heane even after attention had'been drawn-to the' misstatement in Australia, and I am not foolish enough to think General Heane does not know the difference in .a bushel and an export case and could only suggest it was deliberately -started to imply an excess charged /He-sstill conveniently confuses , the issufe .'between bushels and pounds weight with no mention of his statement of; our bushel average 18s. I do.not know whether he suggests it was; unfortunate for me'or himself, but there was no misfortune, as'his Australian-, report' and correction will verify. •■,',.,. . ' "He states he took the pounds.\yeight and divided by 45, but he took the bushel rate and. price for New South Wales and computed the South' Australian figures at export- pricei' of 18s for a bushel case. . • ' '• ' "In reply to his statement that I suggest fruit is as cheap now as in .1932, the fact should be. apparent that in 1932 everybody got away with it, including; New South Wales,, and -the market was subject to supply and demand and few took notice whether the price was high or low." We South Australians are today subject to the whip-, ping up from all angles opposed to Government policy and low grade fruit values are consistently., being quoted. In 1932 fruit was sold in some centres of New Zealand at below cost to land, as Mr. Macdermott knows. "The facts are, however, plain as far as.Squth Australian price* are concerned. The whole of our funds are paid into one bank, and the gross amount received by merchants from retailers last season on 181,760 bushels was £107.812. General Heane will find it exactly 11s lOd a bushel, against the guess he made for 1932. and the statement he made on Monday of 18s a bushel for South Australian. "My merchant works on a definite commission; there is no speculation. In most instances the New Zealand retail price approximates Melbourne or Adelaide for South Australian or good Victorian, and perhaps if the positioncould be better gauged by the scientific side I could supply the relative food values of high and low value oranges, which is all important to New Zealanders. ■ "In 1932, New Zealand received from all sources 16.106,9231b of oranges, and in 1936 imported from South Australia 181,760 bushels, and from America, the Islands, and Jamaica the balance of 16,110,7861b, apart from the citrus produced in New Zealand. General Heane should know that oranges by weight means nothing; the Jamaican orange weighs at least 101b more than the Californian and the Calif ornian at least 51b more than any Australian. "I would, however, like it clearly understood I have no right nor would I or my growers like it' thought that South Australia considered we had any proprietary right to the New Zealand market; but I object to the reference to our fruit in the interview given on the delegation's arrival, particularly in relation to incorrect figures. In the incidence of the embargo, we have accepted its conditions in a spirit of helpfulness ■to New Zealand. If the position is not suitable to_ New South Wales, it is no fault of South Australia."