MR H. J. MIDDLETON HONOURED

Evening Star, Issue 20194, 6 June 1929, Page 6

MR H. J. MIDDLETON HONOURED

PRIMARY PRODUCERS’ TRIBUTES VALUABLE SERVICES APPRECIATED About thirty persons connected with the primary industries, and representing practically every part of New Zealand, attended a dinner held at the City Hotel last night to extend a welcome to Mr Edgar Harding (chairman of the New Zealand Producers’ Cooperative Marketing Association), who recently returned from a visit to England, and to bid farewell to Mr H. J. Middleton, the first chairman of the association, who is now retiring from the association. The chair was occupied by Mr W. Fisher, of Featherston, who was acting chairman of the company during Mr Harding’s absence. In proposing the health of Mr Harding the Chairman said that when they sent Mr Harding and Dir Davidson to the Old Country they had sent them with a definite mission, and they had come back with their mission completed. They all knew that Mr Harding had been quite successful in his position as chairman of the association during the three vears he had held office. In the course of his reply Mr Harding said he hoped that the experience he "had gained,- at Home would be ol special benefit to the dairy producers of this country. All classes of people weio engaged in the industry, and he believed that the young men engaged in primary production should start to shoulder the burdens of the industry, and so help it along. When he was , crossing Canada he was struck by the hugeness of the country, but when he realised' that production, there was worth anything for only four or five months, while in New Zealand it could r be carried on during the whole year, ho j realised what a marvellous country tins 1 ‘ must he. When one told the people > overseas about the quantity of produce exported from New Zealand they thought it could not possibly be done. ; He could not help marvelling at tno rapid progress in the matter of transit. 1 In regard to the dairy industry, a visit to Tooley street was a wonderful thing. The English methods oi handliiif our produce had been criticised, but lie bad come hack with quite a dif , ferent idea from what he bad when he went a,wav from Now Zealand. He I was satisfied that there were many I men in the Old Country whose aim was to do the best in the handlnng of produce, ami whose honesty of purpose was beyond question. It was very pleasing to' note the manner in winch the word of business men was accepted, even when thousands of pounds were involved in a deal. He believed that the aim of the Co-operative Wholesale bofjpty in England was to do what it i*ould to hell) the producers at this end. The Co-operative people were very much interested in this country, and he believed that the directors were men ol ability. Tf tbev had their own way, thev ' would prefer British products first, hut if they were asked for loieign produce they had to supply it. here was a market in London for anything we could send. to it. including boneless veal, for which there was a ready sale. This was an excellent product, and was ( sought after readily. He felt sure that in the future stable prices would ! prevail, and that the future prospects | were quite hopeful. During the past season there had. perhaps, been a little congestion at times, but prices had ' been very fair. Mr Hardmg said he would he very pleased to do anythin*, he could to help the industry along, and ho and Mr Davidson won r lie glad to give anv advice they could. The toast of “The Dairying Imiusfrv” was proposed by Mr '• Minks (Hawera), and in supporting it Mr -I. G. Darkness (Wellington) said the o-mwth of tho industry depended very hreely on the fact that it had been carried out by co-operative dairy companies, which had rendered excellent service at tho lowest possible cost, He did not say that middlemen were not necessary, "but there co-dd be such a thi.m as too many of them. The weakness of co-operation m New Zealand seemed to be a want of loyalty to tiie principle, winch some people would use in one way but not in another. To achieve the greatest success thev must be loyal to the principle to the utmost. The speaker went on to urge that there should be no competition between one co-operative company and another lor supplies,, and to say that there seemed to be a tendency -by both butter and cheese companies to devote insufficient attention to quality. Too many people seamed to bo satisfied with getting a grading of just over 91 points instead of striving to attain 94 or 9o points. They must keep up the quality in order to retain i the markets of the world i The toast was responded to by Messrs I ,T. iv. Stubbs (Northern Wairoa). H. H. Meredith (Waimatc), and John I Smith (Oware). Before calling on Mr Harding to propose the health of Mr Middleton, the Chairman stated that tho latter had been on the Marketing Board since its inception, and had been its chairman for some years. They Had looked to Mr Middleton to pilot them through the early years, when the association’s r troubles.were numerous. Dir Middieton : had decided to retire of his own accord, t He said he was getting up in years; t “but.” stated the speaker, “he knows nothing about it.”- (Laughter.)

Mr Harding «aid he was very glad that Mr Middleton had still the health and strength to give rhe industry the benefit of Ids services, though he had decided to retire from the directorate. Tim speaker said that Mr Middleton had been in the forefront of the fight for co-operation, and the other members of the board had stood _ loyally behind him tinring his term of office. The association’s turnover now was something like £1.750,000. Mr Middleton had led the board of directors wisely during the troublesome years, and ho had always been greatly admired. He was big in body, heart, ami vigour, and. though lie was retiring, he was still keeping an interest in the organisation. They wished him and Mrs Middleton the best of health, and they hoped they would look back on their connection with the industry witli a great deal of pleasure, fn concluding, Mr Harding asked Mr Middleton to accept a chair for Mrs Middleton to commemorate their past associations with one another. (Appmuse.) Messrs Winks and V. Harkness also paid a tribute to Mr Middleton. In replying to the toast, Mr Middleton said ho had been in some pretty tight corners, but never in such a tight one as he was in then. He really did not know how lie came to bo associated with the dairy industry. It might surprise them to know that he had never milked a cow till he was twentyfive years of age, and that he made a pretty had job of it then. The speaker made humorous reference to an excursion in which he took part one day, when he and a companion had a lively experience in catching n sheep for slaughtering, fog and holes in fences playing an important part in the epissode His early experience with the association comprised battling for shareholders and output in the face of strong opposition Some violent fluctuations had been experienced at times. He was extremely grateful tor the kindly feeling which prompted the presentation. He was not going out of the association joyfully. He had enjoyed Ids connection with it, and it was quite a wrench to break away from it. The other toasts honoured were ‘The Dairy Produce Board’ (proposed by Mr Thomas Moss, of Palmerston North, and responded to by Mr torus, chairman of the board), and “The Meat I Industry ’’ (proposed by Mr J. R. Thatcher and responded to by Mr G. D. I Macfarlane, the London representative of the Meat Department oLihe association). *