A PUBLIC MARKET.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CV, Issue 12427, 16 February 1901, Page 9

A PUBLIC MARKET.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—lp a former letter which appeared in your columns last month, I raised the important question of Farmers Unions, solely in the interests and for the protection of the small farmers of New Zealand, to which class .1 belong. Although no one has yet ventured to question, through the medium of the Pres? the position I then toqb up, my fcltey has been the subject of much adverse and acrimonious criticism, among the so-called merchants, .whose interests, they affected fo believe, were threatened and assailed! As I said in my previous letter, these people are not very numerous, nor yet a very wealthy or influential class, but, like the bumble nee in the parson’s beard, they can make tilings livley and uncomfortable for a time. Instead of meeting mp in fair and open argument, my critics threaten to boycott me by refusiug to have any dealings or transactions with me. Well, I think I shall be able to get over that difficulty, I have survived greater calamities than that. One of the greatest troubles the small farmer ha? to contend with is the difficulty of finding a market for his produce. In this country there are no public markets to which farmers can take their produce and make the best of it, by selling direct to the consumer without the intervention of the middle-man and the auctioneer. I wish particularly to impress upon the working classes that in consequence of their not being able to purchase direct from the producer, they have to pay at least 20 per cent more for almost every article of food they require. We have not to seek very far for the reason. The enormous rents which retail shopkeepers and auctioneers have to pay for their places of business have, of course, to come out of the pockets of the. farmers and their customers. It is quite a common thing for Chinamen to make 150 and even 200 per cent profit out of stuff they purchase from the grower. Again, the practice of disposing of produce through the. agency of the middle-man and the auctioneer opens the door to fraud and all kinds of malpractices. For instance, it is a well known fact that when a person has got anything of inferior quality, or a little bit whiffy to dispose of he at once consigns it to the auction room, to he sold with all its faults, or to some, middle-man who is not over scrupulous about asking questions. This would not be possible in a public market. I contend that it is the duty of our City Council to provide a public market .for the people in some central and" convehiefit place. We have got a Market Square, bub no market. Some years ago an attempt was made bv a few individuals to establish a public market on the . site, but it fell through, owing mainly, I believe, to the opposition, of a few jealous shopkeepers who complained

that they were paying high rents, rates and taxes, and ought not to have their businesses interfered with. At last the whole show was burst up and abolished, and the site is now converted into flower garden and a- recreation ground for stray dogs. Year after year, for many years past, I have carefully noted the terrible "and wicked waste of produce owing to the want of a proper and suitable place where, it could be disposed of cheaply and quickly for what it is really worth. I repeat that it is the duty of our City Council to supply a pubhe market for the city, and it is the duty of the ratepayers to send, as their representative at the Council table, only such men as will pledge themselves to cany out that object. Who benefits by the enormous rents which prevail all over the city? The fat man, of course. Indeed, the whole aim, scope and object of legislation and general management of the affairs of this country seems to be to make the fat man still fatter. Is it on the principle that “ he who drives fat oxen must, himself be fat.” Again, there is another very strong reason why a. public market is not only desirable, but imperatively demanded in Christchurch. Take our fish supply. Here we have a city within a few miles of a boundless ocean, alive and teeming with fish which only require catching; and yet I venture to say, that there is not a maritime town or village in the whole of the British Empire so badly supplied with fish as the City of Christchurch. There are also many other ventures and enterprises well worthy of attention, but enough for the present-.-—I am ,etc., J. S. MYERS.