A. AND P. SOCIETY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3769, 8 June 1926, Page 15

A. AND P. SOCIETY.

ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Association was held in the lecture room of the Exhibition motor car building on Tuesday. The president (Mr G. Black) occupied the chair, and there was a fair attendance of membCrß‘ PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS. The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the annual report and balance sheet, said that their finances were in a sound and healthy condition. The special appeal money was still intact, and there was a balance to the credit for the year of £599. He thought they would agree with him that the balance sheet was a quite satisfactory one. The speaker said that the society had sustained a severe loss during the year by the deaths of a lumber of their members, and he desired, on behalf of the society, t express their sincere sympathy with the rela r es and friends of those who had passed away. He would like to refer particularly to the death of Mr Win. Souter. one of their life governors. This left only Sir John Roberts as a life governor Since they had met last year an unusual number of events of interest to the agricultural and pastoral industry had occurred both locally and in other parts of the world. Locally they had he’d a perfectly wonderful Exhibition, and though, as u fmetion, it had ended, the objects for which it was brought into being had only commenced. First, the lisrla” of Dominion matmfac tures had shown the progress of their secondary industries, and the advertisement that the 'ould supply themselves with certain articles of high merit made wholly within the Dominion should encourage them to buy New Zealand-made goods in preference. Second, the British manufacturers who made displays gave tangible evidence of the value of Imperial trade. Third, the articles manu factured in other British dominions were a proof that, apart from themselves and Great Britain, the bulk of their .equirements could he obtained within the Empire. RECIPROCAL TRADE NEEDED. So long as foreign countries erect insurmountable barriers in the shape of duties against the entry of their produce. on . ,y recourse was to trade with r h ° ? ,d ta . ke tlie,r Produce. In those days, too, .v hen P~e bin den of war and restoration debts was being felt by both employer and employee, there was 7 er t 0 thi,lk oi their nP.-Lno i /.* V nd sl, PP°«'t them. The peisonal benefit of a small saving in price .V buying from the foreigner was more than offset by unemployment tlu-onul, lack ot trade which followed within the boundaries of the Empire. It was sincerely to be hoped, said the wonld Cr nn, na h t! J e lesson! ‘ of »he Exhibition eitement and SUVr! "f “' e Park and Chocolate Alt tuM~om phtfdy overshadow its real purpose The fu a rned nC Mr ar 'r el f t ' 0n ü ßt Nov ™ber, returned Mr Coates with a safe workine majority and the chairman offered th? congratulations of the society to him on his success. He hoped and believed that C abinet s handling of the business of lemslotion would be statesmanlike and far see mg as Hie times were surely settling down after the turmoil of war and recoilStriiclion to a stale where expedient legislation could oe relegated to the scrap heap. DAIRY CONTROL. Compulsory dairy control had during the year a full share of bitter argument pro and con, and even then though the board nail determined to bring its powers into force on September 1, there was uneer lamtvn judging by interrogatories before tho Supreme Court whether they could constitutionally take charge of dairy produce in Ihe way proposed. One thing appealed certain if their powers were inkact and that was that there would be much criticism of their work from those who now objected. Absolute and continued success would need to follow their elicits to silence opposition both in New Zealand ami in England There had no doubt been given, since the control was first proposed, much though* a? the result? of careful investigation to the wisest wav to deal under such control with the whole output of New Zealand dairy produce, and if the board did handle it they would doubtless do so in a way to avoid antagon isrn oy buyers which, with fortunate re suits would be the best recommendation for this unusual .ten m *u o business world ihe Dairy Control Board would probably direct its efforts forborne time to regularising shipments and effect savings in charges and make an endeavour to ensure safeguarding producers’ interests by trying to ensure him a minimum remunerative price leaving snpnlv and demand to operate above that basis, and they would bear in mind the growing competition from Siberia and Argentine, from both of which conn tries increasing supplies of steadily improving quality were being shipped annually. ARBITRATION BENEFITS. New Zealand had been comparatively free of industrial troubles during the year, said Mr Black, and the association sincerely hoped that it would continue to do so They felt