DAIRY CONTROL

Southland Times, Issue 19116, 7 December 1923, Page 5

DAIRY CONTROL

MR FISHER AT WYNDHAM VOTE OF CONFIDENCE PASSED SUPPORT FOR COUNCIL’S TICKET. There was a good attendance in the Oddfellows’ Hall, Wyndham, last night when Mr J. Fisher spoke on the Dairy Control election. A vote of thanks and confidence in Mr Fisher was carried unanimously at the conclusion of the meeting. Mr R. Arnott was voted to the chair, and in introducing Mr Fisher said it was to be regretted that Mr Fisher had the present position forced upon him. Owing to developments Mr Fisher was compelled to come before them in support of his candidature. Mr Hamilton had entered the field at the last moment, after having refused nomination at a representative meeting held in Invercargill, and there was a danger that Southland would not score a representative on the Board at all. “During many years," said Mr Fisher, “I have interested myself in the dairy industry, and I did not think there was any likelihood of me securing nomination for the Board. However, now that lam in the fight I want to win and hope to obtain your support. THE PURPORT OF CONTROL. "To sum up to you concisely the real object behind the Dairy Produce Export Control Act I cannot do better than quote from an official statement made by Mr W. Grounds, chairman of the Dairy Control Council:—“lhe purpose of control was not to interfere with legitimate trading but to assure the best possible return for the producers by careful regulation of shipping, reduced shipping charges, close watchmg of market movements, efficient advertising and other advantageous operation# at minimum administrative cost. 1116 control system simply means that hard working dairy farmers will be more closely concerned in minding their own business for the benefit of themselves and the Dominion as a whole. As is the case of meat control there will be no compulsion whatever unless by a most careful investigation such procedure proved to be absolutely necessary in the interests of producers.’ You could not have anything safer than the foregoing statement and it showed that you were not going to have any ‘wild-cat-schemes under the Board.

“This is one of the most important and difficult problems the Board will be called upon to deal with. A great deal has been said about the shipping service. A good many of the statements on both sides have been probably exaggerated. An appreciation of the magnitude of the contract on both sides is required to obtain a true perspective. The transport of material representing almost half the yearly wealth of the Dominion is a gigantic undertaking requiring large capital and exceptional tonnage accommodation. On the other land the freights to be earned under such a contract is an alluring one and the service of such a nature as to appeal to the shipowners looking for a regular employment. for a fleet of steamers. “The configuration of your coast line in its multiplicity of good harbours, is really one of the difficulties we have to face in fixing a shipping contract. Ships cannot move from harbour to harbour free of cost, any more than the producer can transport his goods past his local port to a central place of shipment without payment. While there was probably not much roin for complaint on either side up to the war period, there is grave room for concluding that in the interval, allowing for all the difficulties of a difficult period, the producer has been at times exploited an i been made to suffer undue loss and incon-

“The weak feature rfom the producers* point of view has been the lack of any organisation having sufficient authority to deal with the shipping interests on anything like equal terms and this weakness was known to be the immensely powerful interests controlling the ships. The National Dairy Association and the South Island Dairy Association have done very fine service in looking after our shipping but the very limited authority they were endowed with has been too great a handicap to enable them to accomplish what u desired.

