N.Z. PRODUCE.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 2003, 20 December 1921, Page 5

N.Z. PRODUCE.

QUESTION OF MARKETING. A POOL PROPOSED.. STATEMENT BY PRIME MINISTER. (Per Press Association.) In the House of Representatives today Mr Massey made a statement in regard to the marketing of New Zealand produce at Home. He said there was Ino need to emphasise tho fact that (the present position was far from satisfactory. This had caused the Government to go carefully into tho ; whole matter. He quoted figures to show how the South American production of meat and lamb had increased in recent years, thus tending to increase the glut on the London market. Even Patagonia was becoming a serious competitor, her meat being equal to second-class North Island. A meeting of the Committee of Producers was being held in Wellington to-morrow, and details of the Government scheme would be submitted to them for consideration. He went into details to show how the costs were run up. In one instance recently a ship took ninety days going round the coast picking up cargo. As a remedy for this sort of thing, he suggested that more small ships should be insulated, so as to carry meat to the larger ships in the main ports. The delay in unloading was also a serious factor in increasing the costs. This delay was greatly aggravated by the number of bills of lading and marks. He quoted figures to show how this seriously complicated the question of delivery at the other end. Now, the question was what was to be done to overcome these difficulties. What was proposed was a meat pool. . That meant, first, an universal grading, under which the identity of the meat would be lost in the process. Each shipper would simply own a certain number of carcases of first, second, or third-class meat, as the case might be. The grading would bo done by Government experts, of whom there were quite a number. Ho thought there would be no difficulty under the pool. He considered that the marketing could be carried on, because the pool could supply the market according to the market requirements. Concerning the financing of the pool, he did not care to go into details at present. The scheme might have to be compulsory. He thought it would have to be. But in that case, the consent of a very large portion of the sheepfarmers would have to be obtained, and legislation might be necessary on that point. There was no difficulty about the position of the Government, and the services of the Board of Trade would be required. They had the experience of the commandeer, and although the cases were not quite the same, ho felt that there was enough in that case to encourage them to go on in this. If the scheme had a Government guarantee behind it, he had no doubt that it would succeed because he believed the farmers would get more for their meat, properly marketed in England, than they would get from the local buyers. The Government was interested in this, because they had both land and income-tax to collect from the farmers. Something of the kind might have to be done with butter as well, but of that he would spoak in a few days. The main points of the scheme to be considered were Dominion , grading, the regulation of supplies, finance, and whether the scheme was to be backed by a Government guarantee, and the legislation required if the arrangement was to be compulsory. He did not regard the scheme as anything in the nature of a trust. He though, rather, that it would tend to check trusts.

In reply to Mr Wilford, Mr Massey said members would be given nn opportunity to discuss the scheme either to-morrow or the next day.