EXIT THE QUOTA

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 19 April 1934, Page 4

EXIT THE QUOTA

MILK SUBSIDY PLAN TO HELP BRITISH FARMERS

SIR JAMEe. PARR’S “GET TOGETHER” PLEA

(From a Special Correspondent)

LONDON, 13th March

The cat is now out of the bag. There is to be no butter and cheese quota—vet.

There are those who say there never could have been one because the proposal was contrary to the Ottawa agreement' and the consent of the Dominion to a variation was not to be contemplated. Technically they are right, but the fact remains that at one ppriod the efforts of organised British farmers to lay the blame for the present glut of dairy products wholly at the door of New Zealand gathered such momentum that some kind of compromise, for the protection of the goodwill of New Zealand butter and cheese on the English market, might have been inescapable. The Dominion farmers have largely to thank their representatives in Britain for their deft handling of a serious situation.

When the storm broke with the attuck made by ISIr T. Baxter, of the National Farmers’ Union, on his return from New Zealand, the answer of the Dominion producers that a remedy for the glut should he sought in a reduction of foreign dairy imports was promptly circulated to the Press. Subsequently the quota campaign was countered, step by step, with moderation and forbearance, and no opportunity was missed by the New Zealand Board’s representatives to remind Members of Parliament and the public of the importance of the New Zealand market to British manufacturers and of the value of the shipping services engaged in the New Zealand trade. These efforts did much to win the support of influential counsellors of the wider Imperial view and thus to bring about the Cabinet’s decision to look for alternative methods of assisting the Home farmer. FUTURE CO-OPERATION Major Elliot, Minister of Agriculture, versatile above all things, accordingly evolved his twofold scheme for guaranteeing the price of raw milk and at the same time expanding consumption by an ambitious publicity campaign. The decision of the Imperial Government not to press the quota demand further has doubtless given satisfaction in the Dominion but it may be well to remember that serious friction has been narrowly averted, and that in any case the whole position comes up for review in 1935. There is, therefore, inherent wisdom in the hint thrown out by Sir James Parr, the High Commissioner, in Liverpool the other day, that representatives of the Home and Dominion farmers should get together with a view to seeing how far they can jointly profit at the expense of the foreign producer. A short time ago the Home and Empire farmers were well on their way to mutual understanding, but the postOttawa expansion of production caused y. rift in the lute, and the path to renewed co-operation may not be easy. It is difficult to forecast whether the milk subsidy scheme —for no one .doubts that despite its repayment provisions it will be virtually a subsidy —will have the effect of stimulating the Home dairy production as a whole, or of merely diverting a bigger proportion of milk into cheese and butter manufactures, thus intensifying competition in these commodities. The stimulation of the British farm cheese output is not unlikely, although eventually it may be offset by increased consumption when the pub' licitv campaign gets in full swing. Those in New Zealand who may be inclined to cavil at the subsidised competition of Home-produced cheese and butter may aptly be reminded that there is a considerable volume of opinion at Home (particularly among agriculturists) that New Zealand’s depreciated currency is the equivalent of a subsidy and the two things, therefore, cancel each other out. For some time to come recrudescences of the efforts to blame New Zealand for the glut arc bound to crop up here and there. Just now they arc manifesting themselves in misstatements regarding the subsidising of New Zealand produce which are appearing in various parts of the country with curious persistency. It is to be hoped, however, that these things will, in due course, die down and that the way will be cleared for the development of a 1 truly Imperial attitude towards the situation that will arise at the expiry of the Ottawa agreements. CRUSADING IN THE NORTH The work of building up goodwill for New Zealand butter and cheese in the thickly populated industrial areas of the Midlands and the North proceeds steadily apace. The campaign in Manchester, Oldham and Bolton, which attracted a record entry of grocers for New Zealand shop window dressing competitions, has been followed by a similar crusade in Liverpool and 'Birkenhead, a feature of which was a luncheon given by the officials of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board to the High Commissioner of New Zealand and other Dominion guests, at which Sir James Parr took the occasion to stress the value of New Zealand’s trade custom, to announce the placing of orders for £IOO,000 worth of materials for the New Zealand railways, and to put forward the suggestion for Home and Empiic reciprocity already referred to.