CO-OPERATION.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 28 July 1927, Page 6

CO-OPERATION.

MARKETS AND MARKETING

FARMERS ADDRESSED BY MR

POGSON

WELGINGTON, July 2S. At the annual conference of the Farmers’ Union to-day, Mr W. J. Poison, Dominion President, gave an address on the future, of co-operation.

“At a time when economists are preaching lower values and when the primary production of New Zealand is more or less at a standstill it is wise to take stock of the position, and study the future. I wish to strike a note, of optimism,” said Mr Po'ison in opening his address.

“The recent set-back to co-opera-tive marketing in connection, with our dairy produce, together with the reduced prices obtainable: generally for most of our products, have created some anxiety. Personally, I think there should be- no such feeling. The present depression, .although severe, is undoubtedly temporary. All the evidence points to an increased future demand for the product® of the. soil, and the trend of modern economic evolution is so decidedlv towards the association of individuals into igroups for the merchandising of all products, whether primary or secondary, that organised marketing is inevitable, however ndisy the opposition to it. “Get us examine these two questions of future marketing prospects and the co-operative control .of markets. It seems to me that while such an examination may not provide an immediate anodyne, it will at least help us to revive our faith both in the business of primary production and the prospects of a successful revolution in our marketing methods. “A suggestion has recently been made by a Dutch Professor, Dr. Albrecht Penck, in an address to the International Science Congress, that the limit of population, with la.L 1 , the cultivable land, tilled is 80 billion® of people. He declares that there are still vast areas to be drawn into the service of man and that in the greater part of the world, productivity per unit could be very much increased. Grave doubt has, however, been thrown upon lioth these latter statements by other investigators of greater prominence. Food supply and population have so far keep pace with one another, but how far and how long food supply wiill continue to lie augmented to accommodate the enormous growth of populations is a matter many do not so lightly dismiss. ‘‘The stork may have become less active,” says Dr. East, “but the inertia of death has more t han made up the difference.” The writer in question proceeds to analysis, the world’s productive possibilities in development of his argument that eugenics will ultimately become the ou'y weapon against over-population and under-production. He declares that the land is not ,available for any vast expansion of primary production in the United States herself, and quotes the production figures of the other leading producing countries as a proof that expansion cannot he very great. “Mv own belief is that pressure of -in'dation and the need for cheaper food must in the near future break down the economic barriers of some of our greater neighbours and destroy arbitrary fiscal cordons, which can provide ho permanent national bulwark against competition.’’ "After detailing the growth of the cooperative system. Mr Poison spoke of the success the Canadians had attained in the fight against grain monopolies by pooling. Pooling the Key.

“The New Zealand system of control is not singular in conferring legislative power on Control Boards to bind minorities,” he said, “but it possesses advantages over other mandatory systems inasmuch us it does not allow any interference with production and heaves it, to the producers themselves to decide what- measure of control, if any, they ,shaU employ. It seems to me that pooling is the key to the successful merchandising of our products. It is impossible to contemplate organised selling without pooling. Pooling gives the most important measure of control and enables regulation of the rate of movement to market and the distribution of the product as to locality and demand To abandon pooling as to show want of study of economics .and to throw away the whole position. It is to betray the producers and deal 1 ; a deadlv blow at co-operation. “The American Farm Bureau federation in its official publications declares that ‘pooling is the cornerstone of the merchandising plans of all the American Co-operative Associations that are organised on a commodity wide basis,’ and practically every primary industry is so organised. To quote from this publication more extensively: 'Pooling is generally accepted as a fundamental 1 part of successful co-op-erative marketing. No alternative method has been lomul that suppies a feasilie basis for merchandising, and pooling is now finding a place in the plans of nearly all new organisations. The part which pooling plays in co-operative marketing needs t general classification. It is not end m itself, hut purely a means to an end. ihe object of co-operative marketing is intelligent merchandising which depends for its success for it,s control over the product l>v the association. loaning o-ives the association the necessary control. Pooling is not primarily for homing but for merchandising. That point i.- often confused.’ “It will be seen from the above summary of co-operative methods oi control abroad that New Zealand’s system is in many respects similar and aims at the same result-. “The main differences are: (1) In the application of compulsion to minorities. and (2) the method (now abandoned)" of fixing prices. The Danes adopt a different system because they have found compulsion unnecessary, the manifest advantages of pooling being obvious to a large enough proportion of them to make it serve their needs. The Copenhagen Committee certainly fixes prices, but they are minimum, prices much be’mv the actual ■veiling values of the 'product and arc in no wax- intended to hold up the market. As I explained in my address last year, it has always been a- sore point with the Danish factories that the Copenhagen Committee’s price is too low, but the over-price is .received in the bonus and when the bonus is large in any year the following year’s price is generally raised a little. “In spite of the recent, set-back of control 1 ., .1 am convinced tlrat it will illtimateiv achieve all that was expected of it, without price dictation., and that the producers of this Dominion will some day realise its value. “One "tiling appears certain —that control along such lines as we have adopted is essential to the industry and that the future of the primary producer, whether he is a grower of but-ter-fat or wool, need cause n<o -uneasiness. The markets which already exist are likelv to continually increase; the organisation to capture them depends upon himself. He may rest assured that his competitors are developing such an organisation and that they will nob lose heart at the first fust lade of the enemy.”