ANOTHER PILL

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 7 October 1924, Page 5

ANOTHER PILL

FOR NEW ZEALAND PRODUCERS. EXCHANGE RATES INCREASED. (By Telegraph-—Special to Star.) WELLINGTON, Oct. 6. The new rates of exchange operating between England and ..New Zealand from to-day is that producers or exporters realising in London and wishing to be paid here will (on demand) receive £97 15s on every £IOO due them. On the other hand an importer can buy in London £IOO worth of goods and pay £99 for them into banks in New Zealand. The only consolation that exporters of the Dominion can derive.from the new rates is that they are 22s 6d per cent less than the exporters or producers of Australia are paying on produce realised in London. There is, of course, the larger advantage not due to banking methods, that producers are in a better position to bear this burden than in former years. This is evident on the comparison of the prices for produce to-day with some former returns for main articles of produce from New Zealand. These show that there is something in the better return- for products with which to meet the £2 5s per cent if the prices for produce to-day are compared with those current early in 1914 or even in the slump immediately following the termination of the war. New Zealand choicest butter realised for 1914 an average in the London market of 116 s 3d, but to-day it is commanding 220 sto 224 s per cwt. Cheese then sold at 66s per cwt, and to-day the latest quotation is 94s to 955." For medium crossbred wool (the bulk of New Zealand production) 61A per cent of the clip made 3£d to 4|d per lb. In New Zealand sale rooms to-day these wools are commanding 20d to 22d per lb, and coarse crossbreds that brought 3d to 3£d in 1921 are now selling at 19d to 21d per lb in London. Dairy produce has never felt the shock that staggered the world of industry: Meat, however, was bought at wliat farmers thought was a very good price indeed under the so-called commandeer, when “specially prime Canterbury quality lambs” was bought for shipment from New Zealand at 6=}d per lb, and priniest wethers at sgd.’ Today the prices such meat is realising in 'London (not allowing for freight and other charges) is 12jd for lambs and Bjd for wethers. Of course the costs of production' are higher, hut the agreeable fact lias to be recorded that exports for the, 12 months ended August 31 are valued at £49.183,153. as compared with £45,967,165 for the whole of 1923. (BY TELEGRAPH—PRESS ASSOCIATION.) FEILDING, Oct, 6. The associated banks on Saturday raised the rate of exchange on London for demand drafts by 5s per cent., and Mr R, Cobbe (chairman of the Dairy Farmers’ Union) sent the following telegram to the Prime Minister today : “The banks on Saturday increased exchange to 455, making an extra charge of £125,000 to producers. Can you obtain a 30s rate for farmers ,similar to the charge on the recent loan? The matter is very serious to dairymen.’’