TOO MUCH "DANISH"

Southland Times, Issue 19345, 10 September 1924, Page 10

TOO MUCH "DANISH"

EMPIRE AGRICULTURAL CONFERENCE. THE PRINCIPLE OF CO-OPERATION. LONDON, August 2. A four days’ conference on agricultural co-operation in the Empire is in progress at Wembley, and is attended by delegates from the British Islands, Newfoundland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India and Malaya. The High Commissioner for Australia, speaking on “The Principles and Practise of Federation among Agricultural Co-oper-ative Societies,” said they did not find much co-operation in this country among producers, but more among the consumers. The fundamental principle of co-operation was that the industry, rather than the individual, should be regarded as the unit if the highest efficiency was to be produced. The industry could do for the individual that which the individual could neither do for himself nor for the industry. People overseas had dealt with the fundamentals of that great industry, and had seen the necessity of grouping themselves together. The Dominions, with their cheap land and open spaces, could betake themselves more readily to these experiments than could this country, with its centuries of tradition and ramifications of land tenure which would puzzle a Philadelphia lawyer to understand. The trouble just now was to get markets. He must not discuss politics, but the Dominion farmer said: “You are taxing all my goods for production, and I find only a Free Trade market in which to dispose of my goods, and I want to know where I came in.” They could not stop the farmer from asking these questions, and they could trace the development of the idea through every country, and would find that it was leading to much of the present political disturbance of the world. The principle of co-operation was the key that was going to lead to a solution, and to provide the ultimate harmonisation between the two bodies in the community in each country. Rightly apprehended, the interests of the producer and the consumer ought to be identical. Australia had won the first prize for the best baby in the world. (Cheers.) That meant that the Australian milk must be good, and that its climate could not be so bad.

Those were the conditions under which these experiments were taking place, but it was no use having cheap land and broad acres unless some steps were taken to see that the produce found an appropriate market at a remunerative price. Their trouble was to get into the market, but by means of co-operation they were gradually doing it. They did not want to supply anything that this country could produce for itself, but they would like to see a little less “best Danish” and “best Dutch”— (laughter)—and a little more “best Australian, Canadian and New Zealand.” (Cheers.) They would not do themselves any harm in altering that. Seventy-five per cent, of the Australian butter went through the co-operative process. The Dominion had 200 co-operative producing societies, with a capital of £1,350,000, and their income in butter alone was over £7,000,000. He did not want to see the Government do anything for the movement except give it its blessing, and perhaps a little judicious help now and then. Voluntary effort could do more than any great scheme of Socialism emanating from the Government. A POWERFUL ORGANISATION. The Right Hon. Noel Buxton (Minister of Agriculture) said the future success'of co-operation seemed, in the light of experience, to depend on the action taken by farmers for farmers. They looked therefore to the farmers themselves to take the initial steps through their organisations, and it was fortunate that there was now in the National Farmers’ Union a powerful organisation, independent of State support, which could speak of the general body of agriculturists, and was in a position to supply the inspiration, knowledge, advice, and experience, without which the economic combination of farmers could make little headway. While withdrawing its active financial support from the propagandist side of the movement, leaving the initiative to fanners themselves, with whom, as business men, it should properly lay, the State had elected to direct its efforts to the furtherance of agricultural co-operation by knitting principles to practice, and assisting groups of farmers who, convinced of the advantage of co-operation and self-regulated action as applied to their particular branches of industry, had carried through the actual formation of cooperative societies. It was in the preparation, marketing, and distribution of agricultural produce that the greatest possibilities awaited the co-operative movement. The Government had signified its intention of making loans to assist the development of agricultural co-operative enterprises engaged in the preparation and marketing of agricultural produce. The terms offered were very liberal, and included loans up to a maximum of £lO,OOO per society free of interest for the first two years, with repayment over a long period. A sum of £200,000 had been provided by Parliament for that purpose, and a Standing Advisory Committee of business men and persons interested in co-operation had been appointed to examine applications for loans and to make recommendations. THE URBAN MARKET.

Sir James Allen presided at the session, when the subject of “The Relationship between Co-operative Movements of Agricultural Producers and Urban Consumers” was discussed. He said the co-operative dairy factories in New Zealand were the pride of the country. They enabled them not only to produce for their own consumers, but also to produce goods of a graded standard which found an acceptable market in this country. Sir Thomas Allen (a director of the Co-operative Wholesale Society of England) proposed a resolution to the effect that until more complete information of the cost of agricultural production was available the prices of agricultural produce must continue to be fixed by a, process of barbaining; that the immediate task before co-operators was to enable bargaining to take place more and more directly between the organisations of co-operating producers and those of co-operating consumers, so as gradually to eliminate the control now exercised by middlemen, and that all federations of agricultural co-opera-tive societies should endeavour to establish close inter-trading relations with the consumers’ wholesale societies. Mr G. D. Macfarlane (New Zealand Produce Association) seconded the resolution, which was carried.