THE CORNSACK QUESTION.

Otago Witness, Issue 1688, 29 March 1884, Page 8

THE CORNSACK QUESTION.

A meeting, attended by over 100 persons, was held in the Chamber of Commerce on Saturday afternoon. Those present were to a large, extent farmers who attended as delegates from various country districts, bufc there was i also a very large number of Dunedin grain buyers and agents present, Mr Walter Miller was voted to the chair. The Chairman said that the purpose of the meeting was to consider a resolution which had recently been passed at a meeting of grainmerchants and agents of Dunedin, with the view of altering the system of grain-buying so far as to decline to purchase grain from anyone who refused to weigh in the bags with the grain Instead of charging separately for them. Those present at the meeting further signed an agreement to that effect. Now he had no hesitation in saying that that resolution was hasty, premature, and arbitrary. The present meeting was called with a view of collecting together ali the parties interested in the matter and discussing it, with the object of coming to an amicable arrangement, for of course the producers could not do without the grain-merchants and buyers, and he hoped the latter were satisfied that there was no desire to discuss the matter in a hostile spirit. " The farmers must, however, look at the matter in the light that they had to lay out a considerable amount of «noney in bags, for which by selling them in <witb the grain they would not get an equivalent. •Therefore they held that they must protest against the decision of the grain-buyers, and request the latter to be good enough'to reconsider it, and continue the business as heretofore. All were aware that the' farming interest was in a very depressed state, and it ought not, therefore, to be saddled with -additional burdens. He could candidly say that if the buyers would retrace their steps they would all part good friends. — (Applause.) Mr J. M. Jones said he would like to protest against the impression that all dealers in grain had signed the agreement not to buy anless the bags were weighed in, as his firm had not 'signed it, and there were at least a few others in a similar position. If the resolution were carried out, it would be found in six months' time that grain would be sent in Iby the farmers in nothing but worthless bags. Since that resolution was carried into force his firm had purchased a lot of oats, and he would jaow show them a specimen of the bags in which the grain was sent. [Here the speaker held up a bag which was full of large holes.] Only a certain portion of the trade thought it jright to have the bags weighed in, and others thought otherwise. He believed, however, that iLhe former were sincere in thinking their view right, and if the meeting could show them that they were in error they would correct it. Mr Robert Wilson thought the action of the produce-merchants was tomewhat premature, and that the growers should have been invited to attend their meeijng and discuss the question. There were two parties to a fcargain, as there were two sides *o a question ; and it was due to the growers to have consulted their wishes as well as those of the merchants. A good deal tad been said on the offtier side tthat might have been as well unsaid. He did not think either party wis&od for a moment to take advantage of the other ; and it was best, when a change like this was sought to be brought about, that it should be fully and freely discussed. For himself, he should be glad to see the valae of the bags included in the price of the gram, as in his opinion it would greatly facilitate business, and tend to assimilate the custom of this port with other Australian markets, where the cost of the bags is not conei^red. Now he had sketched out a resolution whicn v ne thought would meet the justice of the case anc * acceptable to both sides. Of course it wJ* a compromise j but then in disputed cases h^ 0 - tnis botn Parties must give and take He d;'** nofc cx P ec k i<; would please everybody, but they vould hftye a S ood basi ? to go upon, and it woulu* <» for them to accept or alter it as they thought **»fc Hw motion would be as follows :— " That the> ce 9 lntic i n passed at the meeting of produc^ deal f r 5 *, a Dunedin on the 15th February be rt^^^ That on and after the present date it is agi! * between the sellers and buyers of grain ano •other produce in Dunedin that all bags be weighed in, and as an equivalent for this cost •one penny halfpenny (l^d) per bushel be added to the gelling price at the time of sale for wheat, oate, barley, and grass seed ; chaff bags to be exchanged, and when bulk is broken bags tfo be returned."

