THE CONTROL OF WHEAT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19195, 8 December 1925, Page 8

THE CONTROL OF WHEAT.

GOVERNMENT'S DECISION. SUPPLIES FOR NEXT YEAR. REGULATION OF PRICES. FLUCTUATION TO BE ELIMINATED [BY TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.] WELLIxoTON, Mon d ay. The Minister for Agriculture, Hon V 7. Nosworthy, to-day made the following announcement: — "In Mav la-st the Government gave consideration to the agreement between the millers and the growers by which it was arranged that if protected against fluctuation in outside markets the millers would undertake to pay for wheat grown in the Dominion during the 1925-26 season 6s sd, 6s 7d and 6s 9d i'.o.b., sacks extra, for Tuscan, Hunters and Velvet wheat respectively. The Government agreed to this proposal, on the understanding that approximately sufficient wheat for local requirements would be grown :n the Dominion. There is every reason for believing that the growers would have produced the necessary supply, but adverse weather conditions throughout the winter and spring have prevented the sowing of large areas, and it. is now inevitable that large quantities of wheat must be imported. in 1926. "A meeting of i.tillers, growers, poultrymen and merchants last week to ask the Government to take control oi the market by purchasing and reselling both local and imported wheat, and this request has now been considered by the Cabinet. After careful consideration the Government has agreed to this proposal, and regulations to give effect thereto will shortly be gazetted. Control along the lines decided upon will not involve any increase in the prices pf flour and bread and will allow of a reduction in the prices of bran and pollard of £1 per ton. " Fluctuations in prices will be eliminated and growers will be assured of the prices agreed upon. Ihese prices, it ma) be added, are at the present time below the importing parity. " The milling industry will be enabled to carry on throughout the year, with the resultant advantages in the matter of supplies of bran and pollard. The arrangement, too, will eliminate, to a large extent, the unnecessary transference of supplies from South to North at a time when local production is materially short of our national needs, and poultry wheat, will be made available in both the North and South Islands at the lowest possible rate. The proposal, therefore, has substantial advantages, and is more particularly desirable during a period oi world, scarcity and speculation.