CORRESPONDENCE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LIII, Issue 9303, 20 March 1907, Page 5

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE CO-OP. DAERY CO. CRISIS.

1 (To the Editor.) Sir, — It is sometimes said that suppliers of dadry companies are not lioyal to tihe principle of co-operation. For instance, if they were staunch and true, tWougbJ they may he only getting 9|d per 1b for butter fatj they would stick to their own. factory even if within reach of a cheese r factory paying out ■ 13d,- as undoubtedly some chees* factories are doing. . They ought to be willing to lose.3|d per lb, not a great way short of half their year's earnings, because their souls are thriled with high principle, say, like the soldiers! in the charge oi the Light Brigade. And though they may know, as the soldiers did, that "fllorae one had blundered" in the management of their affairs. And they are to. be willing to go on year after year losing heavily, willing martyrs forsooth, to evident bad management. I hope the shareholders of the Eltham Cb. will not be each "dumb driven cattle," to quote another poet. The Chairman of a neighboring company lately said to me : "Have you heard the latest? Kaupokonui has one small creamery without a cheese plant. The machinery went wrong, and during repairs tiie suppliers took their milk to the nearest cheese factory. At the end of the montto, when they received their cheques for the cheese-making, the amount made them open their eyes. They sized things -op, and found that they had this season lost enough, through butter-making, to nearly 1 put up two and a half cheese factories. j Result.: they have already let a contract for a cheese factory, and bound the contractor to record time in putting it up. "Common sense," might well be the comment. , .■,..,.. The present prices relatively of butter and cheese in London admit payiog, say, about 9£d fcr butter-maMng and' about 13£ d for cheeseTinalring, or a differenae of about 4d K per lb of butter. fat in favor of cheese. This on the yiearfs butter fat amounts to £26,371 to the Eltham Co., which would more than put up tw*> and a half cheese plants. — I am, etc., J. URE MURRAY.

EltJ»am, March 39.