PRICE OF BUTTER.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXII, 23 October 1916, Page 5

PRICE OF BUTTER.

CONFERENCE OF DAIRY FACTORY DIRECTORS. There was a largo gathering cf dairj factory directors' i.v l.^ v» inter Show .Buildings, Hawera, on. sataraay, caJlec by the Dairy Factory Employers' As soeiatioti, to discuss the question oi the irate of wages to be paid to employees/ nnd otifor matters. Air I'ingU presided^ but the proceedings were noi open to the press. After lunch, Mr Morton, chairman ci the National Dairy Association, occupied the chair, and introduced the ques tion of the price of butter recently nxec by the Government. He briefly explained the circumstances which led up to the conference of dairy factory representatives recently called by the Minister of Agriculture and the proceedings at the conference The notice calling them together set but that it was to discuss the question of fixing the local price of butter anc important proposals with regard to the export of cheese and butter. There were in all some twenty-five representatives present, as well as the Minister of Agriculture, - the members of. the Board of Trade,, and one or two members of the Dairy Division staff. The Minister occupied the chair and aftei explaining the reason for calling the conference asked the chairman of the Board of Trade to briefly state the effect. oi: some of their investigations into the local price of butter, etc. After that the dairy industry representatives were invited to take part in the discussioji, but no attempt was mad© to put forward any proposals nor was any mention made of the "important proposals relating to the export of cheese and butter," as indicated in the notices sent out to the delegates. All they were asked was to say whether they were prepared to allow the price of buttar to -remain a; what it then stood at on the local market, or to reduce that price. Right-through, the whole discussion there was the emphatic pronouncement on the part of'the Minister and the Board of Trade that there must be no discussion on the question of increasing local pa-ices, wmch were then at. least 2d per 1b less than the f.o.b. value for London shipments. There was an admission by T?n.e Minister and ,th© Board of Trade that, as a result of tneir investigations, they wfere satisfied that there had been no exploitation; of trie local market; on the contrary the producers had lost £76,000 during the last two years, as a result of selling locally instead -of shipping to London. With that admission before them it was -reasonable to expect that some consideration would have been given .to the. contention that1 there should be some par? ity between the- local prices and the f.o.b. A raiue' ofi shipmencs to London, but apparently, aitnough the delegates were called to AVellington for the purpose of discussing tne question, the whole scheme had been cut and dried beforehand. The . conference sat from .1.30 to six o'clock,..when the Minister and th© Board of Trade members left, suggesting that the delegates should furtner discuss- the position during theji absence, > and .endeavor to evolve some practical basis, provided always that i 1 did not mean any increase of the locai prices. A committee was set up, and iat.eir in the .evening prepared a report (already published in. these columns; which the delegates unanimously adopted and subsequently submitted tc the ActirigrPremier, tne Minister •oi Railways, and the Board : .of Trade, wh< accompanied the Minister for Agricdl ture. The Acting-Premier' was em pha:ic in his pronouncement that Cab met had previously considered the posi tion, and they were not pi-epaied t< listen to any proposals which did no embody a fixed local price, not highe than the price ruling at that time. A; nothing further could be done, th< conference -dispersed, after having set v a small committee to watch proceeding further. The next stage was the gazet ting of regulations prohibiting the ex port of butter and cheese, exceptin under /license, and the imposing of i •tax of |d per lb on butter-fat to b paid by all factories in order to pro vide a fund whereby the factories ,sel] ing butiter con the local market at les than the London value, might be re-iiu bursed. Mr Triggs, who was gazette* as the licensing authority, notified th members of the committee, which ha been set up at the conference, that h desired to discuss with them details o the Government proposals. The con: mitt'ee met and decided first of all t enter an emphatic protest against th .regulations. They pointed out to M Triggs that they were acting unde protest and without prejudice to an future action they might take. Thej however, decided that it would be wis to give the Government officials an ■assistance" they could at this sta^e, b< cause a-(refusal to do so might seriousl prejudice th^jr shipping arrangements As a result of their, conference, seven important modifications were made i working arrangements and cond ■tions under which licenses would be f: sued. The levy -was fixed on the basi that for every penny difference b< itwe.en the local price