WOOL LEVY

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 12869, 23 May 1936, Page 7

WOOL LEVY

PUBLICITY AND RESEARCH. SHEfPOWNERS APPROVE PRINCIPLE. MAXIMUM OF SIXPENCE A BALE IMPORTANT QUALIFICATION. In response to a. meeting called by the Farmers’' Union, tho A. and P. Association, and the Sheepowners’ Federation, to disenaa the proposed wool levy, there! was an attendance of about 20 in Lo Grand Lounge yesterday afternoon, Mr J. C. Graham presiding. It was decided to approve of tho levy with al maximum of sixpence a bale for the purposes of pub licity and research, with important qualifications. The chairman in opening the meet ing, said' that South Africa had already agreed to a levy, and the schema was well under way in Australia, but he did hot know exactly how far it had gone.. The Poverty Buy A. and P. Association: had passed a resolution favoring a levy for the purpose of propaganda. In response to the, request of the chairman, Mr W. E. Chamberlain, secretary o:| the A. and 1?. Association.. read a. circular describing the effects of anti-wool propaganda.

The chairman said that such propaganda. would greatly influence the public, especially when, it referred to tho alleged effects of woollen goods on public health. Be thought it should be contradicted and suggested the advisability of a levy on each bale of wool for propaganda purposes, and also the control o) subsidy. Mr ,T. C. Field suggested that research should ho added l to tho proposal. The New Zealand sales started in Auckland and the wool there was of inferior quality and those prices were cabled Homo.

The chairman, suggested the meeting should first consider the principle of raising -a. levy fur propaganda.' Mr E. R. Black moved;—

“That this meeting of representative shoepfarmers. favours the principle of -a. levy on wool for the purpose of propaganda aiul research.

Mr W Graham seconded the mo t ion.

REFERENDUM .URGED'

Air G. V. Smith moved si* an amendment :• —

a That a. referendum of growers he taken on the question of propaganda, and research. He thought that, research was not necessary in this country. To bismind, there was no occasion lor the j Wool Board or a levy The levy would i mean a. tax on wool, and, was a da-n- ---| serous- matter at the present time. I He "thought -farmers' were putting | their heads in the wolf's mouth, byes j tablishing such a principle. He had I heard of anti-wool propaganda all his lifetime. If the manufacturers of | other goods fought against artificial | products why could not the ma-nu-j facturer of' woollen goods; follow the j same course? Why should 'they came • to the cookies of this country to get I up against the linen manufacturers? j The farmers already lost- one per j cent, of their wool. 3Ub. in every i bale, which was not paid for. That dated hack to the time when scales were not reliable. He looked upon tho proposal as a matter for the j Wool Board. In any case most of the j substitutes were in competition with New; Zealand wool. All the propaganda was in reference to fine wool, not crossbred wool. The wool situation was probably never better.

The manufacturer had- said they were never so close to the sheep’s, back as to-day. He was not afraid of the manufacturers. The League of Nations was a wash-out. All nations were! peparing for war. Thei end appeared to him to be more trouble, and they would have the old trouble over again.

Research work in England, continued Air Smith, that sounded all right, hut one could not go far in research in wool. It was not like research in meat. Moat was not delivered in the- Old Country in a state to compete, with. English meat-. That called for research no doubt, but the same l reasons did not apply to. wool. The. more sorts of wool there were the hotter. Crutchings. sometimes sold for more than fleece wool. All ■'lasses of Wool were needed for all classes of business. The question of improvement in wool was a question of evolution. It iv'as no trouble to improve wool, but that would he to the detriment of the carcase. Then fash'ons. change, and that wa-s nnotli or feature'. Then' there was also tho question of putting wool to more use. That was being followed in Yorkshire where wonderful things were being done. It was no use setting up such research institutions <n this •country. The New Zealand Government subsidises the Yorkshire station.

COSTS MUST-BE KEPT DOWN BY

FARMER

The proposed levy would help the Government in regard to the employ ment of men, for more assistance would be needed in the Taxation Department. No. on'o knew what the com ing' Bill was, or the intentions oF tho Government. Costs must be kept down by the farmer. He would now have to. pay for a .40-hour week. Lord Rarnby sahjl the j Bill Should not he under political control,' hut the Govt eminent stood for 1 political control. The sheepowners should have a referendum on the* Subject, •

Mr J. G. Brosnahan, seconded the amendment and urged farmers to bo careful. The charges' already had gone quite "liiglir enough; ho said.

DANGER OF' APATHY

Mr J. C. Field supported the) motion. A well-known .scientist who camo out to New Zealand stressed the danger of apathy on the part of the New Zealandlsh'eepfiirmer. So, far as the realisation of of wool was concerned, he hoped it would be taken into consideration. There were a-‘sea-t-ion of men in the country who belittled research because they wanted to put more money into their pockets. •

IMPORTANCE' OF PUBLICITY

Mr C. IT. Williams said he 'Supported the resolution. They had had examples of ahti-’wo-ol propaganda,, which was very mischievous, and counter-propaganda was essential. How far the increase in the use of textile fibres was duS to propaganda was hard to say, but manufacturers would; not support textile fibres unless, it paid them. Then again, one should consider the success of the Moat Board through publicity. The Jean years) would, come again, and.' in the absence of publicity the; industry would 'suffer. Woolgrowers in other countries were agreed that publicity was of much value. The more merino that went into consumption thd better for New Zealand. Anything adverse to merino wool meant that it was also adverse to New Zealand wool. Research world at Massey College had been strangled through economy and he felt sure the industry had suffered. The late Government flavored a fund for research purposes. and the movement, started a few years ago was initiated by Mr 'Forbes. The present Government appeared. satisfied it is fnr the benefit of the wool growing- industry and it 'appeared they wore going to put it through. It was*an urgent necessity to have a levy.

