DAIRY PRODUCE

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 83, 20 March 1934, Page 8

DAIRY PRODUCE

QUOTAS CONDEMNED Dangerous & Fearsome Thing NEED FOR NEW MARKETS “The quota means control, and control of a very desperate nature; it is a dangerous and fearsome thing,’’ said Mr J. 8. McLeod, president of the Hastings Chamber of Commerce, at the Chamber’s monthly meeting last evening, during a reference to the dairy-produce quota. Mr McLeod went on to say that the quota, in its effect as a measure of control, would be like all other attempts at controlling primary products; it would be a failure.

Attempts had been made to confrol rubber, cotton, sugar, wheat and fruit, and in every instance the attempts had failed. A year or two ago there had been a good deal of talk about controlling wool, but he was satisfied that the growers’ determination to meet the market as it was, and to sell at prices which were regrettably low. had created a demand and had brought about the recovery of the wool market. The first experiment in controlling primary products had been made by the southern States of the United States of America, which attempted to improve the market by controlling cotton. The result was that Britain built the Assouan dam, and to-day England need not care whether America produced any cotton or not. Furthermore, England had created a great expansion of the cotton-growing industry in India. AUSTRALIA AND N.Z. COMPARED. The attempt to control rubber had brought the price down to sixpence, and even less, yet when the attempt bad been made the price was between 2/- and 3/-. But the growers of rubber thought that that was not enough. He believed that nobody could point to a single example of success in con trolling any primary product. Mr McLeod then went on to refer to the possibilities of trade with the East, and said that Australia had sent one of her ablest commercial men to develop her already thriving trade. It wa. * pity that the New Zealand Government had never had any proper representation in the East. The discussion then assumed the form of a discussion of oversea market ing in general, and Mr F. E. Smith remarked that one of the solutions of the difficulties facing the Dominion in its attempts to dispose of its primary products was the finding of new markets in Eastern countries, and the establishment of trade agencies. Mr McLeod: Australia’s exports to the East were valued at about £19.000,000 for the past year, whereas our exports were worth only a few hundred thousands. In another connection, Mr McLeod pointed out that Japan bought about 663,000 bales of wool from Australia and New Zealand last year. Mr R. 8. Chadwick, of Dannevirkc, who was present as a visitor, remarked that while people spoKe of going to the East to seek trade, they were in the same breath proposing to shut out Eastern products from the markets of the Dominion. Britain had sold Japan the machinery with which tc make her products and had taught her how to make them; and now that thi machines were turning out goods, the Empire wanted to keep those goods out of its markets.

A GUESS AT THE FUTURE. “The solution is to sell our products to the East, and so raise the standard of living there,” said Mr K. G. Matheson. “Wo should aim at making tfio people of the East a but-ter-eating and meat-eating people.” Mr H. Hatvey expressed the opinion that Japan brought from us only what she could not buy elsewhere, and that if she bought butter and meat from us she would be a country worth trading with. ‘‘lf Japan buys our wool.” continued Mr Harvey, “how can Britain buy it? In another 20 years’ time she might be buying all of it and paying a quarter of the price that she pays now. For the sake of gaining sixpence to-day, the farmer is running the risk of losing a shilling to-mor-row.” Mr Chadwick: “Japan has been an enormous market for England for 70 years, and sent almost nothing into England in return.” Mr W. E. Bate remarked that a fact sometimes lost sight of was that the population of Japan was increasing by a million a year, and that she must become an increasingly developed industrial country if she were to survive. When she reached saturation point there would be trouble in the Pacific, and if there were trouble, we would be in it. Reverting to the dairy quota, Mr McLeod said that his opinion was that if New Zealand’s butter-fat were allowed to go into production, the position would right itself. If the price were reduced, a greatly increased consumption would come about. NO N.Z. ORGANISATION. Mr Chadwick stated that the Danish dairying industry was organised to the last'degree, but so far as he had been able to discover, there wa s no organisation at all in the Dominion’s dairying industry either in the Dominion itself or at Home. Most of New Zealand’s butter went into blending at Home, and was put to all sorts of uses in which its identity wa s lost. Reorganisation in New Zealand itself was urgently needed. “Is there a country in the world,” he asked, “where there is a greater waste of effort in production?” Mr McLeod said that he had investigated the Danish system of marketing when he was in England, and he had observed that the Danish representatives in London met the market unhesitatingly whatever the price might be, and did not turn on the buyers and abuse them. the discussion arose from the consideration of a circular letter in which the Associated Chambers of Commerce expressed strong disapproval of the quota, and the desirability of trying to arrive at some satisfactory settlement with tho British Government; the need for finding new markets for the Dominion's products; and the need for

examining the alternatives to increasing the Dominion’s swelling output of dairy products.

ALTERNATIVE TO SUBSIDY

Securing of New Markets (By Telegraph-Press Association.) STRATFORD,. March 19. Similar suggestions to that put up by Mr H. G. Dickie, M.P., at Hawera on Saturday were made by Mr W. J. Polson, M.P., previously and published in several papers. Speaking in opposition to the suggestion of a subsidy, Mr Polson said that the alternative was to secure new markets at sacrifice prices. “It may be possible,” he said, “to inako arrangements with Australia to dump given percentages of outputs in certain non-dairying countries and subsidise the dairy farmer to the extent of the difference between those prices and the London parity for that proportion of the product which is dumped. It may even bo possible io adopt the new Australian stabilisation plan in New Zealand and secure a local price commensurate with the real value of our produce in Great Britain after taking all the charges into account. The only thing that is not possible is a direct subsidy to the industry.”