and the Londo value the contribution from butter-fa values shall be one farthing. The % levy now fixed was on an estimated di; ference of 3d, because although th.c ,1< cal price was Is 5d and the f.o.b. Lot don value Is 7d the Board of Trad had ueduGed the local price to Is 4c The present basis may b.e raised froi time to time as circumstances require) If it happened that the London pric( rose to a value that made tE e differeuc between it and the local price 5d the "the contribution .from the factorie would be increased to 1 Jd; ■ if, on tl other hand, the London price fell s that the difference was only 2d, tl "levy would "be reduced to %d. TThili this discussion was proceeding with i\ Triggs, the committee instructed tl secretary of -the "National Dairy Assoc ation to consult a solicitor as 1 whether or not the regulations mat "by the Government fixing the local pri< of 'butter and compelling a contribi tion from dairy companies on their bu ter-fat receipts, were within their poA ■ers. The committee", in doing tbi considered it to be its duty to tal ■every possible step to protect- the ii dustry from what they considered s arbitrary and unjust principle. Lab m the afternoon tTiey received woi from their solicitor that, although 1 bad not had time *o s,o as fully mi the matter as he wuld have liked, 1 was satisfied there were gi'ounds f< questioning the validity of tlie regul tions. The committee then decided instruct 'their solicitor 'to tnke the n cessary proceedings to test the valiclii of the Government regulations, belie ing that the matter was of such' ir mense importance to dairy eompaiii thai they were justified in using' evei means in their power to avoid tne na of this arbitrary tax. Just lie: he miejht mention that the Minieti and the Board of Trade tried to ir pre««s upon them that this inrnositu could not in any wav be regarded as +ox; if was smirily taking: from one nri tion of thf> inrfustvy and giving: it fnother. (Lansht.erI*. "We, coutinui the speaVer. "say it is a tax imposi on one cinss of tbo community in orri t^a- another class of the conunun I'-rv-ngrlifc have a chenper article of food Continuing, the chairman snid that tl fommittpe deemed it wise to P^anav the Minister and the Board of Trai ef fbeir .decision to eosisst ihe case, ai

! asked th.it the regulations should be suspended until a judgment was obj tamed. Also that the case should be hea-rd by three judges of the Supreme - Court in oider that the decision might be conclusive and on e from which there ; would not be any appeal. On these ! po.nts they were met reasonably, and it r has now been arranged that the case snail be heard m Wellington on Friday next by the Chief Justice and two other judges of the Supreme Court. If their . decision upholds th.c validity of the regulations, there would then be no ; course open to the dairy companies ; but to accept the position and endeavor 'to work m with the authrities in such away.iv.to cause as little friction as possible. I hey could make their protest • against the principle, but they'would • then conform to the 'regulations in letter and spirit. They would have no remedy until such tim e as Parliament again , met, and their case could be presented by their members. If,, on the other hand, the Court held the regulations to b e invalid, then they- were faced j with th.c position that the Government .having expressed its determination that I local prices of butter should not be in- ! creased, would endeavor to arrive at this result by some other means. What : they might be he could not suggest; I they might even inflict greater hardi ships than the present proposals. The i principle of the present regulations was a departure from anything that had . hitherto taken place in these Domin- -, ions. _ The levying of a tax upon the dairying community, the majority of whomwweer c small farmers, was unjust and unfair, and it was all for the benefit of the remaining portion of the comi munity, many of whom were far better ' able to pay the increased price for their • , butter than were the dairy farmers. If iit had been suggested, or asked, that these regulations ,sh©uld be imposed for the benefit of the Imperial Government, for patriotic purposes, or for relief purposes, the dairy people would probably have consented to them—(hear, hear) — ! but when asked to consent to a procedure of this sort when the small dairy farmer had to suffer as much as anyone cisc in the of the high cost" of living, they .were justified in ■ using any possible means in. their-power -,not only to protest, but to test the validity of the Government's actions. "In endeavoring to conserve your interests," ■ continued the chairman, you will admit that we have done as much a^ it was possible for us- to do under the circumstances. If it be that Aye win in this case, it is possible that we shall be confronted with something far worse, but even if that were'so, we cotfld not look at it from that point of view. We were bund ■ to. resist this unjust tax with all our strength, and I feel sure w e have youjr approval." (Applause). In concluding, the chairman