TAX ON DAIRY PRODUCE.

Mataura Ensign, 24 October 1916, Page 4

TAX ON DAIRY PRODUCE.

GORE DAIRYMEN’S PROTEST. ‘About 2,5 dairy-farmers met in La--1 chain's rooms on Saturday afternoon o consider tlie propos.d lax on dairy produce. Mr D. McDougall (convener of the meeting), who presided, isa.id lio had .ailed me meeting to consider the proposal to levy a tax of 2d -in the pound .m ail dairy produce exported’. The matter had been discussed with the Minister-tor Agriculture, and the Board of ’1 rado .had recommended that the ' retail price of butter should not be moro loan J s 7d per lb and the export .united to Is 9d per B>. About yO.OUt) tons of butter were manufactured eaeh year ami: 20,000 lotus were exported. ■ leaving 10,000 lons lot' local consu-u/p-UOll. Tlie proposal was to Fix the exported article and put the proc©d.s in a, land to bring the Js 7d pri-v up to | the Is 9d price, the resident- oi cities thus getting as.sistauce at tin- expense ' of the ■ dairy-farmer. In 1912 three cow., could bo bought lor tlio price ol ‘ one in 1910. Land had increased in ' value 1-50 per cent. In 1912 he got -hi per quart for his milk ;_ now ho got •Idonly. an increase of 25 per cent. It was ridiculous for tho Government to put a- class tax on the workingman a.s every dairy-farmer was one. The ■ dairy-farmers were the hai-dest-worke* men in th© Dominion to-day. (Ap--1 plause). The question was, Mere they going to submit to this taxi The lairest way to levy taxation was to levy a tax on everything exported" ami 1 all would- he treated alike. He moved, “That this meeting of dairy-farmers protects against the action ol the Government in putting an export tax upon dairy province, for the reason tnai it is a- class tax and believes that all clacses of the community should b( I taxed equal to their pos.tiou 111 lite.” j Mr M. Ca.nnody seconded tlie mo- ! tion. I Replying to Air Dumbleton (Ota- | niita) lb© chairman said he believed it bad been decided to put the tax on cheese as well as butter. Mr Duuibleton said the tax amoyii.tI ed -to about hi per cow. ! Mr Kilpatrick supported 1 the urn- | lion, and Mr Munro thought tlio Gov- | eminent, ©houid encourage production i instead of taxing it. ; The motion was carried. | PROTEST FROM INVERCARGILL. i A, meeting of representative* of ! eiiee.-e and butter taetor.ies in Soutli- : land was held at Jnvereargill on Satur- ; day. over t>o delegates being present, : to* protest, against the action of the j Government in regulating tbe price ol | butter. ; It was decided —“That this meeting ; entirely d-sap“iovvv, ot the proposal : submiued by the Board ot I |- ade ; to i limit the .selling price ot butter within j New Zealand and to the principle of i raxing the whole of tlie dairy tanners ! in order to make up tbo diflereuee in j the price between rhe limit, fixed and ■ the current London ■market values, boj cause such eour.se would bo —(a) econoi mically unsound ; (b) a class tax. (e) j au iuterlei-ence wijb tbe utnall tanners, who at p-rese.nt are bearing an enormously increased- cost ol production due to the abs-onee ot many niemlK'rs of their families in the lighting lines, the high price of liilkh - which is necessary to replace .those absent at the lixjnt. and the greatly increased cost of all. farming requi-sites ; the fact that blitter for export is to-day worth From Is 6 ,5-Stl to Is 71<1 f.0.b.. the equivalent of which- for business in the Dominion after meeting distributing and marketing charges is Is ?d per lb wholesale and *1 lsj JOd per lb-retail lor best. (|iialities as compared with it eltarge. to consumers in Britain of about 2* per lb. and because' of which an inereasc on the local market is not only justified, but necessary, in the general interests of the industry; that, ill.airy limitation of price is decided as ueees- ! sarv. it, ,i s suggested that the com of | I -sue.il limitation should be a cluirge | i against, the .con-s*)lidiatrtd ■ revenue.' in | l.surpoil. of which wo instance tbe pre-1 eodeut. of the imperial Government with respect to the increased rate ol wagCN to railway.■ workers in Great Britain.” A committee was appoifited to attend to the interests of the factories in connection with ill© matter.