The Southland Times MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1939. Restriction Of Meat Exports

Southland Times, Issue 23735, 6 February 1939, Page 6

The Southland Times MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1939. Restriction Of Meat Exports

Two cable messages from London, printed on Saturday, confirmed the impression that the British authorities intend to introduce some form of restriction on the quantity of mutton and lamb entering the United Kingdom from Australia and New Zealand. No account has been given of the communications that have passed between the Governments of New Zealand and Australia, and the British Government, but it is obvious that a scheme distasteful to both the overseas governments has been under discussion. The Empire Producers’ Conference, which was held in Sydney in March and April of last year, left a very clear impression in the minds of, at any rate, the New Zealand delegates that the British Government was planning to restrict meat supplies. An official denial, however, was made by the leader of the British delegation, Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith, who has recently been appointed Minister of Agriculture in the National Government. The formation of producers’ councils to organize the supply and marketing of various products in the United Kingdom was suggested, and speaking of these councils, Sir Reginald said:

The firm intention of the United Kingdom delegation is to co-operate' in every possible way with the Dominion producers’ organizations to avert the necessity of government intervention. Our understanding of the purpose of the conference is that, the institution of commodity councils shall provide the best means of dealing with, or warding off, the necessity of any restriction of supplies, and the United Kingdom delegation will use all its influence to secure that these councils shall control the position to that end.

In spite of this assurance, the conference was not notable for cordiality among the Dominions toward any movement that even suggested restriction, and the resolutions finally passed confirmed the Ottawa order of preference and specifically accepted the principle of an expanding market for Dominion produce in Britain. British farmers were at that time receiving comparatively low prices for their produce, and have continued to suffer since. They naturally blamed the competition of heavy imports from the Dominions, though the cause was partly an exceptionally good season in Britain which led to the marketing of unusually large supplies of home-grown meat. From the beginning of refrigeration until the last few years, an open and expanding British market for Dominion produce had been accepted as a basic principle. At first it was accepted tacitly, when the British market could absorb comfortably everything that was sent to it; but since the depression years the situation has changed entirely. For meat, as for many other commodities, the British market has been the only outlet. The supply has not only increased in itself, but has been increasingly debarred from markets which in former times were open. There has therefore been a tremendous concentration on the British market, and in the fierce competition everybody has suffered, including the British farmers. At about the time of the Ottawa Conference, the first suggestion of restriction was tentatively put forward. There was immediate and strong opposition from New Zealand, the Dominion at that time most affected, and as a result of a visit to England by Mr Coates the principle of an expanding market for New Zealand products was affirmed. This principle was again affirmed in the agreement secured by Mr Nash. Mainly because of the uncompromising attitude of New Zealand, any suggestion of restriction has been kept in the background, and plans for a more regular flow of supplies to the British market have been substituted. New Zealand’s supplies of both meat and dairy produce have been regulated for many years, but regulation of Australian meat exports has proved extremely difficult because of. the large variation in the volume of production in the Commonwealth from season to season. It seems now that the whole question has entered a new stage. It has ceased to be entirely, or even mainly, a question of simple economics, and has become bound up with political and international considerations. The British farmers for three years have been increasingly dissatisfied with the efforts their Government has made to help them. They have complained that some of the schemes brought into operation to assist them have in fact only made their position worse, and charge the Government with having no interest in any but the manufacturing industries. The Government has shown distinct signs that it is anxious to appease the farmers (Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith is the third member to attempt the portfolio of Agriculture), and when political considerations are paramount the wisest course is often rejected. Apart from this, British farmers have taken full advantage of what has been a most opportune time to urge that their industry must be adequately supported as a source of

food supply in wartime. The effect of restriction on New Zealand cannot be calculated, but in the almost total absence of markets outside Great Britain it might easily mean the end of expanding production- in this country, with consequent drastic readjustments in the whole structure of the farming industry.