DAIRYMEN OF THE MANAWATU

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 3291, 10 March 1926, Page 10

DAIRYMEN OF THE MANAWATU

OPPOSED TO ABSOLUTE CONTROL Representative Meeting Urges Postponement ASKS POWERS THAT BE TO STAY THEIR HANDS Strenuous and almost undivided opposition to the enforcement > of absolute control of dairy produce on August X was voiced at the meeting of some forty directors and suppliers representing 24 dairy factories in the Manawatu, which was addressed in the A. and P. Buildings yesterday afternoon by Messrs. D. J. Gardner (organising; secretary of the Free Marketing League), J. Hlnc (Taranaki), A. Nlcol (Taikltahuna), J. A. Nash, M.P., and others. At the conclusion, a resolution moved hy Mr. P. Dixon (Makowhal) was carried, with two dissentient voices, “That this meeting consider the time inopportune for the ifaking of the Dairy Board of oomipulsory control.” The chair was taken by Mr. J. A. Nash, M.P., who welcomed Mr. Gardner to the district. Mr. Gardner had undertaken work of great importance, that required a great deal of work and forethought in bringing the effects of dairy control before the farmers. ■ Both in and out of Parliament, said Mr. Nash, he had opposed the Dairy Control Board. He was not against some forma of control such as the regulation of shipping and grading, and all those things which were going to make for the betterment of the farmer generally, but he strongly‘protested against any body of men being set up. as it was to-day, to tell the factories how and when their butter and cheese should be sold. The speaker had received circulars from the South Auckland Dairy Association and other similar bodies, urging unqualified support'. of the Board, but he had always strenuously opposed It.

As one who had been connected with the dairy industry for many years, and having a pretty good knowledge of the Home market and thoSe in control there, he said the companies, owing to competition and .better financial stability, were able to sell their own butter and the majority desired to do so. (Applause).

Nothing would satisfy the farmer as a Whole unless he was granted the ward system of election. He wanted to be in the position of being able tp vote for a man he knew and in it particular area. Under the present system, he could not take th£ intelligent, interest in the election of the Board that he should. Heavy overhead charges were being inflicted by the •'Board, on the companies, some of which couldn’t afford to pay. His own company had been mulcted in £500,. some of which of course could be well spepi in contributing to the cost of grading and shipping. The |um levied from farmers for control expenses amounted to . £77,955. Why was all that'money taken, and for what was it required? £36,905 had been invested in Government inscribed stock, redemption bonds and deposits with a bank. In the short time the Board had, been in existence, £41,050, of which sum £4638 had been incurred at Wembley, had been swallowed up in epcponses. The cost of the exhibition' display, all would agree, was money well spent, but the balance of £36,050 had gone In travelling expenses, cost of Board meetings, honoraria, end so forth, with a jaunt to the iOld Country, while another trip for members was projected. The price realised for the farmers’ produce was low enough, and he wanted all he could get of that price. The Board was now controlling the export of butter; no supplies from his company had been shipped since February 3. (A voice: You’re lucky.) They much preferred to ship the butter themselves. They had sufficient confidence in the people with whom they had'been dealing, to keep them properly advised when and where not to sell. He promised the meeting to leave no stone unturned to stop control* being put into effect on August 1, aihd he hoped they would be successful. Mr. Gardner thanked those present for their attendance, and hoped thby would all go away, after a frank and free", discussion, feeling that they had done something to further the interests of the dairy industry. He wished particularly to appeal to his hearers on the question of compulsion on a broad national basis, and trusted that the discussion would be on moderate lines. It was only possible, by conducting a campaign on these lines, to secure some degree of unanimity, which was essential to the success of the Industry. Majority Rule. Any organisation, no matter how powerful, could only succeed by the support of the majority. The day had passed when any section of the community could autocratically control the rights and liberties of the majority. As their men in the Great War gave their lives to uphold their constitutional rights and privileges, I so did he believe that they, as primary producers, must give their very! best thoughts to sec that their efforts’, had not been in vain. They, as, directors of factories and individuals,]’ had grave responsibilities, and on that day, to some ex-| tent, depended the future of the 1 dairying industry. They were faced] with several facts that required answering:— (a) The statement of the Control! Board that It had the majority of the people w ,+ h it, for which it cited the.

