SHEEP INDUSTRY

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 140, 16 June 1939, Page 10

SHEEP INDUSTRY

ROYAL COMMISSION

POSITION OF CHAIRMAN

An announcement by the Government about the Royal Commission which is to inquire into the wool and meat industry in the Dominion, the appointment of which was promised some time ago by the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage), is awaited with keen interest, particularly in view of the fact that it will constitute the most searching investigation of the sheep industry ever undertaken. The order of reference is likely to be very wide, and the Commission will no doubt be armed with considerable authority in the prosecution of its inquiry.

The fact that the official announcement has not been made is due to the delay that has' arisen in the appointment of a chairman. The rest of the personnel has been determined. but Cabinet has not yet been able to make up its mind about a chairman. Mr. Justice Johnston's name has been freely mentioned, especially as his work as president of the Court of Review has brought him in close touch with farming economy and practice in this country, but in view of his position as a member of the Judiciary and the fact that the duties of the Commission must necessarily involve political issues, the appointment, it is understood, is not acceptable either to the Judiciary or the Government. The Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage) wants an expert and. completely unbiased economic survey of the industry, so that the Government would be in a position to decide what action, if any, might be required.