MEAT BOARD CRITICISED

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 5 December 1929, Page 7

MEAT BOARD CRITICISED

“OCTUPUS FEEDING UPON FARMERS.” MR C. D. DICKIE’S VIEWS. “The Aleat Export Board is simply an octupus feeding upon the farmers. It collects a lot of money, but does little beyond a small amount of advertising.” This statement was made by Mr C- D. Dickie, chairman of the Patea Freezing Company, Ltd., and a member of the South Taranaki provincial executive of the Farmers’ Union, when speaking at a meeting of that body this morning. The meeting had been requested by the Dominion executive of tlie union to forward its views upon a remit that the Government should be asked to draw up legislation during the recess, governing tlia export and marketing of wool along lines similar to the legislation of tlie New Zealand Aleat Producers and Dairy Producers’ Boards. The executive was of the opinion that the personnel of the -board should be bona-fide sheepfarmers only. Mr Dickie could not see what such a hoard could achieve, and he considered that the Aleat Producers’ Board merely meant a waste of money. “The board is run by a few Canterbury sheepfarmers and the Canterbury A. and P Association,” lie added. It has an office in Wellington which serves little purpose beyond the issue of a few statistics that are valueless to the producers here, hut which might possibly be of some interest to the Home buyers. Tlie board is not m touch with the meat producers’ interests as is the Dairy Board with dairy farmers’ matters, and its constitution seenis only a good opportunity for a few to draw’ big salaries and fees out of the £35,000 the board receives in levies.”

Mr W. E. Carter: I thoroughly agree with you. Proceeding, Mr Dickie said that the Meat Board had purchased a site for cool stores in a useless .position on the wrong side of the Thames, an amount of £30,000 having -been squandered upon it. There was an expensive office at Home which sent over a few cables containing information that could be obtained from the blackboards at the Smithfield markets any Friday. He had made a study of the board s activities during his recent trip Home and he had based his comments upon his observations.

“If we go on at the present-rate we will have two-thirds of the population living on the producers,” added Mj Dickie. In its activities at Home the board does not work in with the Dairy Board in the matter of advertising New Zealand products, but, if it did, a big amount could be saved annually.’ Mr Dickie moved a resolution to the effect that the executive was opposed to the setting up of the board, as there were now too- many such boards in exThe motion was carried unanimously.