referendum as proof. This had since been proved to be wrong. (b) The withholding of supplies to create evenness of prices. This was pointed out as impossible and then the Board had said it was endeavouring to regulate supplies, of which the Free Marketing League had been

• a strong- advocate. j (c) The producers were faced wth j ever-increasing opposition from . the I people of England, who bo'ught their | butter and cheese. The food controllj er had vast powers, said the speaker, ' and instanced the embargo on New ; Zealand hops. The free breakfast ! table was a definite political principle | with Englishmen, and he did not think it would ever be altered. The speaker also stressed the financial loss to factories through deferred settlements, and referred to the necessity of the campaign for the ward system. There was a growing and increasing protest on the part of all primary producers against compulsion coming into force on August 1. In Southland 28 factories had protested, not one raising its voice for the Board’s proposed policy: in Otago the majority were for the postponement of absolute control: at Hangiora oftly two had dissented from postponement out of one hundred producers; and at Dunedin, at a meeting addressed by] Mr. Grounds, a Similar resolution had' been carried on the voices. The re-1 cent Hawera meeting (reported in tbei “Times”) was also referred to by the speaker. Control—But Not Absolute Over 95 per cent, of the dairy industry realised the need for some sort of control, but over 80 per cent, were against the present employment of compulsion. Postponement of the enforcement of the compulsory clauses did not mean that it should be done away with—it might be found useful at some future time—but it did mean ■ that the Board, by postponing it, would earn the goodwill of the large majority, which were bound to assist it to reach sounder and more practical methods of operation. Should the Board undertake compulsory marketing and should it prove a failure, it would mean the wrecking of the whole organisation, and it would be many years before another Board would be| given such powers. If the Control Board took over the regulation of shipments and the one hundred and! 'one other things that could be done to improve conditions, and after oper-, ating successfully along these lines, could prove that compulsion was still necessary, he did not hesitate to say it would be strongly supported. Finally, let them be moderate, think •moderate and talk moderate and use all their Influence to have the Control Board act moderate. (Applause.) Mr. J. Hlne (North Taranaki) felt that an interchange of ideas would be in the best interests of the industry. Their presence proved the consciousness that a very grave danger was threatening it. He declared the present powers of the Board had been secured by deception by certain advocates of absolute control. Both dairymen and politicians had been duped. The strong opposition of the late Mr. Massey and others to control would never have been overcome but for repeated assurances that the absolute control clauses would not be enforced. Both Messrs. 'Nosworthy and Hawken had repeatedly stated this, and Mr. Vernon Reed had also assured the speaker that dairy farmer* need have no fear of the complsory clauses being put into operation. Sir Oracle Mr. Grounds had contented himself with those rounded periods that sounded so nice and meant so little. On only two occassions had he heard Mr. Grounds say anything definite. To the chairman, of the Tikorangi Dairy Company, at a public meeting, Mr ( . Grounds had said the Board had no intention of creating a pool, nor was he in favour of it. Later, at New Plymouth, the same gentleman had recalled this assurance to Mr. Grounds, who denied flatly that he had said anything of the sort. Those were the only two occasions on which Mr. Grounds had said anything definite. (Loud laughter.) AVhat Constitutes Success? Mr. Goodfellow, on more than one occasion, had stated the policy of the Board was a national extension of the policy of the New Zealand Co-opera-tive Dairy Association, "which had been in operation with conspicuous success.” The real test of the success or otherwise of the dairy company lay in the pay-out. The success of the Waikato company did not lie in the fact that it is the largest co-operative dairy concern in the Southern Hemisphere, nor that it haa a troop of highly-paid officials, or that it occasionally brought off business coups. In the matter of payments, small companies compared very favourably with the largest. His own company, MORE TO COME