mentioned .that the Court case would probably cost £100 or £200; even if it cost £500 and was the means of relieving them of this arbitrary tax, it would be a cheap riddance. The expenses of the trial would have, to be borne by the dairyins; industry as a whole. i Mr R. Dunn (Auroa) suggested to the meeting that before it discussed, any resolution it would be a proper . thing if those present carried a motion endorsing the action of the committee in Wellington with reference to the conference with the Board of Trade v and its subsequent decision to test the validity of .the Board of Trade regulations. .He had much pleasure in moving in this direction. Mr T. McPhillips (Manaia), in seconding Mr Dunn's proposition said the committee had' done' exceedingly good work while in Wellington, and the members of that committee deserved the thanks of the- dairying community. * i The motion was carried. The chairman then moved the following resolution: That this meeting, representing the entire dairy industry, in Tara/naki, records its emphatic protest against the principle contained in the recommendation of the Board of Trade's report and the regulations made by the Government fixing a limit on the price at which butter may be sold locally, and making a levy on the whole dairying industry of the .. Dominion to contribute the difference between' the amount, ot , such local price so fixed and the f.oib. value for London shipment, and that it regards the principle of the regulations as unjust and absolutely unfair in its incidence and a hardship on the dairying community of the Dominion, comprising as they do practically all the small farmers, who are suffering equally \viiA other classes of* the community by reason of' the increased . cost of living, which they are unable to collect from the purchasers of their produce, but are, on the contrary, compelled to accept the current price therefor in open competition without protection. Mr Burgess (Warea) seconded the resolution. Mr W. D. Powdrell (Kaupokonui) said he had nothing against the chairman's motiou, except that it was exceedingly moderate. He " therefore moved the following amendment: ) That this meeting of Tarariaki factories objects to the class, tax levied by . Cabinet on butter and cheese without, the sanction of Parliament, and which amounts to almost £300,000 pear year; this meeting is of the opinion that the price paid for political purposes and city votes is too great,' as the same entails a yearly tax of £7 per head on 40.000 small dairy farmers and their sharemilkers, already overworked, to benefit our Dominion population by 3d per lb on butter, which benefit means a paltry sum of 6s per year, or 1 o-13d per week, for every citizen in New Zealand. Mr J. Gane (Normanby) seconded the amendment. Mr Powdrell, in speaking to his amendment, considered that the action of the Cabinet was tantamount to an I attempt to buy the vote of the city consumer, and' the whole thing was done, for political purposes. . Mr J. Marx (Mangatoki) pointed out that the tax would probably not he the end of the business, for one of the Board of Trade members hinted that the price of butter might even be lowered. If the principle contained in | the Board of Trade and Government's decision were once accepted tnere : Avould be no certainty that the price !of butter might not be Is, lOd, or even as low as 9d; indeed, the Government could fix arbitrary prices and | upset everything. Mr J. B. Murdoch (Hawera) sup- • ported the chairman's resolution in the protest against the regulations of the Board of Trade and the decision of the Cabinet, which was most unfair. Mr Powdrell, in sneaking. further to his amendment, said the decision was that of a spineless Government, who all along had been crviris; out for cheap butter and for everything cheap from the farm. The Government had been afraid to tackle the position itself and put the responsibility vipon the Board of Trade, as it could then say: "We rli'd not do it; the Board Trade di'"1 " The action of Cabinet opened up a big question, because it would <io further and give the dwellers in the cities much cheaper meat. . The Government were only vegu'ating the prices so as to catch the votes of those in the citips .^t the expense of the farmers. Mr Dunn (Auroa) said he would sunport the rfsolution. He was appointed the representative of the Farmers'

