EVENING SITTING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2103, 14 June 1894, Page 12

EVENING SITTING.

THE QUESTION 01° COMBINATION. On the association resuming business in the evening, Mr Cusiinik (Wyndham) moved — •' That all factories, North and South Island, should join and work with this association, which, through its secretaries in Wellington, Auckland, and Christchurch, shall manage and arrange for all shipments, and carry on its work, as done in the past, for the mutual benefit of all its members, under the control of the committee in Dunedin." Mr Steven (Waikouaiti) seconded tha motion. Mr H. Reynolds (Auckland) moved—" That all factories in the North Island form themselves into a combination, and work in conjunction with the National Dairy Association." Mr Kokbins (Stratford) said those in the north did not want to be antagonistic to the National Dairy Association, but they felt that they had interests that could not be properly controlled by the association's executive, and that two associations should be formed — one for the South Island and one for tho North, with a combined executive to attend to colonial matters, and two separate executives to deal with* matters of local control. The North Island people also wanted the next annual jnuetiwj to be held in Wellington instead of in Dunudin ; and they desired to have a secretary at Wellington, who would devote the whole of his time to their interests.

Mr Prydb (Mataura) suggested that the words " under the control of the committee in Duuedin " ba deleted from the motion. Mr Robbins moved— "That the subject be referred to the executive, together with Messrs Reynolds and Robbins, to define conditions re the North Island factories joining the National Association and to report at the next session." Mr J. Angus seconded this proposal, which was carried. A FORTNIGHTLY SERVICE TO LONDON. Mr Pryde moved— "That, a fortnightly service of steamers to London be arranged for by the association." Mr Reynolds seconded the motion, which was carried. COLD STORAGE Mr Sinclair moved — " That the question of cold -storage at the ports of shipment is an urgent one, and that, the Government now having the matter under consideration, it should be pointed out that unless stores are ready for next season the dairy industry will 6uffer great loss." Mr Reynolds seconded the motion, which was agreed to. COOL RAILWAY CARS, ETC. ] Mr Pryde moved— "That sufficient of the most modern cool cars for butter should be provided by the Railway Commissioners, and that, in the interests of settlement all over New Zealand, special facilities in the way of cheap and effective railage for milk and all dairy produce should be provided." — Carried. THE DAIRY INDUSTRY ACT. The committee appointed at the morning session to report with regard to the Dairy Industry Act recommended :— (I) That the act ba amended so as to give Government inspectors power to prevent the shipment or' bad or adulterated butter, or to have the power to mark it as bad or adulterated ; (2) that dairy butter should mean ouly butter made and packed at the individnal farm ; (3) that butters collected from various makers and packed by anyone for export ohould be printed "milled butter " ; (4) that the powers now conferred on inspectors to inspect and report upon tbe daily supply of milk for sale in towns be extended so as to cover the inspection of all dairies and milk sheds by the stock inspectors. It was decided to consider the clauses seriatim, and Mr Sinclair moved the adoption of the first clause of the report. Mr Duncan expressed the opinion that the words " prevent the shipment " should be deleted from the motion. Mr Robbins thought that it was sufficient to prevent people from getting bad butter smuggled into England as first-class butter, but they should not be prevented from disposing of their produce altogether. Mr Reynolds said ho was sorry to say that a large percentage of second and third-class butter was being sent to England from New Zealand. Last year the butter from New Zealand had not improved at all, while the Victorian butter was improving by leaps and bounds. He hoped the executive of the association would urge upon the Government to spare no effort to improve the quality of the butter in New Zealand. After some further discussion the motion was carried in the following form; — "That the Dairy Industry Act be amended so as to give Government inspectors power to mark butter for shipment as bad or adulterated." The second and third clauses of the report were adopted with very little discussion. The adoption of the fourth clause having been moved, Mr Robbins proposed the following amendment: — "That the colony be divided into dairy districts, and that the Government be. asked to appoint instructors for various districts who shall also bo inspectors to inspect milking sheds. Mr Cushnie seconded the amendment, which was lost, and the motion was subsequently carried. PRICE 01" MILK. Mr Sinclair moved — "That this asfosiation should appoint a committee to endeavour to regulate the price of milk in the different districts,^ as to prevent undue or unreasonable competition for milk by the varioi. s factories." It was decided that this matter should not be dealt with by the committee. DAIRY EXPERTS. Mr Cushnie Amoved to delete the following clause :— " That the Government should place one or more of the dairy experts at the disposal of and under the control of this association." Agreed to nem. con. The meeting was then adjourned until 3 p.m. next day (Friday). The meeting of the members of the National Dairy Association, which was adjourned on Thursday evening, was resumed ia Mr J. R. Scott's office on Fiiday afternoon. Mr Stevenson presided, and some 15 members were present. THE ASSOCIATION. On the motion of Mr Robbins, seconded by Mr D. J. Heenan, it was resolved — " That the association accept Mr Robbins's proposals for the North Island joining with this association on the lines laid down by him — viz., that the North Island members appoint a board of advice, who shall appoint a secretary at Wellington eubject to the approval of the committee." It was also agreed thit Messrs Robbins and Reynolds be appointed to canvass for members for the association in the North Is-land, nnd further, (had Messrs Robbins, Reynolds, and the secretary bs appointed a d'.putation to wait on the Government to lay before them the views of the association and to enlist their support. On tho motion of Mr Robbins, seconded hy Mr Wright, it was resolved— "That steps be taken to have tbe National Dairy Association registered " ; and on the motion of Mr Pryde, that the committee in conjunction with the North Island Committee revise the rules, with a view to registration. Mr Wright moved, and it was carried — " That providing not less than 20 factories in the North Island join the National Association, the next annual meeting be held in Wellington." THE DAIRY INDUSTRY. The following resolutions were adopted without dissent : — " (1) That tho association recognise the value of a committee being set up in London to regulate the prices of tbe New Zealand produce, and trusts that Mr Reynolds will again do his best in organising such a committee. (2) That the Government, be requested to reappoiufc Mr Lowe, or to appoint some other expert in London to report upon the shipments Kudiog there, and that in the event of a regulating committee being set up on similar lines to the one formed last season, that he be ius'ructed to work with the committee. (3) That the Goveruinent ba requested to forward a copy of Mr Lowe's report to the secretary of this association. (4) That the gallon of nvlk be fixed according to the Government standard weight, which is 111b. (5) That it be a suggestion to the association to issue quarterly reports to the associated factories." TIIE CONTRACT >YSTEM. Mr Cushnik moved — " That in the opinion of this association the practice of tendering tor

