The New Zealand Times. FRIDAY, JUNE 11, 1926. A BUTTER “STUNT” THAT MISSED FIRE

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12470, 11 June 1926, Page 6

The New Zealand Times. FRIDAY, JUNE 11, 1926. A BUTTER “STUNT” THAT MISSED FIRE

Ninety dairy farmers have met at New Plymouth and decided to ask Parliament to prevent ‘‘this unconstitutional and unwarranted seizure of Jawfully-owned property.” The reference is to the absolute control policy of the Dairy Control Board. The New Plymouth protest against that policy is not the first one—by any means. If the board gets its own way completely, it will not be without a challenge. Needless to say, we wish the anti-absolutism section every success in its campaign. Several days ago we published a letter from a honey producer whose sale surplus is “controlled.” The letter speaks for itself. As a testimonial to control of that kind, it is worthless. Mr Grounds will reply, of course, that he and his colleagues can manage the compulsory marketing scheme better than that. The board’s chairman never has been lacking in extreme selfconfidence. Even so, it may be easier than he imagines to mishandle the tremendous responsibilities he has so masterfully taken to himself and the board. We do not intend to traverse again in detail the case against compulsory marketing. So far as lay in our power, the “Times” has done its utmost to persuade the Government —Mr Grounds being immovable—of the wrongness of the board’s major proposal. What the Prime Minister thinks of it, or intends to do in the matter, we hope to know sooner or later. It is a considerable time since he promised to inquire into the position, but he has not yet published his conclusions. Talking of letters, the substance of a peculiarly interesting one appeared in our news columns last Wednesday, we mention this because it has a direct and significant bearing on absolute control. The writer is the head of one of the biggest dairy produce firms in Tooley Street. The recipient is the firm’s Wellington representative. In case Cabinet and the absolutists have missed the item, it is repeated here in part: It is rather peculiar that whilst we have a strike, and all the big stores are pushing British goods, particularly for one week, and in face of the Government issuing an emergency order, the two combinations that tried to force prices during the country’s trouble were (a well-known New Zealand* brand was specified), and the Australian Overseas Federation. That information confirms a story, easily authenticated, pf a studied attempt to exploit the Mother Country’s grave necessities in the interest of New Zealand’s butter producers. When the Imperial Board of Trade fixed the price at 172 s a cwt., somebody at the London end cabled other somebodies in the Dominion to advise factories to stand out for a few shillings extra. That paltry un-Imperial spirit is proof of the soundness of our argument that whoever else may benefit by absolute control it will not be the British consumer. Mr Coates, as a thorough-going Imperialist, can scarcely be pleased with such tactics. It is gratifying to know that the “stunt” missed fire. The strike collapsed unexpectedly, and the would-be exploiters were left with a broken market. But the originator’s salary still runs on, though his reputation as an expert will not be enhanced.