WHEAT AND FLOUR

North Otago Times, Volume C, Issue 13177, 5 October 1914, Page 3

WHEAT AND FLOUR

IN WELLINGTON, TO COMMISSION'S *> fl ' RI]COM,MIJNI)ATIdNB s * (Special to "The Press") ?» -' 4 » WELLINGTON, October 2 - A statement of the unhappy plight in "which Ilom nulleis, gmn mmihnnts, and fnunois holding wheat now find lliemschcs, as a result of the prochma lion fixing the pucos of wheat and flour, was made In a deputation of flouimi|lois wlmh waited upon the Piinio Ministei to da> The nulleis Said t]iat the pines fixed foi these com ' weie too low, ind the) an nomippd that thin did not intend to earn on business foi the icasoii that it was quite impossible foi them to do fo without los<, 1 he\ isked the Go \ eminent to cmeel (he piochiuation, ito increase the pines foi wlicit and floni, oi tike o\ei the nulls and make finui Tlie dcputition, which consisted of South Island nulleis, most lj in a sunll wi\, and outside of the Flourmilleis Assoention, wis nilio duced In flic Hon D Ruddo It wis suppoitel also b\ Missis \\ Nosi\oith> and E P I ee Mi Pi Giidnei, of the fust nulls, si id that when the pioclnimfion wis issued, North Cant ni bun millers had got in to■communication with one another, and , being of opinion flint i f,ieit ni|iistice -lino, been done to the millers, had decided to come to Wellington to interview the Prime Minister. On behalf of the smaller millers of North Canter- ; -bury he could say 'that they had not ;■ been asked by the Pood Commission to ,/,;give evidence. He was a mill-owner and a"'practical operator, so that he claimed to know something about the subject. The smaller millers in Canterbury usually worked on short-period : t -supplies of wheat, and lately they had purchased supplies of wheat at from 5s to 5s 3d per bushel. These purchases' had been forced upon them at this .'■ time of the year, because farmers were ■ anxious to clear out their sheds, in an- ■ . ticipation of shearing. They came to the millers and offered for sale their • stocks of wheat, and the millers, fearful lest they might be caught, short of supplies wore . forced fo buy. His 1 .firm, hqd purchaser supplies at 5s per bushel, and by the issue of the proclamation; they stood to lose some £SOO. /Extraordinary demands for flour in . August had forced the millers to deplete .their stocks of grain, and, oonsefluently, they were compelled to buy at the higher prices recently ruling. ' He supplied, the Minister an abstract of Ins profit and loss account for the past three years. This showed that in pDll ho had made a profit of £4f>4, in 1912 a loss of £!)S, and in 1913 a profit '' of £754. This left, an average profit of . £372 for the three years. If against this wero charged salary for himself, tho manager and operator of the mill, it : would leave •say,'] 1-ft per cent, of profit, This showed that there was nothing in tho nature of exploitation in the trade. Mr P. W. Eiby, also a miller, quoted nViires.to the Minister in n.voice which " .-• „-■ ■ » » i was'almost inaudible Tho effect .of • them (A Wns, howevor, with whcat^V' 4s-fliV; a bushel millers could hot sell flour at. £ll 15s per ton without losing 12s 10(1 a ton, He urged that the. prices fixed should be revised, and fixed nt such a level that millers would not be compelled to work at a loss. ■ Mr'W.'Evanjs (Timarii) said that the Commission after going through the wheat-and flour-producing districts of New Zealand and hearing evidence, bad cpmc to the decision that the price . of wheat'should bo 5s 3d per bushel, and the price of Hour £l3 a ton. Had this , decision been acted upon no complaintl Would have been raised, for it would .have been fair and equitable, but the decision had been altered to suit places outside of the wheat-grow-ing districts of the South Island. Many sales of wheat, had been made at 5s Od a bushel a few days before prices were fixed by proclamation, and merchants and 'speculators.were anxiously desiring to place large orders of flour at £l3 a ton. On September Slh the ruling prion for wheat was 5s per bushel, and on the 19th 5s Ada bushel. Many parcels were bought at these prices, nud many contracts were fixed at this figure. As soon ,as the price of wheat was fixed at 4s - 9d and the price of flour at £ll 15s, .many purchasers of wheat were trying to get out of their contracts, and buyers .who; had made contracts to buy flqur were refusing to pay more than £lllss/ • It was his opinion that there had not been any exploitation of the public for a long time, and it was his further opinion that owing to the prospectof the failure of the wheat crop in Australia, owing to the drought, the price of wheat in New Zealand would have been at the least 53 if there had " been no wai. The millers were ready to lease then mills to the Government at very low lentals, and the Government could then mill flour aiuU sell it to smt the: agitators, of whom there seemed to be a good many about. The millers held that eifliei (lie oiigmal suggestion of tho nulleis should be, carried out, or the Government should tako over the mills and itin them in the interests of the public He stated that Australian nulleis weie lefnsing to sell flour at the puces li\ed, and as they were allowed to export wheat Home, they weie sending it to England, whero they could get lai better prices for it. . Mi A J Pillion said he could not uijdeistaiid how the •Commission had amved at then decision. It was his opinion thai the Commission had made a big bliunlei Tho information they ]yl been asked (e supply to the Commission on (he forms sent to'them could not have been of any use J to Ihe Commission as evidence. They hid been asked to state I iho nveiage puce at which they had liiiichnscil wheat since Maich Ist. In that lime thov had puichased a good deal of low pi iced wheat, but that whKit had long been baked into bread, J What t 'the Commission should hnve W asked foi was the aveiage piice at which thev had lcccntly bought wheat now held m stoie. He would uige that before the decice fixing the piiees was ma'de absolute, the recommendation'be