Tikorangi, made between 300 and 400 tons, and in the ordinary course of business, despite heavy carting charges, had made a final payment for the six months ending December 31 of Is S l-3d for cream, and Is Sd, plus lid for casein, for milk. If this produce was pooled, it would be 12 months before the farmer got a final payment, and in the meantime, where were the advances coming from? These could only be on a conservative basis .regulated by the weakest company in New Zealand, otherwise they would have to resort to preferential treatment. Was it any wonder his suppliers objected to handing over absolutely to the Control Board ? They were in favour of giving the Board power to make a levy for insurance, shipping, advertising, finding free markets and the regulation of shipments; not to store indefinitely and attempt the impossible aim of feeding the London market all the year round. The only way to do that was (o milk cows all the year round, and sooner than do that he would enter the “Old Men’s Home.” (Daughter.) To (he I’iire If a Labour Cabinet had done this thing they would have raised the roof, but unfortunately it, came from a party that was allegedly safe and stable, and their suspicions had been lulled. Let them work together for postponement, and impress on Par-

Lament the urgent necessity of stay- | ing the hands of these ambitious gentlemen! (Loud applause.) | Mr. A. E. Mansford declared that if ['absolute control came into force on | August 1, it would go down as one of | the biggest political and commercial | scandals in the history of the country. ! He agreed with the previous speakers ! that the Board did not have the con-| : fidenco of the farmer. In 18 years j |'the industry had grown from a concern worth one and a-half millions to \ one capitalised at twenty millions, but the position the industry had gained [in those years would be lost in as i many days. Suppose Toolcy Street’s j sympathy wore alienated by the proj posed action of the Board, what could jit do? It could influence consumers, whose first point of their political! creed was a free breakfast table, as the first Baldwin Government had! found to its cost four or five years ago. The speaker reviewed the growing importance of Siberia, South Africa, Canada and Denmark. He said the new regulation would need an army of officials and nobody knew i when they would get a final payment. They were being asked to back the Board with twenty millions sterling, and he would advise ihcm to fight control "to the last man and the last shilling.” Mr. P. Dixon then moved his resolution, as above. In doing so. he said the producers had no power to prevent the Board spending a million on cool stores. Mr. C. J. Woodley ■seconded.

Mr. James (Shannon) deprecated some of the remarks that had been made anent the Board, and declared they could not be justified. The chairman had thrown up a “smoke screen” about the expense of operations, but the levies had placed no hardship on the companies (Question!) While he was in favour of staving off compul.sory control, they should not rule out the Board altogether. Why was the Control Board asking for absolute control? asked another. There must be grounds for it. (Laughter.) Trying it Out Mr. Dixon complained that the Board had never made known any definite policy under which absolute control would be governed. Evidently it was prepared to take charge without the slightest organisation for the task. Mr. Nash: “Trying it out.” Mr. A. Nicol (Taikitahuna) said they had been assured by Mr. Dixon that the expenses would never be more than £15,000 a year, but last year it had called up £BO,OOO. The Board had pointed to the decrease in freights and insurances, but these were due to fall, as they did in every country. They were paying 15 per cent, loss for insurance on their pianos than they were three years ago, and the Board might have the brazenness to claim credit for that. They had had enough of these plausible windbags such as Mr. Grounds and Mr. Goodfellow and wanted no more of them. Mr. F. Maule (Ashhurst) agreed generally with the previous speaker, and vigorously demanded that the Board’s powers should not be increased. Mr. Goodfellow had inferred that he was the only man able to carry on the work of control. Mr. Goodfellow had lost £200,000 in one deal, but any one of them could do that! (Laughter.) The dried milk “boom” was also dealt with effectively in this connection.

Mr. H. Bond compared the Dairy and Meat Boards. There was room for the Dairy Board to work, but not with compulsion. Mr. Grounds had nothing at stakq* Not a Straight Run

Mr. J. W. Teale (Palmerston North) said they were not there to condemn the Board, but absolute control. When engaged in propaganda to get the Board established, his instructions were to give every assurance that farmers would always have the right to sell or confine their butter and cheese. Ho had learned since* of -the inner working and wire-pulling associated with the Board, and had he known as much then as he knew now, he would have been opposed to it. They had not had a straight .clean run. He also referred to the English repugnance to anything that increased the price of their food-supplies. ' In putting the motion, vShich was carried with two dissentients, the chairman said the speakers had made it plain that they were not against! the Board. Their quarrel was with control.

Mr. Q,. W. Williams proposed a vote of thanks to the speaker*.