“A VOTE OF CENSURE

Otago Witness, Issue 3581, 31 October 1922, Page 41

“A VOTE OF CENSURE

WHAT THE PRODUCER WANTS TO KNOW. AN EDITOR’S LIMITATIONS. (From Odr Own Correspondent.) LONDON, July 21. The High Commissioner has forwarded me the copy of a cutting from a cetrain New Zealand newspaper, in which comments aro made on what is termed an “omission” on the part of the Trade and Produce Department. The cutting gave no indication of the paper from which it had been clipped, but the statement comes under the heading of “Notes and Comments,” thus showing an editorial sanction. Sir James Allen considers it sufficiently misleading to need correction, and he has patiently tried to enlighten the writer, and any others who may have been misled. The High Commissioner’s statement speaks for itself, but the paragraph, which arrived here on May 31, only goes to show the deplorable ignorance and childishness displayed by some otherwise intelligent people in the dominion on the subject of London markets. The following is the full text of the paragraph: A VOTE OF CENSURE. What is the primary object of the commercial section of the High Commissioner’s Office in London? Essentially to keep New Zealand’s producers in touch with the fluctuations of the markets, and especially to give them the immediate tip concerning vital changes. Thus, it has come about that observant New Zealand farmers would like to ask Cabinet to investigate a recent serious omission on the part of the H.C.O. in not, cabling out urgently the news that the Canadian cheese supply for export was likely to be so short this season as to fall from 80,000 to 50,000 tons. This news was known in commercial circles in London some seven weeks ago, but it was not relayed out here. Had the H.C.O. done so, the convertible factories would have switched immediately, from the less profitable butter to the making of cheese. Such remissness in gathering and forwarding valuable and money-making news for our dairying industry is nothing short of serious negligence. There are two sources from which our cheese-makers should have got (he tip, but botli failed—the other being the cooperators’ own agent at Home. VERNACULAR. NOT TECHNICAL. . Ancl while we have the High Commissioner’s Department under review, there is another direction in which attention or revision is needed. In the weekly report cabled from the H.C.O. it is the custom of the writer of the reviews and quotations to' give the prices of wool by the tops—such as 40's, sfc’s. 64’s. and so on. To the average farmer this system of quotation is only so much double-dutch. What the small pastoralist wants is the plain English of n. He wants to know the weekly prices of the grades as he sends his raw material Home. He does not export them as tops. He wants to know how wool is selling in Bradford as crossbreds arid all the rest of it. Please will someone pass the word along to Sir James Allen to tell the official reporter in the 11.C.0. just what is needed -and at the same time impress upon the working staff how necessary it is that the various interests out here —dairying and pastoral—should have treated as urgent news anything that will give the industry a chance to get anead of things marketable even bv a week or so, for the nimble penny per pound means much those times. PLACING THE RESPONSIBILITY. Regarding the above. Sir James Allen makes the following/ comments: — “I cannot admit that failure to telegraph the ‘news’ mentioned in the first paragraph was an ‘omission’ on the part of this department, and I submit that it is unreasonable to expect the civil servants to undertake the responsibility of furnishing information of this kind to the farmers. As will be readily recognised, my departmental officers, not being directly concern’d ill handling butter or any otlieij produce, aro dependent for their information on the trade, and in the instance cited no such information regarding the Canadian outlook was given to them. Neither have they, in most instances, equal facilities with the trade for obtaining statistics or estimate:, of the kind indicated. Even if they had, it would be height of folly for them to utilise such information unless its accuracy could at any rate be approximately verified. If unverified information were acted upon and the results proved disastrous to the factories, the latter would have legitimate cause to complain that they were misled. If, on the other hand, the information should turn out to be true and the factories benefited by it, it is extremely doubtful whether any more would be heard of the matter so far as the Government or the civil servant were concerned; and, in any case, it i s not fair to expect my departmental officers to take the place of the factories’ own representatives. j her e is the redeeming feature in the preset instance that the writer of the paragraph recognises that, as the factories have their own commercial representative here, they should loos to him for information of this kind. lie js a trader. J-ie ac-ually handles consignments, and might be expected to have access to all sources of information open to the trade. Whether or not he would be willing to undertake the responsibility for supplying information of the kind indicated is a matter with which he himself will best be a.blo to deal but I think T have said enough to demonstrate the impossibility of accepting the responsibility on behalf of my staff. “So far as concerns the information itself, the paragraph indicates that the ‘news’ regarding the Canadian cheese supply for export Ibis season was known in London seven weeks previously i.e.. allowing -,ix weeks for the cutting to reach me, say, ,3