"refer) ml }nt\ to tliCfCommiwion, ni lie | was sure n-giont j»io«g would whSo, he done tohnlllpiWid farmers* $ r Mi E Millignn snul that the nuHcis In the OAtlimn ilistnet luul puichnßcd wlioflt they had in hnnd nt fiom 5» to 5s .Id por busliol at sidings, which was equal to fiom (is 2d to 5s 6d in tlie mills At those pneos tliov must have puiclinsod 50,000 bushels of client, and tho> would make Amy licnw losses if thoj woio compelled to soil nt the puces fixed. E\oi\body in the tiadc knew that, w.u or no war, tho puces, would luue been high now, and they could not piudcntlv lefuso to accept lines offeicd to Hiem nt tho itiling latcs Weie wo to be compelled to lose this \eiv laigc sum of moiw? In 1007 the puco of wheat was fis, when theic wns no wai oi iiiinoui of wni, nnd tins >oai the piobablc shortage was much moic pionouiiecd'tlian it was in that u>n In mow of the iemo\nl of the embiigo upon the e\poit of Austiaban wheat to fill oontincts, thoic would be a gieat deal of Aiistialmi w lint coming to Wellington and Anek hud This Hour would be in compcti tion with New Holland tloui, nnd ho contended that there would be no famine puces and, llicrcfoie, no need foi Iho prochmntion Mi Misses With wheat at I/O, at what puce can jon sell lloui at a piotlt? Mi Eib) repealed that at the piesent figuie £ll 15/, the must lose 12/10 o ton If the puce weie £l3, they would gel s icisoiinblepiofil

Mi Milligin uiged fhat the Go\ein ment should take over from the millers the flour they had puichased at niliiu; iates in good laith especially as the\ were compelled to purchase the wheat in order to avoid being faced with' a shortage. Mr Evans stated that thirty yean ago when there was no war, he had sold 30,000 bushels of wheat at 7/4 a bushel. Mr E, Ireland said it might be triw that some of them had cheap wheat in store, but against it they had made cheap contracts, For instance, he was still supplying flour to the Seacliff Asylum at £9 8/6 per ton.

Mr J, Moffatt said that he had recently sold flour to bakers nt £Ei per ton made from wheat purchased at about 5/-. Now the bakers refused .'to. pay more for the flour a'ready supplied to them than £ll 15/- per ton. Could'tho millers now claim from flit farmers or the merchants, '.fro n whom Upv 1i.t.1 bo'ijiht the wheat'/ Mr Evans said he had had exactly, the same experience with baiter,?. Mr Gardner said he thought the deputation had made it clear that they could not carry on with wheat at 4/0 au-1 flour at £ll lii/-. It would pay them much better to close their mills and keep their stocks. Mr Mnssey: Can anyone express an opinion as to tho area in wheat, as compared with the area in wheat last year? Mr Gardner: Less, Sir. Mr Noswortliy said that he believed a good deal of extra wheat was sown in response to the appeal of the Prime Minister, but before that appeal was made the area sown was considerably less than that for tho previous yen. 1 . He asked the deputation whether if