the making of cheese and butter in factories is prejudicial to the industry." When tenders were invited there was, he said, a great temptation to accept the lowest, and when this was done the result was to drive away good men who required reasonable remuneration. Then also, on the part of the tenderer, tho inclination was to do things as cheaply as possible. What they should do was to get the best men and pay them respectable salaries, for a good man would save his wages twice over.

Mr Scott supported the motion, and said that they could never promote the dairying industry by resorting to the "sweating" system.

The motion was carried, one member dissentiog after tho question had been put, and remarking that he had found the system of doing the work by tender to result satisfactorily. COMPLIMENTARY. Mr Robbins desired to acknowledge the courtesy and the consideration which had been extended to him. There certainly had been an idea prevalent that at least a little friction would arise between the north and the south, but all cause for division had been overcome, and he thought they should now have a really united "National Association," and that its operations must be decidedly in the interests of the dairy industry generally.

Mr Reynolds entirely conourred in what had been said. He was satisfied the outcome of this would be that north and south would shortly be united, and by working harmoniously and taking combined action the industry would in future be on a greatly improved footing. The industry, he was sure would be made to pay npt onlj the factories, but the farmers, and he believed that within a short time the export of the dairy produce would exceed that of frozen mutton. He desired also to return thanks for the manner in which he had been received. A vote of thanks was unanimously given to the president of the association.

Mr Stevenson, in acknowledging tbe voce, expressed the hope-that when they met again the association would be a power in the land. He could assure all connected with it that he should always do his best, in every sense of the word, for all parts of New Zealand.

A vote of thanks was passed to tie press, and the meeting terminated.