The National Dairy Association of New Zealand, Ltd.

NZ Truth, Issue 472, 4 July 1914, Page 2

The National Dairy Association of New Zealand, Ltd.

Report and Balance-sheet for Year Ended, April, 1914.

the Blunders of Butter and Cheese.

A Fake for Farmers.

It appears, that the above - Association has been twenty years m the alleged business of helping the, poor cow milker to obtain the best price for his butter-fat. It also burbles into the bucolic ear that it saves the milk person many thousands, of pounds per •annum m commissions and other expenses. "Cambist" has no doubt that the above Association must have done something m the past for the farmer m .the matter . of marketing his dairy produce, or the whol6 contraption ■*ould have gone, "kite high, long ago, "as. many farmer ,- fakea ; . have done; m this country. .The present report ,is so full of excuses, and, also admits so much disappointment at the output of the year's exports that one is fairly justified m saying that the farmer has not yet emancipated himself from the clutches of the produce shark, the greed of the shipping ring, and the swindles, of the London dealers. The writer rejoices that this association has not got its clutches oa all the dairy companies m the Dominion. It has roped m 117 of "the miscalled coY operative companies, seventeen of the' proprietary 'concerns, arid fourteen "exporters" out of the many hundred concerns that handle butter and cheese m this ebw-spankirig 1 State. Evidently there is a healthy suspicion; on the part of the majority/ of milk producers as regards this "National" affair. "Cambist," looking over the membership of the association, nearly bursts with laughter. It would be a perfect realisation of

A FINANCIAL "HAPPY FAMILY" if the classes m the membership could honestly be" associated together to each other's ..mutual good. Let us consider the co-operative companies (Jl7) aB dog. The proprietary factory owners (17) as the cat, and then the (14) exporters, as the monkey..; How grotesque the matter looks. The poor' dog gets scratched by the .spiteful cat, and the mischievous monkey dodges in— and out— of the family rows. Ten to one< the choice pickings are pouched by the blessed monkey. If such a remarkable combination of predatory interests, by any possible means, could be of benefit to the farmer— well, the age of miracles has made a fresh start

Looking at the balance-sheet, it is noticed that this strange butter and cheese freak has no paid up capital; to show on the liabilities side, ■! It. appar r ently ; works upon certain subßcriptions,. commissions, and subsidies which come „to its coffers annually, most, of which; are in* variQVS Chargesj that eat'into the profits of the farmers. For instanceithe incQrae from ! the items mentioned, subs, commissions, and * subsidies,:. ..total ..£ 2,541. These are ali sw.aHow^d up by, fees paid ; $o the '. director's, £ 170, salaries, £ 2438, and ' travelling expenses, £ 437. The. thrpe items 'imake the nice fat dollop, of £3045. It w.puld be hard^ to find a more expensively managed concern m this country. The writer would be glad to have a -list of the 'people who enjoy the fruits of these expenses, for the accounts are very carefully framed to ' r , • KEEP THE INFORMATION. FROM .-, PUBLiCITY. In a' case of this kind the fullest details should be furnished, for the whole business depends upon subscriptions as its. main stay. The directors should ''cough -up" this- Information — what each individual received m travelling expenses, the. secretary's salary, and what tho poor clerks draw. There are sundry creditors on open account, £ 4620. Balances owing on consignment account, £375; and the National Bank, £3789. Here we find the usual borrow Or burst policy that eats into the- heart' of everything m New Zealand.. The figures mentioned make the large sum m round numbers of £8700, without one penny of capital m the lockers. In other words, this 18 a business which is altogether a parasite, living upon credit. It astonishes the writer to find a bank overdraft granted to a. concern of this kind, but it only proves what he has said time and again, Viz., tho banking methods of New Zealand are rotten. How is the

