THE WHEAT PURCHASE BOARD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21982, 17 June 1933, Page 17

THE WHEAT PURCHASE BOARD

TO THE EDITOR. SIR —It is with pleasure that we observe that Mr James Berg’s motion was carried by the Farmers’ Linion Provincial Executive: “That in the opinion of this executive the Wheat Purchase Board was ill-advised in rationing the flour mills, and in restricting the sale of wheat. In the opinion of this executive the reasons put forward by the board did nob show that such action was necessary. Such a resolution cannot fail to have an effect upon the authorities. With your indulgence we should like to comment briefly on some of the remarks made by those who opposed the motion and seem to us to be considering the question from the point of view only of the 1 wheatgrower. As we have already remarked in the course of this correspondence. we heartily endorse the policy of stabilising the price of wheat and thus protecting the farmer. Bub the millers and the consuming public are also vitally interested parties. We contend that the Government, having fixed the price of wheat and thus given the farmer necessary protection, should treat the miller in ordinary business fashion, permitting him to buy the wheat he requires, the miller who fails to produce an article acceptable to. the public will, by his failure to find a market for his flour, be compelled to produce an article of higher i grade. The fact that New Zealand | bakers are importing flour—while the j Government is incidentally exporting wheat—points to the fact that they are 1 not satisfied with locally-produced flour. We maintain strenuously that New Zea-land-grown wheat can be manufactured into a flour that will satisfy the most fastidious if the miller pays due attention to the' process of manufacture; and we repeat) in proof, that our flour is being used with no admixture of foreign flour, throughout Otago and Southland by bakers whose customers evidently make no complaint with regard to the quality of their bread supply., Ihere is absolutely no need for the continuance of this process of economic suicide winch consists in exporting thousands of bushels of our own w'heat at a price far below the New Zealand fixed price, making up the difference to the farmer—in the long run at the expense of the community—and importing foreign flour to take the place of the flour that should be produced from our own wheat, by our own labour. To end this, system will evidently promote the development in New i Zealand of both the wheatgrowing and milling industries, to the great _ benefit in the end of the general community, j Mr Waite remarked, in defending the ! work of the Wheat Board, that it is as impartial as it is possible to be. If he will add to his statement the words considering its composition," -we are prepared i to agree with him, since the South Island ; free mills have no .representative on the I board, the four millers who sit on it : being three who represent Distributors, Ltd., and one representing the Northern Holier Milling Company of Auckland. We , still maintain that we are being treated in an unfair manner, and that the whole

A very interesting ship has just been completed by the Caledon Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Ltd., of Dundee, Scotland. On October 21, 1932, they contracted to build a semi-tanker for the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, Ltd., Sydney. The result is the boat shown in our photograph, which is 255 feet long and has a dead weight of 3484 tons. It was an essential condition of the contract that the vessel had to be completed not later than April 21, 1933; Notwithstanding a very severe winter, the Caledon Company launched the vessel on March 22, when she was named the Fiona by Miss Goldfinch (of Sydney, New South Wales), and the vessel was completed and handed over to the owners on April 21, 1933. The machinery was supplied by the North-Eastern Marine Engineering Company, Ltd., Wallsend-on-Tync, and a

system is in urgent need of revision in the public interest. The arrival of-the City of Tokio with her cargo of United States flour for Dunedin, upon which, through your courtesy, we have already commented, was most opportune as giving the public a much needed object lesson in the effect of the policy which we condemn. „■ We hesitate to encroach further upon your generosity to reply to “ Rationalisation’s ” letter in your issue of the 16th inst. We agree that we should leave the quality of our flour to he judged by those who use it. We are entirely satisfied with the public verdict shown in a demand that would cause us to work longer hours were it not that we should exhaust all the sooner our rationed supply of wheat, which, we are informed, cannot be increased this year. IE “ Rationalisation has evidence that the quantity of wheat allotted to onr mill is ,ouly tentative, we should be glad to have this proved to. us. His statements with regard to the importation of foreign flour merely give point to our contentions. ' We repeat that there is no necessity for such importation. If, as “Rationalisation ” states, the amount of imported flour has been increased since our mill started, it is only further evidence of the utter lack of common sense in the supervision of the milling and distribution of New Zealand wheats. Our position is that our supply_ of wheat is running short, and certainly would not last for “ many months to come,” as your correspondent states, if we worked full time. Meanwhile we cannot afford to use up all our blending wheats, since we have little hope of being able to replace them, and must move with the caution imposed upon us until regulations are framed more in keeping with the dignity of a Dominion which prides itself upon the excellence of the quality of its primary produce.—We are., etc., Star Milling Company, Ltd. . i (A. L. Steven). Dunedin, June 16.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —I was pleased to see that Mr Begg and a majority of the Farmers’ Union executive consider that the Wheat Board was ill-advised in rationing flour mills and curtailing the supply of wheat. Have Mr Waite and those members who backed up the Wheat Board’s action never, heard of Richard Cobden and the English Corn Laws? The people will not for long stand for the sort of business just put through by the Wheat Board.—l am, etc., Primary Producer. June 15.

This vessel, which wa* recently completed by the Caledon Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Ltd., to the order of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company. Ltd., Sydney, is the third to bear the name.

special effort was made to produce a vessel which would show real economy on service. For some years the Caledon Company’s research department has been investigating hull form and in recent years has compiled a large amount of data which have been carefully analysed and the experience was embodied in this new vessel. In addition an Oertz streamline rudder was introduced and the propeller was specially designed. The economies in the engine room were principally superheat, forced , draught feed heaters, and special attention was paid to insulation, etc. The vessel on loaded trial obtained a mean speed of 12.49 knots, which was a knot and three-quarters in excess of the contract. Special fuel consumption tests were carried out on a run between Middlesbrough and Dover, with the result that this vessel is able to steam at 10J

knots on service on a coal consumption of 12 tons per clay. With a sea speed of 9 knots the coal consumption would not exceed 9 tons per day. This result was achieved on North Country coal, the fuel consumption working out at the low figure of 1.161 b of coal per indicated horse power. At the conclusion of the trials the shipbuilders and engineers were congratulated by the owners on the expeditions way in which the work was carried out and also on the remarkable speed and economy performances. The vessel left Dover on Friday, April 28, and is making her first voyage to Sydney via the Panama canal and Fiji. The marked economy shown by this vessel will no doubt be of great interest to Australian shipowners, the results indicating the recent progress which has been made on ship form and propulsion.