that the continued use of conciliation and arbitration was slowly and steadily educating employers and employees alike into appreciation of the difficulties, fair requirements and aspirations of both sides, and ns time went on there was little doubt in a community such ns theirs, which had a reputation for its honesty of purpose, that this education would become increasingly an importnnt factor in avoiding the troubles which elsewhere arose from folly, selfishness, greed, and" obstinacy. In other parts of the world the principal items of interest had been the efforts to extend the usefulness of the League of Nations, but the complications and individual interests of several of the Powers periodically seemed to nullify the efforts of idealists to realise their very laudable desire to provide a means for adjudicating on disputes, and if possible settling them to avoid resort to arms. In Great Britain the most important event overshadowing the ups and downs of trade had been the great general strike Fortunately this did not last long, but the coal miners still remained off work, and the longer the stoppage lasted the more serious would be the effect on British trade. la a highly organised industrial

community such as the British, such stoppages threw all the machinery out of gear, and the losses all round were incalculable. What effect the result would have on them remained to be seen, but they felt that it must trench on the buying power, tighten finance eventually, and disturb the return to normal times, which had. ever since the war finished, been looked forward to. LOWER TRICE LEVELS. Looking back on the year from its trading aspect, business as far as prices for wool, meat, dairy produoe, etc., were concerned, had been on the whole remarkably steady. The level was lower—much lower In some cases—than obtained in 1924-1925, but those wonderful values were too good to last. There was no doubt had they not been spoiled by the extreme and unexpected prices that ruled in the previous season, they would have been happily content with those paid during the season just closed. Such a taste of unlooked-for fortune a year ago clouded their judgment into asking and hoping for a recurrence The result in the wool and meat trade, however, had shown them that abnormally high prices were a menace. Buyers and manufacturers’ positions were seriouslv weakened by any fall, and when the depreciation was serious the results all round became serious. Abnormally high prices encouraged substitutes, and if they were found even of temporary service safety was endangered. No sounder position could exist than one where the producer could sell at a reasonable profit and the buyer afford to pay the price without weakening his future buying power Better and safer profits, sounder and steadier business, resulted from normal times than from a feast one year and a slump the next. The difficulty was, of course, to know where the safe load line was. Just as an opinion he ventured to say that appearances were more in favour of depreciating Values for imports and exports—notwithstanding occasional unexpected spurts—and from this he felt normality was not on the line they had at tion, but lie would be an optimist who present reached. Jt was not easy to balance up buy.iug power against producbanked on the demand and the means of paying for it growing so strong as to create a shortage of supplies. INCREASE PRODUCTION. With the principal countries of the world setting their attention to restoring the comfort of their people, intense efforts were everywhere visible on the lines of increasing production both of foodstuffs and secondary industries. Practically every country in the world was suffering from high overhead charges which appeared irreducible to any material extent except by increasing production. In their primary industries, having an extra pound of wool per head; an extra 2 per cent, to 5 per cent, more lambs, an extra 101 b to 501 b butterfat per cow, and an extra five or 10 bushels of grain per acre saleable at lower prices and costing little or no more than the smaller production, should stimulate buying power and enable the wheels to turn round more smoothly. Reduced productions and high prices had proved dangerous, as the experience since the war had shown, and there was no doubt that producers consciously and unconsciously wore steadily moving towards increasing consumption by steadily improving and increasing production. MARKET FLUCTUATIONS. They would remember the late Mr Massey, when opening their show two years ago. spoke of extending their exports in pork and bacon. In a recent journal published in England mention was made of the fact that out of £105,000,000 spent by England in 1924 in imported meat, no less than £50,000,000 of it was devoted to purchasing pig products. As big a market for the pig as for mutton and lamb existed, and is was mostly supplied from foreign countries. As he had said at the commencement, continued Mr Black, markets during the past year had been fairly steady