The Pig Trust

NZ Truth, 15 March 1924, Page 3

The Pig Trust

__ ♦— j "Anti-monopoly" writes: "Dear "Truth": The Journal of Agriculture of Scotland is authority for saying that a sow will produce sixteen pigs m a year, eight at twelve .months old and eight of them six months old, yielding for an average of nine months' feeding the extraordinary result of 33601 bof pork. As against that one cow will yield one calf, weighing, after one year's feeding, only 6761 bof beef. Also the journal points out that one sow can be kept at one- third of the cost of a cow. So for the cost of raising 5761 b of beef m one year, "a farmer could raise 10,0801 bof pork. Why is pork so expensive? Is it because the "pig" trust controls its marketing, just as the "fish" trust and the "meat" trust control fish and meat? Is tho unfortunate wages man and salaried man to be used as a pig or a cow — to make money for the combines? It is time the combines and their political "Punch and Judy" show —the Mussey Party— were dealt with. It is time their strangle-hold on this country was eased up. and that we should be able to buy pork, or fish, or beef, or sugar, or timber, or bricks, or beer, or tobacco, or flour, or cotton, or butter, or cheese, or leather, without having to pay such downright robbery prices to tho monopolies that so unblushingly fleece the public. These are tho robber barons of Tudor times, and another Magna Charta Is duo for signing. These Trusts are tho pirates of the high seas of Queen Elizabeth's days. A fresh clean-up of the ma-, rauUers is long overdue. They lift their heads out ef their troughs as If to say: How are you going to do it 7 There is a ready answer. It will be done simply and quietly — no bloody axe — Just a ballot, paper. It will be dono Just so soon as tho general public discover that their pillow-crushers were meant to be used. The workers, clerks, small farmers, and civil servants nro a polite, gentle, suffering mob who have been content to pay for pork through "tho nose, but their noses can't stand the traffic all these other things nro calling so loudly for. They, the brains of this country, will wake up soon, and with a decent leader like Rolleston, M.P. for Timaru. they will clean up the pig-sty. They won't wait for frosty weather, either, to hang up the pork. If the Liberal Party wants to do Its duty, lt Is high time for its committees to go around and knock up the boarders iiv this bash-house. It Is time Massey ism and combines wero given a farewell. I'm fed up of this robbery by the combines. Those of that opinion please say "Aye!"