NEW ZEALAND CHEESE.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 959, 8 March 1917, Page 10

NEW ZEALAND CHEESE.

GOVERNMENT DELAY. CAUSES HEAVY LOSS. By Cable. — Press Association.—Copyright. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. LONDON, March 0. In the House of Commons, Mr Will Thome asked whether the Government was paying 9kl per pound for New Zealand cheese, though the Dairy Association in August had offered the entire output at 8!d per pound, and the Government had refused this offer; further, whether the Government was aware that the difference represented a loss of £350,000, and that as a consequence of the deal Canadian cheese had risen to £l5O per ton, English cheese to £IOO, while the New Zealand price was only £102; and whether the Government intended to take action because the Canadian and English manufacturers were getting £SO per ton more than the New Zealand manufacturers were? Mr G. H. Roberts, Under-Secretary to the Board of Trade, replied that the facts were generally as stated. The price asked in August, however, was so much in excess of the price in 1915 that the War Office felt that it was not justified in accepting the offer without further negotiations. The purchase of colonial cheese for the Army and for civilians was now in the hands of the Board of Trade, who were dealing with the matter in collaboration with the colonial Governments. The Board hoped that this action would "substantially reduce the prices, which were mainly due to the small quantities now on the market.