weeks prior to the end of May, or about the end of February. i do not know which quarters in London are indicated, but as the Canadian cheese season does not open until about May, I do maintain that it is utterly impossible for anyone at the end of February to do more than give a very general’ indication j s to prospects, and then only as they exist. at that date. To sa.v definitely that the shortage was likely to be so many tons would be bey'ond anyone s power. My officers have discusser] this side of the matter with the principal firms in the trade, and they one and all deny any knowledge of the ‘information,’ and agree as to the impossibility of anyone -no matter how closely intimate with the statistical position cf the trade—issuing such a forecast, at such a time. As a'matter of fact, even at the end of May it was not thought that sufficient time had elapsed to enable a reliable opinion to be formed, as the Canadian season is somewhat later than usual. On the other hand, all the firms approached stated that the general position in regard to cheese had been unsatisfactory for some time past, and in the absence of any signs of improvement several of the importers had cabled to their New Zealand suppliers to give preference to the manufacture of butler for this market. As things turn out, it appears to be practically certain that this advice will prove to have been absolutely sound. But it is in direct contradiction to the statements referred to in the ‘Vote of Censure.’ “So much for dairy produce. Now for wool. Here again the criticism is rather uninformed. It is quite true that the High Commissioner’s cables periodically quote the prices of wool in the form of tops, but it is not true that to the average farmer this system of quotation is only so much ‘double-dutch.’ As a. matter of fact, prior to the war the department was in the habit of quoting for wool in the principal classes, such as superior merino, medium merino,’ and inferior, fine, medium, and coarse crossbred. But on the special request of Wellington this system was altered after the war, and we now quote by the count, 36’s, 40’s, 46’s, 50's, and so on—the reason probably being that a great deal more is now known about the trade than was the case previously. A good many of the farmers’ sons, while serving with ’ the forces ,we-re able to obtain expert instructions in woolclassing on Bradford lines, and there is no indication thj-t the quotations as now sent are unsatisfactory “That is one side of the matter. The other is that the writer is asking for an impossibility—or several. He states that the small pastoralist. wants to know the weekly prices of the grades of wool as he sends his raw material Home, adding (quite correctly) that he does not export them as tops. And he proceeds, ‘He wants to know how wool is selling in Bradford as crossbreds and all the rest of it.’ But, in the first place, there is no such thing as a weekly price of the various grades of wool, and secondly, Bradford is not a selling centre. Wool is sold in this country as in Now Zealand, at periodical sales—principally London, and occasionally also at Liverpool and Hull. These sales take place at stated intervals, opening and closing on definite dates, and at such times the department always sends full information as to the price at which the raw material is selling. After ally particular sales close, however, no more wool is sold until the next series’ so that to give, weekly quotations as suggested i? impossible—there are none to give. This is where the Bradford quotation comes in. Recognising that between sales the pastoralist will be glad of any information which may serve as a guide to the course of events, the department quotes the price of tops according to the count of the rawwool from which they are manufactured. As the cost of conversion does not fluctuate violently, the quotation is, when read in conjunction with the market information given at: the same time, a reliable guide to the price of the raw material. By carepossible to obtain a good indication as to the estimate of the market formed by the topmakers, and this information cannot fail to be of use to the pastoralist who has wool lor sale during any particular series. ‘‘Finally, I should like to assure the writer of the paragraph that the working staff are fully impressed with the neeessitv of doing everything possible in the interests of the dairying, wool, and other industries of the dominion, and no opportunity of this kind will be lost”.