DAIRYING INDUSTRY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21755, 21 March 1934, Page 7

DAIRYING INDUSTRY

SAFEGUARDING MARKETS'; OPPOSITION TO SUBSIDY MR. W. J. POLSON'S VIEWS The recent dairy conference in Wellington and tho position of the daiying industry are referred to in a statement issued by Mr. W. J. Poison, M.P., Dominion president of the New Zear land Farmers' Union. In commenting upon tho announcement that Britain was no longer pressing the question of restrictions on the entry of New Zealand dairy produce' into the United Kingdom, Mr. Poison said a subsidy on British production would be even more serious than a quota. It would rapidy stimulate production in Britain. At the same time,Britain was making trade agreements with butter producing countries, and already Russia's 70 per cent import increase showed how foreign butter was going to affect New Zealand's market. Round-table Conference

"The British market can consume no more butter, even at low prices," con-* tinued Mr. Poison, "and the faster British subsidised production grows, tho faster will our market diminish. It was a perception of this fact that caused me to move at the conferenoe for the acceptance of the British suggestion ofa round-table conference in order to endeavour by personal touch and negotia-. tion to secure a workable plan. I be-' lieve it is still not too late to meet ouri fellow-countrymen and save what mustotherwise be a vanishing market." Mr. Poison said what New Zealand most needed a market for was butter and cheese. "We have a good and improving market for our meat in Great . Britain and our wool goes all over the world," he said. "When we come to examine the East for butter and cheeso. prospects, it is disappointing. The total butter that is imported into the Orient (mostly tinned) is only 6175 tons, of which Australia gets the lion's share. Most of it is low grade, and it is sold at highly competitive prices. The idea of fostering an Eastern trade should not be discarded, but it will not bo easy. Australia, with her geographical and maritime advantages . over New Zealand in this regard, is .finding progress in the butter market difficult." Several Eastern countries had heavy duties against imported butter. For' example, Japan had a duty of 5d per lb.; China (Shanghai), 3Jd; India, 4d; and Java, 18 per cent. The Principal Objectors Among the many proposals for assist, tance to the farmer was that -which asked for a subsidy of 2d per lb., representing a sum of money formidably close to £4,000,000. There was no tion that the industry could not continue at present prices, and there were few who would argue that the farmer was not as much entitled to receive the costs of production as the bootmaker or the tailor. However, there were two great objections to the subsidy. » "First," said Mr. Poison, ,"the taxpayer would probably have to find it if prices did not recover. We could not go on borrowing to ' maintain the industry. Second, and in my opinion more important, we would create prejudice and reprisals in our only market which would make our last case . worse than our first. If we are to send a delegation to England, it would be madness to prejudice it 3 chancs before ij * leaves." 1 Mr. Poison said that in view of the fact that in 18 months the Ottawa agreement would have ended and the British authorities be free to make whatever arrangements- they desired, the country should immediately strain every effort to get in close touch and association with them in an endeavour to save the market from crushing restrictions, or even annihilation, and tho Dominion from stagnation and possible decay. TESTING EASTERN MARKETS TRIAL SHIPMENT SUGGESTED \ *7 V [moil OUR OW>- CORRESPONDENT] . PUKEKOHE. Tuesday That the present Dairy Produce Board be abolished in favourof a board on which the members would serve in a purely honorary capacity is; the purport of a remit which the execu- 0 tive of tho Pukekohe Chamber of Commerce last evening decided to forward . to the half-yearly conference of chambers of commerce in the Franklin district, which is to be held at Papatoetoe next month. Another remit which the Pukekohe executive is forwarding to the conference proposes that the Government be urged to test the Eastern market for disposing of N#w Zealand dairy produce by sending a trial shipment.