Shall Growers Have Say in Wheat Price Fixing?

Manawatu Times, Volume 60, Issue 84, 10 April 1935, Page 10

Shall Growers Have Say in Wheat Price Fixing?

CANADIAN" POOL CHIEF’S VIEW

United Press Association.—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.

WINNIPEG, April". 6. ' Efforts to give Canadian wheat growers a reasonable return will provo successful, Mr. J. I. McFarland, general manager ■ of- tho-Canadian Wheat Pool, believes;” Ho expressed the opinion that a whet board, if appointed, could operate successfully without full control of coarse grains, and added: — ‘‘The question now is: Are we going to let a few international" exporting firms and a milling combino fix wheat prices, or are wo going to have a say in- fixing prices? He expressed the belief that threre was a short interest in the market, but declared that the pool was not doing anything to force up the price.

Regarding possible loss of markets because prices were out of lino with world quotations, he said that there was no permanent loss. In fact there was no such thing as a permanent market.

Two year ago, Mr. McFarland said, a party of British millers visited Winnipeg when the price was around 50 cents a bushel and talked about eliminating tho Grain Exchange and direct dealing. “I said to them: Suppose you buy, say, five to ten million bushels of No. 1 and hold it against your needs, what would you pay? They finally agreed they would probably be willing to pay 40 cents. I said: 'Haven’t you any bowels of compassion for tho farmers, at alii’ ”