BUTTER FOR THE PEOPLE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXX, Issue 6, 25 August 1914, Page 7

BUTTER FOR THE PEOPLE.

[To Tub Editor Stratford Post.]

Sir,— During the present crisis m England there is a good deal of controversy and many suggestions as to what tire dairy farmers of Taranaki should do to help to provide butter at a cheap rate for the people at Homo. Une suggestion emanating from Tikorangi (1) is that we should sell our butter to the Government of i\ew Zealand at about Is per lb., and then for the Government, to send it Home and place it on the market at cost price. This very Utopian idea would bo all very well if it were practicable. i take it that the suggestion is made on behalf of the working classes in England, but it would sadly miscarry, as the majority of this class eat either oleo-margarine or vegetable margarine, which is valued at iOd per lb. (double weight), i.e., two pounds for lOd, so, unless we can sell JSew Zealand butter at Homo at Gd per lb, we should not reach the class of people we want to.

Having recently returned from a trip to London, i can say that any butter sold at Is per lb. is only ht for cooking purposes. Even butter at Is 4d per lb. is not above suspicion, A really hrat-class butter equal to Taranaki produce, costs Is bd per lb., and even at that price I would say without any partisan feeling that 1 prefer the Taranaki article, and 1 nave also known people who have come ou& from miglanu, who agree tnat they cannot gou such goon nutter as tney can get here.

My oujecc m wnwng those few linos is to say tnat me moment our nutter gets Home it loses its identity, and is not put on tne counters ot tne retail simps in its original pacKage and sold us Aew Zealand nutter. 1 went to many oi tne hig snops oi the multiple lirms such as Liptons,. Ltd., who have about 600 shops in Eugiaud and enquired if they stocked Aew Zealand butter. They immediately said; “Oh, yes, colonial.” When they saw 1 wanted Aew Zealand tney simply said: ‘ I W e call that colonial, prices from Is 13d to is id .per lb,” which, of course, is simply

blended butter. As 1 have said before, people who want good butter in imgiand are tne people who are able to pay from is 6d to is 8d per lb, and up to 2s for the best Devonshire butter, and if they were offered any butter under tnat price they would look upon it with suspicion. The Continent of Europe sends to England more than threequarters of the imported supplies, and Denmark (i,7OQ,UUOcwt.) and Russia (751,000 cwt.) are the principal contributors. Australia last year send 588,000 cwt., and New Zealand 251,000 cwt. Now, as to margarine. In 1912 there was 136,000 tons imported into England—97 per cent, of which came from the Netherlands (Holland). The output for the United Kingdom is about equal to that imported, making a grand total of 272,000 tons or 0,440,OOOcwt, or, to put it in another way, New Zealand sends to England 250,OOOcwt. of butter } but the consumption of margarine is 5,440,000 cwt, The principal distributors of this enormous amount of margarine and also the manufacturers, are the Maypole Dairy Company, who have 855 shops (retail) in England, and everything about them is scrupulously - clean, while the windows make a very bold and appetising show. It is a demonstrable fact that Russia may have a restricted output of butter owing to the war, but I don’t think England will go short, either in margarine or butter. Anyhow, our little lot will not make any appreciable difference, and I am very strongly of the opinion that being a lirst-class article and cheap, it is mostly used for biending purposes and also in-the manufacture of our rival margarine. According to the laws regulating the sale, margarine must not contain more than 10 per cent, of butter (added), 16 per cent, of water, and 0.5 per cent, of boric acid. In conclusion, I submit that any humane suggestions for relieving a presumed butter famine in England are idle and unprofitable. As I have tried to point out } butter at Is per lb is too much for one class, and not enough for another class. Margarine at 21bs for Is is infinitely superior to butter retailed at Is per lb. If directors of co-operative factories think that by selling the butter cheap they will be helping a deserving class of people in England, they are greatly mistaken, as they would be playing right into the hands of the speculators. Apologising for the length of this letter.—l am, etc,, A. H. RICHMOND. 15-S.—TheI 5 -S.—The above figures are taken from the London “Times,” June 3rd, 1914.