on the lower level. Wool prices had been payable on the whole, but so far it did not appear that buyers were going to have a very profitable year. They needed one or two of these to recover from the debacle of the previous year. One could never prophesy with any certainty about wool, but the position of the market to-day did not warrant expectations of higher prices. Statistically, wool was in a- very sound position, but the numerous elements that arose to affect plans based on statistics made one cautious about depending on them. Meat had shown little fluctuation also, but similarly the buyers did not look like recovering previous years' losses. Strenuous efforts had been made this season by differential prices for each grade to encourage the production of light-weight prime lambs. These efforts had been based on the present method of grading, and had presented anomalies which were difficult to understand and explain. For instance, a prime lamb weighing 361 b was worth Is 6d to 2s more than one weighing 371 b. As the idea of the wide range of prices was to prevent over-weight lambs perhaps the peculiarities ot the result could be remedied by reconsidering the grading system. The export of fruit had grown to big figures, and it was hoped that their export business in this had now become definitely established. Dairy produce had had more fluctuation than either wool or meat, but on the whole the results had been fairly satisfactory. Reference had already been made to the Control Board taking charge, and the results of its movements would be watched with the keenest interest. UNFAVOURABLE GRAIN SEASON. The season had been an unfavourable one generally for grain and seed, and im-. portations of oats from Canada and Chile were being made to compete with the locally-grown article, which, owing to higher costs of production in New Zealand, could not be marketed to pay at the price of the imported grain. The advent of motors had reduced requirements, but it might be feund that the use of motor traction in production might reduce overhead costs and enable them in time to compete again overseas with what used to be one of their standard lines. With wheat the market had been secured for growers by the fiscal barrier erected by the Government against importation. Wheat control w as now in the air to offset millers' control. It was evident that the idea of these trusts had arisen from the high costs of production through which the ordinary open market had left producers with what was deemed an insufficient margin of

profit. Efforts were therefore being directed towards exigent means of augmenting profits rather than facing a reduction of capital—i.e., by tackling the problem of bringing land down to its productivo value based on the world s market prices. He feared that despite attempts to stabilise prices for their produce, the big question of bringing land rallies into line with wlmt tire consumer could afford to pay for its products would have to be dealt with eventually. Some measure ot salvation for dear land could arise from more modern and scientific methods, and they looked forward to the New Research Department proposed by the Government bein' 7 of inestimable value m improving the situation. But so long as many of their producers were under a burden- ot heavy finance, as unfortunately they were, methods approved by scientific research could not be taken advantage of freelj and the necessity for reaching a safer basis of land values from which to rebuild primary industries would at.ll remain. In many cases they had limit on hope and while there had been a proportion of successes there had been a number of failures, and wliat was to some extent worse for the progress of the country, there were a large proportion echo had neither succeeded nor failed, but just held their own, and could not push forward. In England and Scotland land prices had been affected by the competition in supplying consumers needs from cheaper oversea lands with lower costs of production, and farmers in the Did Country were on a lower level of value than they were some years ago Multiplied taxation in the shape of various rates, land tax, etc., were all having their effect on capital value, and as those standing charges looked more like increas ing than decreasing, they must be prepared to have them affect the selling prices of their lands. THE FINANCIAL QUESTION. This brought them to the question of finance. The figures recently issued show ing an excess of about five millions of imports over exports was calculated to call a halt in some of their operations. While they had some past surpluses to consider in this regard prudence dictated the necessity for limiting their expenditure on luxuries at least, in order that by this time next year there should be an excess of revenue. There was at present every appearance of a tightening in the money market and possibly a shortage of funds, unless expenditure were carefully scrutinised, be fore tlie next wool, meat and dairy produce season opened. One of the results ot last years high prices was an increased spending in things they could have post poned as was shown in the figures avail able of banking returns as well as the Government's figures, of values of imports and exports. The halt that tighter times now called for would make them realise the necessity in good times tor making reservation for those times when markets weakened. With care and judg ment the position could be remedied, but it called for the co-operation of everyone.