HON. 0. J. HAWKEN DEFENDS CONTROL

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 3479, 15 October 1926, Page 7

HON. 0. J. HAWKEN DEFENDS CONTROL

Never in Favour of Price Fixation

MERELY LONDON AGENT FOR SELLERS

[Pet- Press Association.]

NEW PLYMOUTH, Last Night

“I have never been in favour of the fixation of dairy produce prices In London, neither has the Control Board, said the Hon. O. J. Hawken, interviewed to-night. The attitude the board takes up is simply this, that seeing they are representing the own'ors of produce in London, the Board have the right to say at what price the butter should be sold from day to day, or week to week. This is not price lixation in the way it has beeii interpreted by the opponents of the Board. It is simply exercising the usual owner’s privilege.

There is no foundation for the statement that the Board will fix the price for any definite period, but the Board is simply taking the part of the owner in London, and looking after his interests on the spot. “I never have agreed that factories throuhout New Zealand, seeing they are so far away from the base of operations, should put fixed reserves on their produce, because they are not in a good position to judge the state of the market. The test of Dairy Control will be the comparative prices received for New Zealand produce, as compared with Danish and other butter, and Canadian cheese, •and that test must extend over a reasonable period before the results can bo appreciated.. It is not the price, but the comparative price that will be the test, because prices as a whole depend on demand and supply, which can b little influenced by any Board.