PERTINENT QUESTIONS CONTINUED.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XXXXI, Issue XXXXI, 15 June 1920, Page 5

PERTINENT QUESTIONS CONTINUED.

(To the Editor.)

Sir,—Reverting to the above in con*nfct»n with the price oi meat, will Mr Tovynsend, who is, I take it, the mouthpiece of the Hawera butchers, kii'dly answer the following questions : (1) It ?e not a fact that growers are now getting considerably less for their stock (when they tan dispose of at) than they were when the retail price of meat was last increased ? (2) Are not the freezing works now .only takJ"fi T _.im' ted quantities of fat stock? (J) If the growers are losing and the butchers are not benefiting 'with the present retail nrices, can Mr Townsend say who are? This is the point the Board of Trade should be able to deal with, but they appear to move so slowly that I am not sanguine of any serviceable result from that quarter. It is to be hoped that there will be a little speeding up by legislation, if necessary, when Parliament meets. We would like to see a little more of our member in cv. dence in- these times of economical stress. I, in common with thousands of loyal subjects, am willing to put up with many hardships, and rise to the occasion with a philosophical spirit, when' they are brought about by uncontrollable circumstances which place us all in the same boat. But\ this explortation is exasperating. When will our own people learn that the only thirig which will bind the Emoire is a "square deal in all matters-? The fact that we are not getting a square deal .*s more irritating to many of us than \ the high cost of poor living. The cost of high living is a matter of no concern to those who are responsb'e for keeping prices up. It is stated m a recent Wellington, paper that there has been a decided drop in pigs in Taranaki. We will wait and see whether we (the public) are. to "benefit. I am very sceptical, personally, i Now, as to sugar, if the merchants here, as ir- other places, are allowed to sell bags of sugar at the time, whilst retailers are limited to a few pounds, no wonder there is a chron'c shortage. Will the merchants enlighten us? A prominent retailer m Wellington asserted that this was done there; as ' a matter of fact, he had seen bags carried along the streets. A scheme to controvert this was referred to the Board of Trade, with the usual result, so far. What I cannot understand is why the public do • not protest against exploitation in no uncertain manner.. Is it that the most oi ns are too prosperous in this part of the country? Cannot thos« in the exploited class, like myself, hit out through the press, which will always give a good cause a fair hearing when properly express-' cd. To combat so many rings, which are pressing hard, the general public should form another r'ng for self pro-! tection, and a combination of this sort would soon put exploiters where they ought to be. Before I conclude, j I wish to draw the attention of the exploited to the enormous amount of pillaging going on* in ships and on wharves, and to impress on them that they have got to foot the bill. The careless methods of supervision are a scandal, for which there is no justification, and if the law were altered so that the public would not have to bear the loss, remedial actioii would soon be taken by those who now pass the "baby" on. —I am, etc., FESTINA LENTE.