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Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume X, Issue 139, 27 May 1920, Page 4

It is understood that we in New Zealand have in Australia, purchased and paid for when tho Commonwealth; had very large surplus stock./in hand,; a substantial stand-by of wheat ready to help meet the threatened shortage in* our own production. In this th,e people of the Dominion may. consider j themselves very fortunately placed, for, ajwe now know, there ,is every prospect of Australia herself having littlo edouglv grain to provide for home consumption,and doubtless the Government there would gladly repurchase our little lot at a very appreciab’a, advance. That there-would-have been but little chance just now of securing-any such (supplement to bur own crops 011 the strength of a claim for'sympathetic treatment from Australia may be assumed'from the attitude which Victoria is towards her immediate neighbepr,- New South Wales- As was mentioned in a recent cable, Victoria —and. probably, Victoria alone of the' States —has a large exportable surplus 01 wheat. Op the other hand,-a wees'

ago stocks of wheat held by and on, the way to the New South Walea flourmills were so low that, unless replenished, they would last only some ten or eleven days. Appeals to Victoria to hasten supplies of raw material seem to have fallen on deaf ears, and this despite the fact that in January last a contract was entered into by the Victorian Government to provide for New South Wales up to 30,000 tons a month. This contract was not being observed, the explanation offered being that delays had occurred through oversea export shipments demanding priority of attention.

The New South Welshmen, however, are apparently very dubious about the sincerity of this explanation, their view, as voiced in the press, being that Victorian milAers want to do the gristing for New South Wales, thereby gaining the profit on the extra flour, bran, and pollard which would be supplied by them to that State. “Naturally,” says the Sydney “Herald,” “the Victorian Government is amenable to Victorian pressure, and so declares that it will not allow an increase in the export of wheat from Victoria to New South Wales until statistics have been produced showing that there is an absolute dearth in New South Wales. This statement is made in face of the fact that the statistics of the Australian Wheat Board show that there are only 60,000 bushels of wheat in the New South Wales pools. The Victorian Government, too, is probably feeling pressure from farmers who believe that they should have got world’s parity, 12/6 a bushel, for their wheat, sold to a sister State, instead of the price fixed by the wheat pool, 7/8.

“Our bread supply,” our exchange continues caustically, “is not in danger, because in the last resort supplies of flour would be hurried across from 3 ictoria, at a fine profit te Victorian millers, hut the closing down of the New South Wales mills would throw many men out of work; the cutting off of bran and- pollard would cripple the poultry industry, and would curtain the supply of milk to the people. In the last few years many returned soldiers have been encouraged to start as poultry farmers- Their living is now in jeopardy .because Victoria is not kept up to her contract.” It may be guessed from this accusation of Victorian disregard for a sister State’s necessities that we in New Zealand would have got but a poor hearing had it been that we had now to plead for assistance. This Dominion may therefore be congratulated on having an Australian supply that merely requires shipping to make it available. At the same time, it has to be recognised that, even with this welcome supplement, our stocks will be none too much. It may be added that it is not so long ago that, by certain sections of the press, our own Government was being charged with .wickedly wasteful extravagance in making the purchase that now looks like proving the householder’s salvation from excessive bread prices.