Mr Runcijian corrected Mr Wilson. The :advertisement calling the first meeting invited all interested to attend. The advertisement <was inserted by him in the Times and Star. -^ r M*™KR said that although he got tie Daily Tames he did not see the advertisement ;

and, strange to say, he had not met a single individual in the country who did see the advertisement. Mr Dallas said very few in the country saw the daily papers, as settlers were mostly in the hab'.t of seeing the weekly papers, and he did not believe that one in ten of the farmers knew that such a meeting was to take place or anything about it until the resolution was carried. Ivlr Maogueook (Palraerslou) said that with all due respuct for Mr Wilson's modification of tho law which the giaiu-dealers hud made for the farmers, he thought Mr Wilson had even yet made too much for the corn-dealers in Dunedin. He considered the farmer was the abused party, and always had been since Otago started. They had a lot of men in Dunedin who lived on the fishes, while the farmers had to do with the loaves. The merchants had large mansions in Dunedin, and where did they come from but out of tho land ? It was very good for them to say that they would not buy grain unless the bags were weighed in, but the farmers could, if they liked, be the most independent party in the land, and if they only stood togolhei 1 they could dictate to the dealers. He would move that bags be paid for at the rate of one penny loss to the farmer, making a sliding scale according to the quality of the bags and the price of bags in the market;. Tho farmers ought to join together and resist the imposition placed on them. He moved his motion a* follows: — "That farmers take ono penny off the prime cost of each bag sold, by thorn in all sales made without any deduction." Mr Dallas (of Balclutha) seconded the motion of Mr Macgregor, though ho did not agree with all that gentleman said. The feeling in the country was that farmers would have nothing to do with selling bag's at so much a bushel, but that they should be sold as before. Mr M. Fag an, as the proposer of the resolution that had given so much offence, thought it was due to the meeting to say a few words. In moving that motion he thought it fully represented the opinion of the meeting then held. He was prepared to admit that that meeting did not represent the grain-growers, as theie were only a few present, and no doubt a mistake was made in not agreeing to Mr Stronach's motion that an adjournment should be made for a fortnight. At the same time he was suro that if they had adjourned for a fortnight they would not have got such a grand representative meeting of the people of Otago as that now being held. The corn-dealora felt that they were subjected to great hardship under the old system. They had to pay 7d per bag, and they supplied the corn in bags to butchers and others, who used the bags for yarious purposes, and afterwards returnod them,, very much deteriorated, to the dealers. The dealerw then had to sell them for next to nothing to servo as coal-bags or chaff -bags. If the system proposed in his resolution were carried out, butchers and others who bought corn would have an inducement to keep the bags in good order ; and if they did so, the dealers would buy them back at a reasonable price. In this way the dealers could afford to give l^d per bushel extra for bags. He hoped that a unanimous decision would bo come to, because he did not think it was advisable for the dealers and the settlers of this country to have a bone of contention between them. Ho could assure the settlers that their interests wore very well looked after by the agents. Id was said, "If the dealers agree to pay ljd extra per bushel now, will it continue ? " He maintained that the same law would continues to apply. A price was put on by tho sellers, and if one dealer would not pay the price somebody else would, Mr F. Meenan, as the seconder of the original resolution, wished to say a few words as to its intention. It was not intended to ask the bags from the farmers or agents without paying for them the full value. It was intended to simplify business by buying the bags with the grain and other produce. The dealers treated their customers in tho samo manner. They gave the bags to the' parties who had been misusing them in the past, greatly to the loss of the dealers, and looked upon them as responsible for the bags ; and they would take better care of them. Mr Runoiman would testify to the meeting that he had been paying since the new arrangement was made l^d per bushel more on account of the bagsr He could corroborate the statement of tho mover and seconder of tho original resolution, that the meeting had no intention of taking any advantage of the farmers or any party selling. Mr Lee Smith thought it was rather a misfortune that this matter had been dealt with by some of the previous speakers in an apologetic tone. So far as he was concerned, he would deal with it entirely as a commercial matter, sub ject to the laws of competition in adjusting the values of commodities. To his riiiud Mr Jones' illustration as to the mauuer in which his oats had been sent was merely an ad captandum appeal to the sympathies of his audience, and not worthy of the representative of a commercial, house. ' The buyer could always refuse to take delivery of a damaged package. As for Mr Wilson's remark about adding l£d to the price of grain, that simply amounted to the same thing as buying bags in, or, as it was quite inaccurately termed, " with bags given in." What was the law of value ? It was the law of consumption, and it was adjusted simply by the power they had of selling here to the people at large, or in other parts where they sent their goods. The bag containing oats had its value just as much as the oats, and the law of demand would secure that its value would be given, in whatever way the price might be paid. It was idle to say that the buyers could as a bod]/ begin to confiscate the property of the farmers. He was astonished that the Press had not put this before the public in a proper light. The principles of political and commercial economy must be badly understood to allow such views to be promulgated without contradiction to the extent they had been lately throughout Otago. Every bag had its value, and he maintained that the principle of competition would adjust that value in the tame way that it did in the case of other commodities. He thought it was almost needless to apologise for anything that had taken place. So far as his firm were concerned, they were quite prepared to carry out the resolution of the meeting; and if farmers liked to instruct their agents to ask 2s per bushel for oats and l^d per bushel for sacks, they would be pre pared to p#y the price, but would simply enter the transaction jn their books as 23 l^d per bushel. Mr John Duncan failed to see that any valid reason had been given for the change. The soje reason seemed to be in the working of . *-<* merchants' own business, with which $ho tti- -^ jjg^ nothing to do. larmfc. -^bm, said he thought if it were Mr GrEfii. <<s J.JJQ bAgs ifcwas highly proagreed to give • wou ld eootinwe to charge bable the merchants . heir bagß m the firßt the farmers more for * Qo £ ma t te r what instance. At present it dia - , were they paid for the bags, because 'vicinal always sold again at Id loss than the <_ <.^ Q cost. If the merchants held out against b . farmers, he had no doubt the latter would prove quite capable of doing their own business without the merchants.