“The Control Board with its wider powen can approach the subject with infinitely greater confidence, and I venture to say the creation of the Board will attract shipping interests in Britain to give much more attention, to probable business from this country. .Instead of being a bugbear to the British ship owner it will be on? of the chief • attractions to improve overseas transport. Shipping companies will realise that here is an authority they can approach that has a business of such magnitude as to be worth catering foi». The maintenance of a regular service to and from a port is of vital importance to the development of the territory of which that port is the shipping centre. Facilities for a merely coastal exchange of goods do not satisfy the community surrounding that port as would a direct overseas service. Still the imrovement of inter-state transport, with only i very limited number of deep sea leading ports may be necessary to obtairy a cheap and effective regular overseas service. With the. authority the Control Board will have to face the shipping problem, I think there is no doubt hut that improvements will be effected. Difficulties which are made to appear insurmountable where competition is absent have a wonderful way of assuming much less impossible forms when there is the probability of someone else getting tbo work. Improvements in the service which we have been repeatedly assured are impossible of realisation are not quite so visionary as those who do not wish to give them, would make out. I venture the statement that within the first year of its existanca the Control Board will open up negotiations regarding shipping that will ultimately lead to many improvements in the service and enable us to conduct the transport of our goods under much improved conditions. The Control Board is the most practical organisation the dairy producers have ever had to look after, protect and promote their interests. Apart from an improved deep sea service, pressure must be brought to bear upon coastal carriers to provide better accommodation for the carriage of perishable dairy produce between New Zealand ports. All the care that may be taken to insure manufacture under proper conditions, and storage at a proper temperature up to embarkation can be largely discounted by transport in an uninsulated vessel to a deep sea carrier. The loss in shrinkage and deterioration through repeated and not too careful handling is very considerable. MARKETING. This is a subject that must receive the attent ion of the Board. It is a most complex problem and one requiring care in handling. Our system of marketing has evolve;! from the experience of years of practice and much of it is so delicately balanced as to call for considerable forethought prior to being interfered with. Much has been made of ;he arbitrary powers conferred upon the Control Board under th? Dairy Produce Export Control Act and certainly these powers are wide amj very commanding. The safety or danger in the admin strution of any arm of commerce, or justice largely, in fact almost exclusively depends upon the capacity and intelligence of the body created to administer it and the interests al stake in the administration. The Dairy Control Board is entrusted with the handling of the means of sustenance of a very large section of the people of New Zealand, the successful handling of the produce of these people is vital to the success and prosperity of the members cf the Board themselves and the entire interest is bound up with the country’s prosperity. It is inconceivable to me that, any sane body of men will

countenance any wild or revolutionary measures in the conduct of the Board’s affairs. Collection, finance, transport and distribution are all closely correlated and yet each calls for expert handling separately. I do not favour any immediate interference with present channels of disposal of your produce, in fact, I am opposed to any interference without exhaustive and careful inquiry and would require to be thoroughly satisfied that proposed changes were safe and stable. The financing alone of £16,000,000 to £20,000,000 worth of goods is a gigantic feat and demands the co-opera-tive attention of producers, bankers and merchants. While the primary work of the Board for sometime will be more especially devoted to the arrangement of shipping and the collection of information as to British and foreign production and markets it must also closely follow the process of marketing. In this respect it does not appear to me there need be conflict between the Board and the recognised British wholesale handler of our produce. That great organisation familiarly known as “Tooley Street,” has built up a great system of distribution (not retail) and the majority of its members are men of the highest integrity and commercial probity. We want the co-opera-tion of such men. I believe that the Control Board will receive this co-operation in a far greater degree than has been possible under present individual and disjointed handling conditions. Investigations may prove, and probably will prove, the necessity and wisdom of eliminating some firms or companies whose trading methods are not conducive to the best interests of the producer.

The Board will gradually build up an intelligence and publicity department that for completeness and efficiency must outclass anything hitherto enjoyed by the produce trade of this country. In this relation much good must result. One of the great objections to present conditions is the lack of information on the part of factory directors as to market conditions, or the forces for the time being at work influen - ing prices. Sales are, therefore, often made in the dark and much loss and bitterness of feeling engendered. The bureau of information created by the Board will at all times be open for the guidance of the owners of produce in determining their actions in selling.

