CORRESPONDENCE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LIII, Issue 9302, 19 March 1907, Page 5

CORRESPONDENCE.

CHEESE V. BUTTER

(To' the Editor.) Sir,— Although Mor Hodgson does not believe in newspaper correspondence on the above matter, I am inclined to the opposite opinion, as it enables suppliers who are not too stubborn to weigh the matter carefully, aaid then give an intelligent vote on the question that most affects the value of their land, shares, and banking account.

In writing the article that I did I might say that I had no wish to belittle the kiltham Dairy Co. in any way, but only to give toeir suppliers a little food fox tnought, ,and to Ao this I had to compare the Kaupokonud Dairy Co. and their cheese netuams against the Eltbam Co.'s butter returns, a comparison which I notice Mr Hodgson did not like, particularly for the last two years.

Air Hodgson, says : "I did not take two years and' heave junks of depredation at the directors of other factories, etc." In this Mr Hodgson, is quite right in what &c says, as he and .his co-directors , have hardly allowed actual depreciation on plant and machinery and no interest on shares, but paid out every fraction they could in their endeavor to compete with dual factories, bo that the non-supplier who took up shatres in> your company in • the early days to help you start your factory has Eadi the interest on his shares confiscated for 15 years and 1 the price of his shares reduced in selling value thereby to abort half, while Kaupokonui shares sell 'readily from 16s 6d to 19s 6d. '

To show a table of comparison between our company and Eltham ftw tihe last box years would be of little value, as this, » cheese year, would be excluded for one thing, and as I before pointed out our suppliers have paid for' their' factory largely tout of past milk .supply, and mostly, too, by a resolution of the- suppliers at the last annual •meeting', when they wiped 1 the suspense account. ml.> -Mr Hodgson says Eltham Dairy Co.- "is in its fifteenth year." This makes the position all the worse, as in thtose days the only competitor Eltham had was ' a Chinaman, Mr Chew Ghong, who Tan a proprietary factory at Eltham. Being the oldest factory on the coast Tvith a weak competitor Eltham should have made their position exceptionally strong ere this, which they could have done by writing a depreciation of 7£ per cent, off yearly! Again Mr Hodgson says : "I should have got their balance-sheet from the secretary, and not quoted from correspondence.'' I might say that my figures were taken from a letter written by Mr J. Ure Murray, who is chairman of the Eltham Dairy Co., and this should be a sufficient guarantee of their correctneea.

Mr Hodgson points out that Eitham has a shore for every 300 gallons of milk, and not for every lOdlbs- of butter fat as I stated, so by Mr Hodgson's showing Eltham has a share for every 19-30ths of a cow, while our company have built a, dual factory in eight places by making suppliers take one share for every cow, so Mr Hodgson still shows that Eltham have raised the most share capital o£ any factory on the coast, and have only given their suppliers n. single plant for it.

Although Mr Hodgson seems hard to convince, I wil? give him a> small example which might help him. Kaupokonui has a single plant in one place, and that is the Taikatu road, but two months agp a slip occurred in the tunnel at the main fac tory, so the suppliers had to take their milk to the Aurca cheese factory (another of our branches^, and when the directors met we found thai we had saved £95 for the month, through this slip compelling these eight suppliers to go to a cheese factory, that being the actual loss between what we were getting for butter and what we were getting for cheese (without bonus) alter allowing id per 1b butter fat in favtor of skim milk over whey. So I would like to give Mr Hodgson a little proportion sum to wfork out for his suppliers. If eight suppliers lost £9& per month, by supplying a butter factory, how much is Eltham Dairy Co. with about 170 suppliers losing monthly? - ■ ■■- I might aay that •in spite of Mr Hodgson's opinion on the matter of single plants v. dual plants that the Kaupokonui directors at last meeting decided tx> convert the TaikatAi road creamery into a dual factory with the utmost possible speed, and tenders have already closed for the erection of the building.

The tender for the building of the Taikatu chtee&e factory is £390, including additions to men's dwelling, concrete floor estimated at £60, and the estimated cost of the extra, plant is £100, making a total of £550. There is another little proportion sum for Mr Hodgson to work oat for his suppliers. If it co&te £550 to convert a single pliant or a dreamery into a dual factory, and a saving of £95 a month at the flush is effected, how many months will it taie to pay for the new building and plant? Mr Hodgson and hi* co-directors do, like other directors, make mistakes Instance this year when they were offered the largest price ever known for a dea3|on's output since the advent of the dairying industry in New Zealand, but would not take it; wanted more, and now Mr Hodgson is advising suppliers to stick to the single plant, which, to my mind ra the greatest blunder of all, he putting has private opinion against other people's who have tried both the dual and 'single plants. Mr Hodgson' in conclusion compares the Eltham Dairy EaotoTy buildings, plant, horses and employees with any company in Taranaki, but after all these little points matter little, as it is a progressive set of directors with ability that is required to makte the company, not horses, etc. In ooneTusiion, I venture to think that when Eltham takes a vote on this question, cheese v. butter, the progressives will have it, and that Mr Hodgson will be found voting in a helpless minority. "Thanking you in anticipation, — I am, etc., W. D. POWDRELL.

A man who got fourteen days at Cradley Heath for vagrancy had, in order to obtain a night's Test, turned a horse out of its shed into a field, and then laid down in the animal's bed.

Ask any mother in this community who has used Ghambeiilain's Cough Bemedy what she thinks of it. Sho .will tel you that she depends upon it lor coughs, colds, croup, hoarseness, and that by giving it to the children at the very fast sympton of these complaints, they axe never allowed to get a foothold in the house. For sale by W. K. Wallace, chemist, and H. E. Hands, gnwer.