LIME INDUSTRY

Greymouth Evening Star, 5 December 1940, Page 2

LIME INDUSTRY

COMMITTEE'S SUGGESTIONS CONTROL AND SUBSIDY [PER PRESS ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON, December 5. A series of important decisions, including legislative control of the industry, formulated- by the Agricultural Lime Investigational Committee, originally appointed in April, 1939, is detailed in recommendations which have been made to the Minister for Agriculture, (Mr Lee Martin). The report was tabled in the House of Representatives to-day. “The diversified conditions under which the industry labours rendered the task of the committee from the outset a difficult one,” the report states. “If it had been possible to generalise to any degree the committee feels that some reorganisation within the industry would have been possible, and would have been reflected in better conditions, both within and outside the industry. In the circumstances the committee’s hands have been somewhat tied.” The first recommendation of the committee is that the subsidy should be 75 per cent, on rail transport, and 60 per cent, on other methods of transport. It is of opinion that the present system of subsidy by way of free railage on agricultural lime is inequitable, in that it benefits only one section of the farming community, and that it is uneconomic in its present form in its encouragement of overlapping in railage. The estimate is that the cost of the scheme to the Consolidated Fund will, in the first year, amount to £170,000, based on an output of 500,000 tons. The figure may be expected to increase in subsequent years, due to the stimulating effect the subsidy, is expected to have on the demand for lime. Control of prices of lime is recommended by the introduction of a system of registration of lime producing companies, subject to approval by the Minister of an analysis and the fineness of grinding. The committee also recommends that registration should be refused to lime producing companies failing to comply with the terms under which their registration had been originally approved.'

RENTS AND ROYALTIES. . The ■ institution of legislative control to ensure that in future rents and royalties paid for the right to quarry lime are regulated within reasonable limits is recommended. It is also proposed that, if possible, provision should be made for the revising of existing contracts in cases where the charge is deemed excessive. Another recommendation is that the maximum rate of commission on the sale of lime be fixed at 10 per ’cent, of the selling price, excluding the cost of bags. The fixing of a standard charge a ton of lime for the usage of bags is recommended, as also are efforts to explore the possibilities of 'a cheap paper bag being produced within the Dominion. It is also proposed that no prospective lime producing company be allowed to issue •a prospectus without first obtaining a license. Proposals for spreading the peak period of deliveries are recommended to make for greater stability, less congestion, more permanent employment, and reduced costs. While it is not felt that the present is a propitious time for recommending Government assistance for the initial costs, the committee recommends the establishment in back country districts of community crushing plants, ,and suggests that provision should be made for loans, to be repaid by amortisation. Except in certain districts, which are at present poorly served, the committee is of opinion that no new quarries should be opened up adjacent to of in districts easily served by existing units. Some measure of relief from heavy traffic license fees to farmers using their own trucks is recommended, and the committee is also of opinion that any departure from the fixed schedule of road transport charges would be a retrograde step. That the industry should be controlled by legislation, and that the Minister should take appropriate steps to have legislative control put into action, is the final recommendation of the committee. ■ memorandum of dissent from the committee’s recommendations has been signed by Mr N. E. Dalmer, of the Department of Industries and Commerce, who states that a scheme providing for payment by way of subsidy on transport charges only was neither equitable, nor would it overcome those deficiencies in the existing system which were of chief moment to the Government.

’ WEST COAST NEEDS. Reporting on th'e principal representations made, the committee reports that in Canterbury liming oi the soil is of the utmost importance and the potential demand is high The companies expressed no great objection to the scheme of zoning, but farmers do not wish to be debarred from obtaining lime fiom North Otago. Difficulties were experienced in periods of peak demand in obtaining railway trucks, and an endeavour should be made to level off this peak. A subsidy on the cost of road transport is desired, and a certificate should be given by each company as to the quality of its lime. On the West Coast, successful farming, the committee reports, is almost impossible without liming. The companies complained of poor demand on account of the high transport costs, and a subsidy on these costs was sought. Suggestions were also advanced that the committee should consider schemes for financing a farmer for the purchase of lime. In North Otago the potential demand for lime is great. The prices charged are, in one or two cases, stated to be too low, on account of price cutting. The commission paid to agents was too heavy, and it was also suggested that heavy traffic license fees should not be charged on farmers’ trucks. •- The committee says that liming in Marlborough and Nelson gives good results; but had been restricted because of the high costs. There is, however, a good potential demand if the form of subsidy given were not restricted to the cost of transport by rail, as both districts are porly served by that method of transport. It was suggested by the district that the industry be’licensed, and standards fixed, as to quality and fineness of grinding,