PRICES COMMITTEE.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 September 1920, Page 8

PRICES COMMITTEE.

BUTTER AND MILK COSTS, EXPORT TAX ADVOCATED. 8y Ttleeraph.—Press Association. J Wellington, Sept. 21. The Butter Prices Investigation Committee set up by the House of Repre-sentatives-met again this morning. The first witness was Miss Coad, representing the New Zealand National Council of Women, who contended that the people of the Dominion should not be penalised in the price of products owing to the high values of land, which were more or less .artificial. She advocated a controlled price of butter and an export tax and also contended that the middleman should be eliminated, as in Wellington experience showed that butter sold by direct supplies stores was cheaper than that sold by ordinary retailers. C. B. Norwood, who is in charge of the Wellington city milk supplies, said that the City Council had no voice in the price it paid for milk, it being governed by the price fixed by the Board of Trade with the farmers. The result of the council's operations had been to somewhat reduce the cost to the consumers. Between the years 1915-16 and 1920-21 the wholesale price of milk had increased by 78.83 per cent., while the retail price had only increased by 68.42 ,per cent. The average price charged to consumers in summer and winter was eight pence per quart. Improvements at the milk station and in the method of distribution would still further reduce the cost to the consumer as soon as they could be effected. No individual supplier could serve the people as well or as cheaply as the council was now doing. Any action taken by the committee regulating the price of "butter must greatly affect the cities' milk supplies, the witness continned. The danger of attacking butter was that all products of the farm must also be attacked, otherwise production would be diverted from butter to something else. As the best means pf adjusting the present abnormal butter situation lie favored an export tax, though he would only interfere with the commercial system with great reluctance. J. B. MacEwen gave evidence as to increased costs in connection with the distribution of butter. The distributors were ojily asking in New Zealand the same price as was allowed in Sydpey under Government control. Arthur Latham, farmer, Awahuri, stated that he was farming 70 acres, valuing his land at £64 per acre. He produced a balance-sheet showing that his loss was £74 14s 9d on a year's working, after allowing himself £2OO as wages. Thi3 loss was to some extent augmented by an abnormal loss of stock, but on the other hand incidental expenses might have been less than normal. One of the difficulties a dairy farmer had to face was the expenses he had to pay. Every time a farm was sold the land agent took fifteen per cent, the Government six per cent, and the lawyer four per. cent. These were leeches living on the farmer. He could produce to the 'committee many cases in which farmers were working farms under distressing conditions. He thought many farmers were doing better out of their families than out of their cows. He thought his land-would fetch £l4O per acre in the open'market to-day. On that basis the cost of production ,of a pound of butter-fat was 2s ,10Jd. The committee decided to resume on Thursday.