bank secured? Possibly by a guarantee, if so^by whom is the guarantee .signe.d.?,,:i>q the persons signing the guara.nte*i get . some commercial pull over, . snippers _pf . produce through this company "■ is another question about which /^farmers should have information? Tfielbanfc 5 will not lose its money, j It will take care of that Such overdrafts as *a rule benefit the produce stiark, more- than the* poor devil of a j farther who milks his cows. It is tiriie i that our' iEanriers woke up to the fact thaf;' they" have many" parasites living ' u'poii "'them— that they have all sorts of "Get-rich-quick" schemes exploiting them m every direction. In many cases j the largest capite.l of such tricky yen- » turesv is made up of high sounding " names, or. much (Skite of a benevolent . natirre, dear to |tlie* uninformed cow- ; ' spanker. . •:_ -. ■ ■ . ". ,

Turning to the assets side it is found that this brokerage concern gives a lot of "tick" as well as getting a lot for itself. It has debtors, totalling £9323. [Some of this money is . owing by "open" accounts l." (£5078). Consignees owe £2436, while the, Home Agents had to part up £1828. This is.a . , LOT OF MONEY TO HAVE OUT-

STANDING, and makes one ask, what provision for losses have. , been made by the Association against such , credit < risks? There is no evidence that one penny of provision has 'been made, either m the accounts or. m the verbose wandering remarks which make up the turgid document, intended as a report. A drop m the consignment values might result m a heavy loss, while the bankriiptcV of some "open accounter" would give a nasty jar to_ the assets. Then there; ls., risk -Iji. the Home Agents pepartment .to: be considered. Yet, m face' of ail .this," not one penny of provision is made, so far as can. be seen. All this is too slip-shod and unbusinesslike to meet with the approval of an ordinary trader. It certainly is a shame to ring it on to the honest farmer folk who think this is their own .'association, v .')■ '.' ' „ The auditor, with some wonderful let-ters:-tq his nanie,; adds. "audited and found correct.''" Only, that, and nothing more.; Has this gentleman forgotten that there should be some certificate for the stock items,; vlz.i, *1?28? As a rule our auditors are but a sort of glorified clerks, a class of individuals who are not,' celebrated for knowledge of any kind, least of all the values of "stocks." Perhaps this auditor is an. exception to the rule. He may know all about stocks, and m. this case have fully satf sfied ; himself on the vital points. If her,haß,Vh(6, h^s n.ot said a word about his ; , knoT^ijed^fSi of the t stock account Bi|t. does^that iSuit the ' farmers ? ' JThe "\i gepor,t\ is- a, Irnost . 'confusing. Bcreed/ It is impossible; to gather from it whether the remarks embodied therein relate to the whole dairy export of the r i3!snihion, or to the business done by*¥Ms association. It is as verbose ■ loM di-ov •• .■.-.-■(•■'■ ; • - '' ' - !-

as" Chairman Beauchamp wrestling with "not understood" banking, while it is '■■•:'.

VERY MUCH MORE ILLITERATE. If the report has. to do with the business experiences of this association, then the lot who are responsible, should ber jolly well ashamed of themselves. It seems "the results have been profoundly disappointing." The prices for New Zealand Cheese were 6s to 7s per cwt '.less than Canadian. The fact is, the wily Canadian can sell his products better than the New Zealander. More than likely the blue nosed individual does not tie himself up with the sharks as bur people do. Paragraph (g) is a germ It mentions the muddled sort of business methods that have been Indulged m when shipping to United States of America. How the Yankee did not meet his sight drafts, and carry out his forward contracts. This wen known characteristic of Uncle Sam, alsb dear old John' Bull, would never have-a 'chance if proper financial credits vwere insisted upon. But compariies#without paid-up capital have.usuaHjf very little resources behind them to enforce strict business contracts. But how much money has been lost on the "fool" consignments, and where does the loss appear m the accounts? Perhaps this association never had any of this rotten business. If not, why was it ever referred, to? God help the poor farmer of New Zealand. When he next starts a fightlet him turn upon the thieving shipping rings, the swindling produce dealers and his natural enemy, the Banks, calling to his aid the equally befooled and swindled "worker." They have much m common. It is time they woke up to the true position."" - ,