file ovginal idea of the Commission had .been iiarricd out the millers would haye -been -satisfied.• , ... -> ,'-. >•• Thcrs was a general responso that the first decision would have given satisfaction. Mr Evans pointed out that the price of potatoes in the South was very low. "Wo can hardly get a pound per ton for our potatoes now, and while that is the case, there can't be any starvation about," The Prime Minister said that the Government had been faced with a very difficult problem. He could assure th;: deputation that the Government had no intention of interfering with fair trade; their object was simply to prevent exploitation. With that object, a Commission of. impartial men wns appointed to make recommendation to the Government. As the deputation knew, their first recommendation wns fi/. 0 ) a bushel for wheat, nnd £l3 a ton for flour. This decision was withdrawn, but not at .the request of the Government. Mr Evans: Some interested pnrly must havo altered their opinion. Mr Massey: We have had no comniunication with them about it. The Government have never attempted to influence the Commission, Mr Evans; No, but, of course, there are side-winds which might have influenced what* the Commission woul.l sav.

Mr Massey, nfter reading the report of the Commission, said that the Commission was. being kept alive because they did not expect a Commission io fix prices for any length of time. Prices must be adjusted from time to time, either higher or lower, as circumstances arose. He was quite willing that tho matter should be referred back to the Commission for further consideration. If the members of the deputation wished to give evidence before the Commission, he was quite willing that the Commission should have an opportunity of hearing their evidence. He wanted them to understand that the Government could not, and would not, as a matter of fact, bring any pressure to bear on the-Commission.

Mr Noswortliy suggested that tha Commission should be guided by the cvidonco of tho southern millers, because the northorn millers wore supplied very largoly from!'- Australia. .In reply to a question, Mr Mnssey said that ho could not sell the wdiont ho had purchased in Australia at loss, than 5/- a bushel,

Mr Milligan: And that is without adding the duty. If wo bring in Ans ; tralinn wheat it will cost us about 5/4. .Mr Gardner (to-Mr Mnssey): Yon are in exactly the same position as we are. Youhpld wliont that you can't sell at Commission prices. I will give yoti my mill and you can mill it theic and sell flour at £lllO/- and you can't make a piolit. Mr-Massoy: Of course that '■ wheat was bought in anticipation of a shoitage. Theic is not a laige quantity of if" about 45,000 Imshels, and we shall sell it, not to one miller, but those millcis who arc shoit.

Mi Evans: You must remembor, Sir, that a v timo like this is the only time that-farmers can make a profit.'lf they

innlfo n jonV liojv will you ( deal withitf M^f-f^ 1 * ,Ip ' n,t thVuhcu/a'ro ninny fuimoiK holding vheit now Mr nvftnjji Oh, yps, theio, aie, nhil they gomgUo hold It unfil next year JMuiow a faimci who has got 3000 oi 4000 lacksiof wheat' Mrlfilhgnn pointed out that thcro was a shoitage of ilom m Wellington now, and thnt ( tho shortage, would ho ncccntunted Tlfr nulleis could not sell at £ll 15/ Lots of onlois weie coin nig in, but thov wiie not being exocut ed , M| E\nns' Aio we hound to supply oiderß foi ilom? Jli Masse, • 1 should be voiv soin t) be foi cod into the position tho Austu Inn Government has takon up Mi I'vniiß* They nic \oiy sou\ for it now themselves, iw illftfi Mi Mnsse\ "We lots of lespoii sibilides without that" Ho enquu'od. whethei the deputation wished the Com mission to take fuithei e\ulence

Mi Ihby sild thai if things lemniuoil is the\ weie now his mill uould linvi lo eloso down becauso he could not afioid to sell Jloiu at less than £l3 a ton Mi Noiuoitk) Closing down will bung them to their senses, Mi r\ans Thev ian commandeer, I lion come and tnke om nulls Mi Missc\ It is a matter for tho Commission QUESTIONS IN THE HOUSE In the House of Repicsentntuca to di\, Mi Ell asked if it was hue, a stated in an intcmow in the "Domin ion," that no nnllei would supph bnk crs with lloui- nt the price Ixed by the Eoyal Commission, "Mr Mnssey said he was consulting the Commission, on this point, Ho had already telegraphed to them,

'EMPHATIC TIMAEU PBOTEST. (Per Press Association). ■; TIMARU, Oct, ,1. The Timarii,branch of the Farmers' Union passed a resolution protesting against tho prices of wheat and flour being-fixed nt a. timo when these products had not reached abnormal values, and considers the action of tho .'Government is unjustifiable in making the maximum price less than the present market prices and in view of the decline in wheal growing and the nppoal'mnde to farmers 10-increase their wheat,areas that the proclamation is most inopportune.