POLICY IN LONDON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19663, 15 June 1927, Page 13

POLICY IN LONDON.

MR. PATERSON'S ACTIONS.

MISREPRESENTATION ALLEGED.

LETTER TO MR. W. GROUNDS. [BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT. ] WELLINGTON. Tuesday. The following letter was forwarded today to Mr. W 7 . Grounds, chairman of the Dairy Control Board, by Messrs. Morrison, Smith and Morrison, solicitors for Mr. Stronach Paterson, formerly Government representative on the London agency of the board, under instructions from Mr. Paterson : " Mr. Paterson has had brought under his notice various New Zealand newspapers, including New Zealand Dairy Produce Exporter, of March 26 last, containing what purports to be your version of a history of Mr. Paterson's actions in his capacity as such Government representative. You were, of course, aware at the time when you made your attack upon Mr. Paterson that even if he desired to reply it was impossible for him to do so for a period of at least several weeks. To reply in detail now, after such lapse of time, is obviously of very little use, particularly because such reply might well give rise to further controversy, and again -Mr. Paterson's reply to you could not, by reason of his absence in England, be published until a lapse of many weeks after publication of your own statement. Investigation Welcomed. " Mr. Paterson, therefore, does not consider it necessary or desirable that he should at this stage enter into a discussion of the merits or demerits of price fixation of dairy produce in London. That issue, he points out to us, is already settled, unfortunately at the expense of New Zealand in general, and New Zealand dairy farmers in particular. Nor does Mr. Paterson regard it as his concern at the moment to answer what he regards as specious propaganda by yourself and some of your supporters. "But it is his concern —and it is for that purpose that this letter is written to repudiate what he regards as your gross misrepresentation of his actions as New Zealand Government representative on the London agency of the Control Board, and in that connection Mr. Paterson would welcome an opportunity before a Royal Commission or other appropriate tribunal, appointed to inquire into reasons for the failure of the board's policy of absolute control and price fixation, of having his own actions fully investigated. Mr. Paterson also desires us to remind you that while you were in London you had several conversations with him under a clear and definite pledge of strict confidence on both sides. He desires us to point out that for purposes of your attack upon him vou have not hesitated to refer freely to those conversations. " Misstatements in Attack." " jn frig view your attack contains some complete misstatements of fact. It distorts and misrepresents both his confidential conversatiops with you and the general aims and effect of his works, and it insinuates responsibility on his part for many happenings with which he was in no way concerned. It would be useless to attempt to carry matters further at this stage because, as we have already said Mr. Paterson is still in London and unable, by reason of his absence, to continue a controversy with you now, but he expects to be back in New Zealand not later than October, and if you then desire any public investigation such as that, for example, which would be afforded by a Roval Commission, into the affairs of the Control Board and the true history of the actions of its chairman and certain of its members, and of himself as Government representative on the London agency and into the real causes of what he alleges are the disastrous results of the board's policy, we assure you that Mr. Paterson will be delighted to join with you in endeavouring to have such investigation brought about. " In view of the fact that your attacks on Mr. Paterson have been of a most public character we are instructed to hand copies of this letter to the newspaper press, and we are accordingly adopting that course." COMMENT BY MR. GROUNDS. "NO MIS-STATEMENT OF FACT." [BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] "WELLINGTON, Tuesday. Interviewed to-night regarding the letter from Mr. Stronach Paterson's solicitor, the chairman of the Dairy Board, Mr. W. Grounds, made the following comment : " There has been no misrepresentation and no mis-statement of fact, and if a commission of inquiry could remove the harm that has been done, I would gladly welcome it, but the damage can never be repaired. I shall be prepared for the fullest investigation at any time."