VEGETABLE PRICES

Evening Star, Issue 24047, 20 November 1941, Page 13

VEGETABLE PRICES

THE CASE FDR MERCHANTS AND AUCTION FIRMS TRIBUNAL'S INQUIRY (L’.A.) WELLINGTON, November 19. The case for the auctioneers and merchants was presented to the Price Tribunal to-day at the inquiry into the price of vegetables. “No Government, merchants, or growers’ organisation could have foreseen in sufficient time the development of the. present situation and so have appreciably altered it,” said Mr Arundel Turner, of Auckland, on behalf of the New Zealand Fruit Merchants and Auctioneers’ Federation. He suggested that consideration of the following points would assist in overcoming similar future difficulties:—The making available of frequent and accurate information of plantings and intended plantings, with comparative figures for the previous year; the making available of adequate supplies of suitable manures; provision for suitable labour; intensified research into plant disease, and pest control as affecting vegetables;' the importation and distribution of suitable seeds; and, where necessary, the provision of light farm machinery. Mr A. Jacobs, managing director of Messrs George Thomas and Co. Ltd., Wellington, also gave evidence for the Fruit Merchants and Auctioneers’ Federation, of. which ho is president. This organisation embraces practically all the firms engaged' in selling fruit and vegetables in metropolitan and provincial areas. . He. said the auctioneers welcomed the inquiry. It was unecono'mic prices in one season which led to a shortage and high prices in succeeding years. . The “ Dig for Victory ” campaign in 1940 had this effect. Suburban gardeners rseponded to the appeal to such an extent that during the height of the season many lines could hardly - be given away, and the loss to producers . was serious. The commercial growers, unable to judge whether this campaign would .be repeated, were probably conservative in their plantings of vegetables which could readily be grown by the suburban.gardener, and no doubt concentrated on the out-of-season lines which would ho more dependable when marketed.' There might he roojn for a difference of opinon on the best method of sale, Mr Jacobs added, hut the auction system had stood the test of years. While other systems had been tried auction was the method by which most of the supplies were sold. The buyers in an auction market were keen and experienced men with a good knowledge of values and the requirements of the pub- " .lie. They would pay for various linesl what they were worth and in accordance with their ideas of retail values,, after allowing for the necessary margin of profit. Every retailer was liable to make a mistake, hut, generally speaking, they had the pulse of the market, which in effect was the demand of the public. Mr Jacobs Quoted the following extract from the Fruit Marketing Report, 1937: “ Tho committee is satisfied that so far as the auctioneering and brokers’ side of the business, as distinct from the trading side, is" concerned, there have not been any excessive profits realised or anything approaching such a statS of affairs.” The charges now made for selling were exactly the same as in 1936, in spite of the many increases in costs which the firms had absorbed, witness said. The fruit and vegetable auctioneers were'probably one* of the few sections of the industry working on the 1936 charges. Mr A. P. O’Shea (New Zealand Farmers’ Union) : Was there any outcry when at periods in 1940 there were disastrous prices for the producers in certain lines? Witness': That is one you don’t hear. The Chairman : Did tlie public get the benefit of such prices?. Witness: That is a question for the retailers, though low prices in the markets are usually reflected in the shops.