Meantime, the Board’s chief enterprise under the heading of marketing is to possess itself of the widest and most reliable information obtainable as to market conditions,. supplies immediately available and in sight, and prospective, in order that the producer may be placed on the best possible plane in determining his action in the disposal of his goods. This will necessitate the employment of a competent staff at this end and an Advisory Committee and statistical staff in London. The cost of such an organisation would be infinitesimal compared with the benefits resultant and would only be such as a well organised and far-seeing business firm would set up. I am sure the Board will more than justify ; its existence in the good it will accomplish in this department alone. THE DAIRY ASSOCIATIONS. A little controversy has arisen over the question of the utility of the two dairy associations after the Dairy Control Board has actually commenced operations. The National Dairy Association and the South Island Dairy Association, it has been hinted, should be terminated. Already I understand several members have resigned and others contemplate this step. Well, gentlemen, it appeals to me as savouring somewhat of ingratitude to advocate cutting the throat of the steed which has safely carried you over a long and difficult trail on a somewhat meagre ration. Both Associations are built on a very lightly hung together constitution and were moved off practically without capital. There is nothing particularly mandatory behind them; rather are they a combination of the various factories banded together for the purpose of mutual and self-help. Through all the negotiations during the war period in dealing with the Imperial requisition of foot! stuffs they stood by the producer and were recognised by the Government as the official channel through which the producer voiced his claims and his decisions. They have built up a large trade organisation and undoubtedly have been instrumental in acting as a safety valve or break on private profiteering in fac-ton,' supplies. The very nature of their constitution has prevented them from building up great trade reserves such as private-ly-owned concerns are capable df an.d undoubtedly the producer has received the direct benefit of the savings thus effected. The Control Board is not constituted to replace the majority of the activities of these two bodies and dairymen would be well advised to exercise very great care before taking any steps that might lead to these two bodies becoming extinct. They are non-politic al, truly co-operative, elastic in constitution and form the best existing edifice from which dairymen as a whole can voice their wishes and bring to fruition any concrete proposal for the betterment of the conduct of the industry. If they were done away with to-morrow, it would not be a year hence when there would be a demand to set un some such dairymen’s Parliament. To my mind it would be a calamity that they ceased operations. Dairymen must have some central Parliament other than the Dominion Legislature, at which they can discuss and perfect the many improvements always being sought for in the conduct of the industry. I am an admirer of the Dairy Associations; they have done, are doing, and will continue to do valuable work and yeoman service for dairj'men. They form the best bond of union in the dairying industry to-day. I trust they will survive and prosper. THE ELECTION. “Whatever our opinions are abuot the wisdom of a personal suppliers’ vote to decide the representation on the Board, we must face the position as it exists. The Act calls for such a vote. Education is one of the great requirements in order to insure an intelligent decision on any vital subject settled by popular vote. In all cases of an election, the Press, personal canvass, public meetings and the distribution of literature play a determining part. Even, however, in so important a procedure as the election of li member of Parliament a constituency is rarely made so large as to preclude the reasonable possibility of a candidate traversing it. In this instance any such undertaking is impossible. A constituency comprising the whole of the South Island forbids by its vastness the possibility of any community of interest existing between candidates and the people they seek to represent other than the community of interest created by a common cause.

“In the same way it is impossible for .any individual candidate to convey to the numerous and widely scattered suppliers any personal evidence of his fitness for the position he seeks. It is with these facts facing me that I have endeavoured to shape my course in this contest. It was with a similar knowledge that the supporters of the Bill comprising the Dairy Control Council concluded that some lead was essential in order that chaos should be averted in the selection of candidates and hence the decision of the ticket recommended.

“That no selfish motives were permitted to obtrude in the selection it is only necessary to remind you that there were 30 members on the Council, men who had devoted weeks and months of work to insure that you would get a Control Bill and only nine were required for the Board. Now selfishness would have dictated the selection of the 9 from the 30. As a matter of hard fact only six names were chosen from the 30 and three from outsiders, of whom I was one. From this you see that four out of every five members of that body sunk any personal ambition they might have in the interest of what they believed the general good. And yet remember gentlemen these members of the Council had been selected by the dairymen from all over the Dominion as the men in their judgment, best capable of looking after the interests of the industry in promoting the passage of the Bill.. After the passage of the Bill and the unpleasant fact ascertained that the ward system of election was cut out, the next best thing was

