HIDE MARKETING PLAN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23601, 9 March 1940, Page 10

HIDE MARKETING PLAN

As a direct result of the protests of the Farmers' Union and other interested organisations, the Government has decided to modify its scheme for the local and export marketing of hides. This decision is to be commended, inasmuch as it gives effect to the promise by the Minister of Marketing, Mr. Nash, that no products would be the subject of a Government commandeer in New Zealand unless they were covered by the British Government's scheme of war-time purchases. The plan originally formulated by Mr. Nash provided for the purchase of all hides by the Dominion Government at prices 25 per cent above those ruling on September 1 last year; the release of necessary supplies to the New Zealand tanning industry at these prices ; and the export of any surplus supplies at current market rates, additional profits to be pooled for the benefit of the industry. The new system still allows for preferential treatment to New Zealand tanners—probably a justifiable feature in existing circumstances — but State control is eliminated and the whole scheme" is to be administered by a committee fully representative of producers and all industrial interests. It has been claimed by the Farmers' Union, the Hides Exporters' Association and the Freezing Companies' Association that the modified procedure now adopted will allow greater simplicity in working detail. These bodies and others associated with them are now given an opportunity to prove their case. The matter is one of importance, because if the arrangements for the marketing of hides prove successful there will be a strong argument against the extension of Government control to other branches of primary production. In all cases of this nature it is essential that the producers should prove conclusively their ability to manage their own affairs.