MARKETING PRODUCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19470, 28 October 1926, Page 10

MARKETING PRODUCE.

. DECISIONS OF THE BOARD. CONFERENCE WITH TRADE. REGULATION OF PRICES. 1 £20,000 FOR ADVERTISING. s 1 " . [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT. ] i WELLINGTON. Wednesday. 3 At its meeting to-day the New Zear land Dairy Produce Board gave full con* j sideration to the board's marketing policy. After comprehensive discussion it was unanimously decided to instruct . thq London agency of the board to arj range a meeting of all importers of New j Zealand butter and cheese, for the purpose of electing a committee of three, j such committee to be available for con- ? ferences -with the Ixmdon agency and tile , London manager for naming the selling prices of butter and cheese from time to time. Certain safeguards were provided . for the protection of the producers' rights. A notico of motion referring to the j prices question was withdrawn. The board also decided to authorise the expenditure of £20,000 for advcrtis- . ing, on a scheme to be immediately un- , dertaken by the London agency with a j view to increasing the consumption of j New Zealand dairy produce and the , development of New Zealand markets throughout Britain. VARIATION OF POLICY. CRITICISM BY MR. POLSON. PLEA FOR A FAIR TRIAL. ) i J [BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT, j ! WELLINGTON. Wednesday. 3 The policy adopted by the Dairy 3 Control Board prior to the enforcement T of control was the subject of critical re- . marks by the president of the' New Zealand Farmers' Union, Mr. W. J. j Poison, at a meeting of the Dominion 5 executive of that, organisation to-day. . After discussion the executive recorded . its appreciation of the work of the j board. Mr. Poison said they were all very f much in favour of control—the farmers' . organisation always had been. The j Dairy Control Board only had itself to . blame for a good deal of the criticism t that had been passed. Tho board declared it had never attempted price r fixing, and that price fixing had never ] been a part of its policy, yet its circular ] published in the press had led one to conclude that price fixing was in the mind of the board members. Undoubt- ] edly it was not part of the board's ] policy now, because the discontent at s Home had been sufficient to show the q board that it was madness to go on as . it appeared to have been going. In e consequence the board was now des liberately endeavouring to destroy the c impression at Home that it intended to . fix prices. s "That impression," said Mr. Poison, s "was very largely the result of the pree vious policy of the board. It waved the big stick and talked for 12 months about what it intended to do, and it created \ such sentiment at Home that we are still • suffering from it." Even now they did not have the facts of the board's policy, he continued. Two men had been elected to the board recently who were opposed to control and who were candidates of the Free Marketing League. "We are led to suppose," ho said, "that actually there is a majority of the board opposed to price fixing, and that a change of policy on the part of the board is about to take place. We do not know the facts. When we asked for information from the board to put before the body of fanners who are supporters of control we got a ' vague, ridiculous circular, which at least is an insult to an intelligent man." e Captain Colbe'ck expressed disappointment with tho speech of the president, coining as it did from the "father of - control." "It appears to me," lie said, s "that when the child is in a very deli- - cate state of health you are backsliding i and doing all you can to kill it." f He said he had never once heard a r man suggest that the board intended to s fix prices. Butler which was subject to t control had only just arrived in Lons don, and how could the Control Board be answerable for the slump in London , to-day ? There were lots of factories s that had not yet sold any butter for r export. Ho appealed for a fair chance I for the organisation at Home to get into smooth running order. Mr. K. W. Dalryrnple supported this 1 plea. "Have faith in the board," he ; urged, and give it a fair trial.'.'