A. CHALLENGE

Mr G. V. Smith: “Are you afraid of! a referendum ?”* Mr Williams; “Yes; because the people do not get all the information that should be needed to decide on tho .subject-.” On a. referendum, he said, the proposed levy would he beaten) unless men went, round,- and explained, the scheme in full. Then there was the expense. Those present were representatives of the farmers and shcepfarmers. They were supposed- to he the leaders and they should take the lend in this matter.

Mr L. Cooper, secretary of the Young Farmers’ Club, said a levy might he used as -a. lover to lower present prices. He thought the farmers should he up! in arms- in their own - interests.

Air Black, in supporting his motion, said one point missed by the speakers v.-a-s the attitude of the manufacturer to the raw product, 'flie manufacturer did no* care- whether he was selling artificial fibre or. wool. The farmers were the ones to suffer.

The chairman sa ; d he was quite agreed with the view that much li-aim was done bv referendum.-?! to people who did not know all the merits of a case. HOW FAR. DOES RESEARCH EXTEND? Mrs Fyke- sal?cT she agreed with Mr Smith tha*; farmers must grow what the coy?) try wanted. She would like trj know what the term “rev searcli’’ really meant, how far it extended, -etc-. The chairman said the demand made the manufactured article, but research made the substitute.

Airs Pike said wool had been mixed for years. Mr Black said that recently he met tho. Minister of Agriculture ana the latter said it was the intention of the Government to make research work cover far more than the production of wool. The amendment was then put to 11 i e m eet ing a n cl' lost. Tlie motion was carried. LEVY OF SIXPENCE A BALE

Air Field asked whether the motion meant that sixpence was the maximum. He agreed with that sum, which would realise £17,563 on 702.556 bales, which with a. subsidy from the Government would prove of great assistance. Ho thought that the Meat. Board should give a subsidy, as the matter had to deal with the prc-ducts of the animal. He moved “That the- levy on publicity, research, and. realisation ha restricted to a maximum of sixpence per bale.”

THREE IMPORTANT POINTS STRESSED

Air C. 11. Williams said ho thought it was dangerous to send such a- resolution to Wellington without any qualifications. Farmers wore going to get the Bill and they wanted it to be as good as. possible. . There were two or three points in. the. proposal o'- the Bill with which ho could, not agree. First, sheepowners we.ro not in a majority on the committee proposed in the Bill. If sheep farmers were paying the piper they should, bo privileged to call tho tune. The sheep owner should have control of ! the proceeds of the levy. Secondly, sheep!'armors should have some voice in the appointment of the committee. The* proposals merely said that) the Governdnt would appoint the’ com-;! nfittee. 'Thirdly there was! the question of fin a noa. The money for research was to bo paid into the Consolidated Fund and* then handed out to the Department of Scientific! and Industrial Research. If the Govern-

mcnt, liftcl 'suoli a I fund in hand it might)’ be tempted! to cut down its annual, appropriation itav research. The farmers’ direct contribution should carry a, subsidy. There was ono other feature in the Bill to he watched and that was that 25 per cant, of the proposed levy was to go to research in New Zealand and 75 per cent, to publicity. That scorned to him to lie wrong in principle. Tho committee sliouhl not he tied down to any definite percentage, ft might even he advisable to increase the levy if the occasion arose. Me moved :

“That this meeting approves of the principle of a levy on. wool for the purpose of advertisement and res enroll up to a. maximum «f sixpence per bale, provided that the committee are not tied to a definite proportion for each of the two pur poses but are empowered to allocate amounts to each purpose which they deem necessary; and fuither, (1) that the administration of the levy is under the control of a. committee comprising a majority of wool producers; (2) that the portion of the fund allocated to scientific research in New Zealand should, carry a definite annual subsidy from the general funds of the State; (5) that farmers he given some voice in the selection of farmer members of the committee.”

Mr L. 11. McLean seconded: the motion. Tlie question of how the money was to he spent, he said, depended largely on the personnel of the committee. Tie thought it! would be criminal if the money was spent by a committee with shipowners in the minority.

Mr Field agreed to withdraw his motion. Tie thought the producers wanted a. fixed sum. Mr S. E. Gillingham said he was quite in accord with the proposed levy of sixpence' a bale.

The motion was. then carried

It was decided to forward copies of the motion to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Ag iouiture.

WOO (.RACK PRICES

Mr J. C. Field raised the question of the fixation of prices of woolpacks. The Government, lie said, had fixed the ports -oA distribution, but Hawke’s Bay and Poverty Bay wer!eft out of the list. He thought thattha mattc-r should be rectified.

The chairman said that, he thought the subject was one more for the Farmers’ Union to discuss. Tho present meeting had! been called to deaf only with tho wool levy.

The meeting then closed