Mr Pathrson (.National Mortgage and Agency Company) said ths arrangement had been come to by iho merchants in order to simplify matters. It wai simply a matter of couvonienco for them to buy in the same manner as they hold, fn oLhor Colonies it was the practice to bell with the bags inland tho different arrangement in New Zealand often caused oarLriiri " lines" in New Zealand oats to be overlooked. Mr Wilsov (Wilson, Harraway, and Co.) said that if the farmers exported their own grain they would have to weigh the bags in with it. Mr Lees said tho merchauts were only endeavouring to put the trade on a more satisfactory footing. Dealers in Sydney did not care to deal in New Zealand oats, on account of the arrangement regarding the bags. As a result of the new arrangement, ho had only the other day received an order from a neighbouring Colony for a consignment of 6000 bags. A Voice: Head it out. — (Laughter.) Mr Leks said he did not think ib necessary "o read it. The arrangement was only a matter of convenience, and the farmers wore going against theif own interests in what they were doing now. Mr G. L. Uenniston remarked that the farmers seemed detei mined to take their own view of the matter, and no amount of argumont would apparently change their views. — (Hear, hear.) The fanners w«re a conservative cUds, and ib was always difficult to got them to agree to an alteration of the existing customs. The time was near when they would have to do ,so. He also referred to the unaatisfactorinesd of having an arrangement different from the other Colonies. Mr Donald Eeid might be allowed to express hi 3 opinions from an agent's point of view. Tho agents on this question were perfectly neutral. When farmers trusted them with business the agents put themselves in the farmer^ place; aud if an agent received instructions from a farmer that his corn was to be sold on the express stipulation that bags wore to be paid for separate and extra, the agent sold on thoso terms if he could find a purchaser. If thu agetit got no instructions — if the farmer sent his grain' forward and said, " Sell at what you consider a lair value" — the agent sold at what he considered a fair value for iho grain, ptys the value of the bag. That was what bad been" done up to the present. But he would like this to be thoroughly understood by tho fanners before they went away from this meeting. Ho hoped that any of them who trusted him with their business would give him very definite instiuctious in future. His experience lately had been that the farmers' instructions were simply: "Sell my grain ; but the bags must bo a separate charge of sevenpeuco." In fact, the idea of the piice of grain seemed to have disappeared from the farmer's mind, and was replaced with the idea of the value of the bags. — (Laughter and appluuse.) Before the meeting ended ho hoped some understanding would be come to. He could not help thinking that some of the remarks made by his farming friends — and hb was a farmer himself — were rather a little high-handed. — iHear, hoar.) Some had said, "We can do without the merchants." But they were all dependent on each other, and it behoved nil classes of the community to work together. Ho knew that hia opinion on the subject before the meeting was not the popular one, but he did not think much of a man who only expressed his views when they were popular. If a man's opinion was worth anything, ifc should be given for what it was worth — popular or unpopular. His opinion was that the proposed change as to bags would not make one fraction of difference to the farmer in tho value he would receive for his grain — (hear, heari ; but in the long run it would, by widening tho market for hia produce. As had been well said by Mr Lees, it would wid'jn lhe market for consumption ; and whatever did that was altogether in favour of the piociucer. Ib would be iv favour of the merchant also to this extent, that it would widen the area of his operations. But whatever widened the area of the merchant's operations caused a larger demand for the produce of the farmer, and enhanced its valuo. , He thought the chango had been put forward in objectionable language, and the resolution