DAIRY PRODUCE IMPORTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22268, 22 May 1934, Page 13

DAIRY PRODUCE IMPORTS

DAMAGING PROPAGANDA CHIEF WHIP'S STATEMENT. (Fbom Ocb Own Correspondent.) LONDON, April 6. Damaging and thoughtless statements regarding New Zealand butter imports continue to be made. The latest offender is Captain Margesson, the Government Chief Whip, who is reported to have told his conßtitutents that the present price of milk for manufacturing—namely, 3Jd a gallon—is due to the " enormous' importations of dairy products from the dominions* chiefly New Zealand." Sir Archibald Weisall, a member of the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society, and chairman of the Royal Empire Society, has raised his voice against this destructive criticism. In a letter to The Times he says:—

' A study of the Trade and Navigation Returns reveals that about 48 per cent, of our butter imports and _ almost the same proportion of our imports of all dairy products—butter, cheese, condensed milk, dried milk, etc. —still comes from foreign countries. _ The real cause of the low price level of surplus milk is that while, under the stimulus of the Import Duties Act and the Ottawa agreements, New Zealand and Australia have increased dairy production for the British market,there has been no compensating reduction of foreign imports. On the contrary, Denmark, - still our biggest supplier of butter, last year maintained her. exports at 2,500,000 cwt, while' Russia and Sweden increased theirs by 74 per cent, and 29 per cent, respectively. Surely New Zealand cannot be blamed- for seeking a greater share of a market which draws so heavily upon the foreigner? ~ Among recent benefits to the Homeland from the development of >ew Zealand’s primary industries have been the placing here of orders for 10 new vessels for the New Zealand-United Kingdom trade (each involving about £50.000 in supplementary contracts to ancillary trades), £IOO,OOO worth of iron and steel goods for constructional work, a flight of bombing planes, and record quantities of British motor cars. Captain Margesson cannot expect to have it both ways. The ability of New Zealand to purchase British manufactures must be in direct ratio to the willingness of the United Kingdom to receive her primary products. It would be regrettable if remarks by a Government spokesman were construed as saddling the dominions with sole responsibility for the troubles of the Home farmer, n« the propagation of such an idea would not smooth the way towards Empire trade expansion and _ the r& hicirlVinflon of Emnire populations.