Union at their meeting to support any action which might be taiien m regard to the imposition of the tax. it was a class tax, wnieh was wrong in principle, quite unfair, and unjust. if there was need for taxation it should have been done by a tax upon the wealthy and those able to pay it. The* tanning community, the small dairy farmer in particular, was the" hardest worked,-anti was also affected considerably by the high cost of livng. He did not think there 'was any section which was so much affected by the wai- that it could.not afford to buy butter at the present price. The Government should establish a depot, in Wellington where those suffering any hardship could be supplied with butter, at 1« a Ib. or given »it free, if necessary. He 'was sure the factories would 'give butter free in any particular case of need, although he did not think there were any cases like that at the present time. As he had previously remarked, the tax was a class tax and they should be emphatic in their protest "again&t it. If the tax had been imposed for patriotic purposes he would gladly have agreed to it in order to help the cause. If the extra money was to-be used in London, where there was hardship because of a congested population, it would have been a different matter altogether; but to impose such a tax upon the hardest worked . section "of the N dairying community in New Zealand, was, to say the least, ridiculous. The more one spoke the more could one become incensed at the position. Mr J. Gane (Normanby), considered it was most unfair that the farming community should have been singled out for this tax. He supported Mr Powdrell's amendment, because it was, in his opinion, .more to the point than the resolution. The farmers would be willing to give the last fraction cf their profits so long as it was for patriotic purposes, and the right people got it. ■ . Mr Marx thought that there were ' one o« two things in the amendment which would be highly undesirable to send forward, and -suggested that in an important and delicate matter of this kind it would be well to take a reasonable and moderate course, and they would "get there ; just the same, and get there first." Mr Burgess (Warea) agreed with Mr Marx, although he felt quite as strongly as Mr Powdrell on the subject. Mr McMahon favored the amendment. The amendment was lost and the resolution was carried by a substantial majority i" CHEESE AND THE LONDON y . MARKET. ■ Mr Powdrell referred to a cablegram which had appeared in the press, stating that Mr Massey and Sir JosepJi "Ward had concluded an agreement in, London which would result in con-siderable-benefit to New Zealand meat producers. They were now endeavoring to arrive at- a satisfactory settlement about cheese with prospects of success: In view of the foregoing. Mr Powdrell suggested that the National Dairy ":. Association should cable Home, inforrn'ing Messrs Massey and Ward that the dairy companies did not want any inter- . ference with the cheese market, .arid \ye<re unanimously in. favor of consigning. They did not want Mr Massey and Ku- Joseph Ward to accept an offer from the Imperia' Government at B|d possibly,*, when some factories in New Zealand had already sold for lOgd, and judging from recent cables it looked aa though' the market was going to be higher still. They did not want any misunderstanding on this matter, and. they did not, .want the-Premier and Sir Joseph Ward ■making?"some arrangeI ment for th.c disposal of their outputs at B£-& or 9d, and then thinking they. had done the producers a good turn. He moved that- the following cable be sent: —' 'Cheese sold at IOJd at factory here. Meeting factories here unanimously in favor of consigning against any. Imperial offer which migKt be made to you." Mr Marx that the cable should be altered to read tHat the dairy companies should be consulted' •before anything was done, or a price ' fixed. v Mr Murdoch amoved as an amendment, that the National Dairy Association be instructed to cable its representative in London for further information, and that upon receipt of a leply that the special committee set up •by tb.e Dairy Companies' Conferences have power to act. Mr Green seconded the amendment. The chairman suggested that the contemplated arrangements which Messrs Massey and Ward were making at ' Home might have _reference to ship- v ping entirely, and they would therefore be vrise to * give the matter due consideration before passing Mr Powdrell's resolution in its present form; The question of shipping was very serious: For the immediate present and for possibly another two months, it would probably be all right, but there were going to be great difficulties after that time. Mr Powdrell pointed out that there was the risk in delaying. Cheese had been offered rt-o the Government at BJd, which was then under its value. If Messrs Massey and Ward were now offered, say, 9id they might accept it, ' thinking they were doing the producers a good turn. He would, however, be prepared to alter the cable to aead aa foEows:. "Meeting factories unanimously in favor of consigning, and before anything further-done, factories to : be consulted." [ The motion, in this form, met with general approval, and upon a show of , hands, it was carried, Mr Murdoch's amendment' having been put and lost. LITIGATION EXPENSES. Mr Dingle moved that the various I dairy company directors present pledge 1 themselves to pay their fair share "of the law expenses which will b e incurred in connection with the test case i to be heard in Wellington next week, 1 on a p.ro rata basis or the tonnage outI pllt,The motion was seconded and carried , unanimously. i SPECIAL COMMITTEE. I The meeting unanimously re-appoint- ' ed Messrs Marx, Morton and Powdrell Taranaki representatives on the special committee set up in Wellington to watch producers' interests.