would have been better worded if it stated that the price of bags waa to be included in the price paid for the grain. But he had not the slightest hesitation in statiiig his conviction that the change would ultimately bring aboub a wider market for the producers, and therefore be advantageous to them. Mr D. Stronach said that with regard to an agent's duties in this matter ho quite agreed with what had fallen from Mr Reid. He thought an agonb's duty was to do what the farmer told him to do with hi 3 grain, and he did not think agents mix themselves up much with tLiid bag quesliou, although he had got the credit of mixing himself up too much with it. Any farmer who sent gudii to him must tell him definitely what to do, unless the question waio proporjy sottled today. He U usted that it would be settled, and in such a way that they would part good friends. Mr M. JpBL thought it would be a great pity if the meeting separated without some amicable arrangement being arrived at. He thought a uniform rate should be fixed for the bags all oyer the Colony, and he would move as an amendment — "That all new, bags be charged for at the rate of 6d each." Mr George Blyth seconded the amendment, which, on being put to the meeting, was declared lost. Only three hands were held up in favour of it.' ■ ■ ' Mr Wilson's motion lapsed for want of a seconder. Mr Harraway asked if, in the event of the motion being carried, the farmers would have advanced their position one bit. 'He ventured to predict that if it were carried there would be a deadlock. Mr Maogregor : Well, let there be a deadlock : we are not afraid of it. The Chairman then put Mr Macgregor's motion to the meeting, and declared it carried amidst prolongod applause, fie did not, however, call for a show of hands against it. The meeting had now got somewhat beyond the control of the Chairman, and everybody seemed to be speaking at the same time. Amidst the 'confusion, Jt was suggested that a show of hands 'should be taken both for and against the motion. This was accordingly done. Thirty-two hands were held up in favour of the motion, and 45 against it. It was, however, noticeable that some of the persons voting against the motion held up i two hands. The result of the voting was received with cheering. Mr Buchanan (Tuapeka) rose to protest agaipgt the vote. The meeting, he asserted, j wai packed wjth uninterested persons, and : parties who had not the slightest interest < either as buyers or sellers held up their hands against the motion. He remarked that Jf they could not get justice from the merchants the farmers would compel them to give justice. Mr Dunoan (Cherry Farm) said there was ' •mother point—one which was perhaps of more I r -«t fchan the bag question— which bo inters -«,, v pU gi,fc to consider before they 1 thought W. - °

separated. Ho referred to the torms of selling ] grain. At present there was a great disparity in this respect. He thought they should have a uniform rate for all, on terms equal to cash. He moved — "That after Ist April all gram sold in the Provincial District ot Ofcago and Southland be on terms equal to cash." ' ■ Mr J. M. Jones suggested that this matter should be left to the Committee of the Corn Exchange. That question, and also the railway tiiiiff, might bo left to their consideration. Mr J. F. M, FItASEK proposed a votq of thanks to the Chamber of Commerce for so generously placing their hall at the disposal of the meeting ; and The meeting dispersed. Immediately afterwards a meeting of the members of the Committee of the Corn Exchange was held in ,wr L, Macleante buildings, Bond street. The city representatives were not in attendance. A conversational discussion ensued, during which tho unsatisfactory voting was freely commented upon. It was resolved to strongly oppose tho determination of the morchants, and to lake united action for the purpose of obtaining the usual allowance on bags ; also, by correspondence between the various agricultural associations, to keep the agitation alive in the country districts. No definite motion, however, was proposed, and it being about the time for the departure of the country trains, the delegates dispersed.