—(Applause). ACCOMMODATION FOR SOCIETY. Before concluding his remarks, he would like briefly to refer to Llieir decision to hold the Winter Show at Logan Park. The proposal had been to a certain extent a test one, and had been suggested at a i inference Held between representatives of the Manufacturers Association and themselves. The association. he was pleased to say, was much more closely associated with them at the present time than it had been for some years. Although it might not be that there were a large number of the manufacturers represented at the show, that could hardly be expected after the strenuous'time they had had at the Exhibition. When the >mmittee had decided to hold the show at Logan Park the City Council had been negotiating for the purchase of the motor building, and their only liability would not extend beyond the payment of any rent agreed on. Whilst they admitted that their Crawford street premises were very central and convenient, it must be recognised that they were not large enough to meet the requirements of themselves and the manufacturers, and it was their duty to look round and ascertain if more suitable accommodation could uot be secured.- (Applause.) A WORD OF WARNING. Sir John Roberts, in seconding the motion, said he would like to make reference to the very important question of their exports and imports. Some little time ago that well-known authority, Sir Harold Beauchamp, had stated that he considered the fall in the value of their frozen meat, dairy produce, and wool would amount to something like £12,000,000, and this would mean a very great .xcess in the value of their imports. The country could, nc doubt, he faced With many difficulties as a result of the shrinkage in the value of their exports, and he thought they should endeavour, iu every possible way, to curtail their imports to a more reasonable figure. Personally, he thought Sir Harold Beauchamp had understated the figure, and that the shrinkage in values would more likely approach £15,000,000 than £12,000,000. As an instance, he thought they could safely say that the value of their frozen lambs at the present time was 10s per head below that of last year. ’ ’he speaker paid a glowing tribute to tbe many fine qualities of the late Mr William Souter and to his work for the society during the many years he was connected with it. He was a maq who Had been universally liked, and in every respect had been a very worthy citizen.— (Applause.) The death of Mr Souter left him as the ( Jest surviving membei of the committee of the society. He was gla> to be with them that night, and lie hoped to be with them for a few times in the future.—(Loud applause.) The speaker then asked them to stand as an expression of their regret at the loss of their old friend. The motion for the adoption of the report was then put and carried. ELECTION OF PRESIDENT. Mr Vi. O. M'Kellar moved the re-election of Mr Black as president of the society. He referred to the fine work Mr Black had done for the society, and said he was tbe right man in the right place, and 'v»t as he nad been carrying c the negotiations for new premises for the society it would be a very unwise proceeding to make any change—or, to use a common plvaxat to

swap hordes in the niiddlo of the stream. — (Loud applause.) Mr Black ha 1 agreed to stand again for president at great inconvenience to himself, and lie was sure he was expressing the opinion »f everv member of the society when he said they were very ucky to have him a? president again for tbe ensuing year.—(Loud applause.) Mr Edgar C. Hazlett seconded the motion, which was carried with app!au*e. OFFICE-BEARERS. The Tro-ident declared the following office-bearers elected for the forthcomiuij year Vice-president. Mr W. O. M‘Keh lar; hon. treasurer, Mr li. C. Campbell. Committees representing the various districts were elected as follows Dunedi—n F. Freeman. H. C Campbell. T. T. Ritchie : Glut ha and Milton —Messrs Thomas Scott and R. II Edie; Waihemo and Waikouaiti—Messrs A. Fleming, W. Gardiner, and D. J. Ross; Taieri—Mr J. W. Blair; Central Otago—Mr W. Moynihnn; NorthEast Harbour—Mr John Ilellyer. Messrs Bair. Ilercus, and Co. were re-elected auditors. LIFE MEMBER. On the motion of the Chairman, Mr James Macandrew was appointed a life VOTES OF THANKS. The Chairman moved a vote of. thanks to their judges, steward-, and the press, the motion being carried with applause. At the conclusion of the meeting Mr Thomas Scott proposed a hearty vote of thanks to the chair, which was carried by acclamation.