TRUE CO-OPERATION.

Northern Advocate, 25 August 1924, Page 2

TRUE CO-OPERATION.

HOW IT APPLIES IN DAIRY COMPANIES. A LENGTHY DISCUSSION. "That in order to simplify the office work and to cany out the true principles of co-operation, it be a recommendation to the directors to pool the cost of carting all cream to the factory," was moved by Mr J. Kaye and seconded by Mr E. Babe at the annual meeting of shareholders of the Whangarei Dairy Company on Saturday.

Mr Kaye stated that at the present time the charges for carting cream to the factory varied considerably. He believed the price on his run was §d per lb of butter-fat, while on another run it was 1-jjd, and he understood it was as low as Id on yet another run. He wanted the whole cartage costs pooled and every supplier charged oil a pro rata basis according to the principles of true co-operation.

"The company has gone out of its way to take.in outside districts such as Waikiekic and Parua Bay, much to the benefit of those districts," said Mr Tremaine, "but it would not be to .saddle the old shareholders with the extra cost entailed in getting cream from these distant suppliers to the facton*."

"The cost of cartage before the Waikiekie and Parua Bay suppliers joined the factory was 2cl per lb of butter-fat," Mr W. Crawford said, "and the condition under which they were admitted, and which they agreed

to, was that they should pay the bal

ance of the cost over and above the jd to get their cream to the factory." "We cannot penalise old suppliers in order to get now ones in," stated the chairman. "We are now making approximately 1000 tons of butter a year, but we must keep tho company sound and in a flourishing condition and we must be careful that we make no mistakes." "It would scorn from the discussion that Parua Bay and Waikiekie wore taken in on charity," statcrt Mr Babe, who willingly admitted that thev rej ceived eoonsidcrablc benefits by suppiyI ing the Whangarei factory. Did the factory not benefit also by the extra supply they brought in? ho asked. They certainly agreed at tho start to pay j the extra cost of cartage, but that jwa? a good r.ianv years ago now and he thought the time had arrived when the cartage should be paid for on a I co-operative basis. I Mr Daniels said that it appeared to him that Waikickio wanted to bo put . en a co-operative basis at tho expense jof the other suppliers. "Each supplier should pay his own whack," was his idea of co-operation. Tho chairman remarked that with the railway facilities Waikieke would get off very easily now. It was very difficult to adjust the carting charges absolutely equitably, and someone was

bound to get hurt, but the directors had endeavoured to levy the charges impartially.

Mr Daniels said there were two sides to co-operation, and he considered that the Waikiekie suppliers should stand to the old shareholders.

Mr Beasley was of the opinion that co-operation did not go quite far enough. The Parua Bay suppliers, for instance, paid id inaddition to tho %d, and some of, them, especially those living along a cheap run, carried the distant suppliers on their backs. Personally he was on a cheap run and he was penalised for the benefit of those on a long run. It did not cost the extra ■Id to cart the cream of a good many of the Parua Bay suppliers, but they had to pay it all the same, and he therefore thought that all the cartage charges should be pooled. He considered that the backblock settlers were already handicapped quite enough.

"The man in the baekblocks is saddled with less expenditure in rates and mortgages because of the lower value of land (though not necessarily inferior quality) than the man who lives nearer the centres of population," stated Mr L. A. Johnson, who also expressed the opinion that the latter was more heavily penalised that the former. It seemed to him, he said, that the previous speakers were bringing in the socialistic spirit. Mr Tremaine said that Waikiekie and Parua Bay were accepted on the terms mentioned by Mr Crawford, and it, was not quite fair of them to ask for further concessions. It looked to him like a breach of contract for them to do so. Replying to Mr Johnson, Mr Berridge said that the expenses of living

in the baekblocks were much heavier than they were near the bigger centres. How could they live cheaper, he askea, when they had to pay at the rate of £9 a ton to have their requirements carted out to them.

Mr Hall said the Parua Bay suppliers were very glad indeed to be taken in by the Whangarei factory, and the only way for them to reduce the cartage costs was to increase the I supply. i Mr Malcolm McDonald queried why he should be asked to pay as much to have his cream carted from Whau Valley as the Waikiekie settlers had to pay. Mr K. McDonald said he saw nothing unfair in asking suppliers to pay extra cartage if their cream could not be delivered for the 3d allowed by the company. Mr W. Crawford asked whether the Waikiekic and Parua Bay settlers realised that it cost the company £40Q0 in extra, plant and accommodation in order to deal with their cream. The agreement was that they should pay the extra cartage, and he saw no reason why that agreement should be broken. Mr Valentine warned shareholders to \ be very careful what they did about I the carting question. Many companies had partly crippled themselves by paying more than they should have done. Ho thought 4(1 a very fair limit. In some cases factories did not pay for any of the cream cartage, every supplier paying for his own. He thought they ought, to leave the directors with a free hand in the matter because the recommendation, if carried, might have a very far-reaching effect. The motion was then put and lost.