resorted to, namely, the selection of men for recommendation to suppliers from districts that would as nearly as possible coincide with the territories that would have been represented under the ward system. The Council was unanimously in favour of the ward system. The possibility of balancing the Board so as to approximately divide the Dominion geographically, is only to be attained by the recognition of a ticket on some such common ground of fairness as the Wellington meeting fixed. “Any suggestion of provincial plumping, as has been mooted, and I believe advocated in Southland, is going to destroy the whole structure and if persisted in and acted upon is going to lead to unexpected and very probably disappointing results. It might quite easily lead to the entire non-representa-tion of Southland, the most truly dairying portion of the South Island. “The South Island has in the popular mind been divided into three parts—Canterbury, Otago and Southland —for the purpose of this election. The object aimed at is that there should be a representative resident in these various divisions. The original recommendation of Messrs J. R. Thacker, F. Waite and myself had this representation visioned. The voting strength of . the respective districts as taken from the annud list of creameries, factories, etc., issued by the Minister of Agriculture up to June last is as follows: —Canterbury, 10,792 suppliers (inclusive of adjoining provinces) ; Otago, 5776; Southland, 5227. These figures apparently require to be modified somewhat, although the relative proportions remain the same as the total votes in the South Island, according to the Returning Officer, is 19,500. From the foregoing it is evident that Canterbury has a great preponderance of voting strength and any suggestion of provincial plumping, if acted upon, would utterly destroy any possibility of a fair and equitable representation of the whole Island. If Canterbury acts on that principle then Otago and Southland will remain unrepresented.

“This aspect was seen rfom the be’ginning when the recommendation was made from Wellington and was very clear to myself when I suggested arbitration to determine Southland’s choice. I was quite sincere in the suggestion made and I still think it might, with profit, have been acted upon. While the number of votes is so much larger in Canterbury, the relative producing capacity of the provinces may be staled from their stock of dairy cattle:—Canterbury, cows in milk, 85,648; Otago, 54,030; Southland, 72,267.

In actual export of manufactured product (and this is what the Dairy Control Board has to deal with) the position is:—Canterbury, boxes butter 129,156, crates‘cheese 32,876, total 162,032; Otago, boxes butter 69,140, crates of cheese 34,695, total 103,835; Southland, boxes butter 52,012, crates cheese 149,790, total 201,802. Grand totals: Boxes butter 250,308; crates cheese 217,361; 467,669.

Southland manufactured for export while Otago and Canterbury manufactured for home consumption, yet the Canterbury voters held a preponderance. You will have to be careful that you do not raise the paroachial question or else you will be swamped by Canterbury. I do not consider the method of election provided in the Bill is the best one, either from the point of view of the producer or in respect to efficiency and economy. It is cumbersome, costly and in its effect uncertain. I favour the election of factory directors by supplies, the election of a council of advice by the directors and the selection of a Board by the Council, or as an alternative the election of the Board by a majority of factory directors. In this way experienced men would be appointed as the directors of factories must themselves first have the confidence of suppliers before election on to the committee of their own factory. Mr John Smith moved a vote of thanks to Mr Fisher and also included in his motion an expression of confidence in Mr Fisher as a fit and proper person to represent the on the Dairy Control Board. This was seconded by Mr T. S. Lobb and carried unanimously. Mr Fisher in reply thanked them and said it had been stated that he did not represent the producers. The following were some of his nominations: Messrs A. F. Officer and W. Young (Drummond), J. G. Flett and G. A. Burnett (Otautau), T. R. Eades and W. McDonald (Edendale). The list contained the names of some of the biggest suppliers to the respective factories named. The following motion, proposed by Mr T. R. Eades and seconded by Mr J. Dunlop, was also carried: That this meeting, representative of the dairy factories in the Wyndham, Edendale and adjoining districts, the largest and most closely settled dairying area in Southland, approves of the South Island candidates recommended by the Dairy Control Producers’ Committee, pledges itself to assist in their return, and urges producers to vote for Messrs Thacker, Waite, and Fisher. ASHBURTON SUPPORT FOR COUNCIL. (Per United Press Association.) ASHBURTON, December 6. A conference of the Ashburton County’s three factories decided to recommend suppliers to support the following for the southern three seats on the Dairy Control Board:—Messrs Thacker (O’Kain’s Bay), Lee (Goodwood) and alternately Hamilton (Winton) or Fisher (Otautau).