CORRESPONDENCE.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 March 1924, Page 9

CORRESPONDENCE.

CHEESE AND BUTTER POSITION.

(To the Editor.) , Sir, —On behalf of man* dairy farmers in New Zealand I crave a little space in the columns of your paper, which arrives each morning bright and early’ at most dairy factories throughout Taranaki and which is grabbed and read more eagerly by most dairymen than the rush to their breakfast. The reason, particularly just at present, is the very unsatisfactory state of affairs affecting the butter and cheese market, where practically the whole season’s produce has been dumped and tied up awaiting a further big swag which will tumble on top of what is already lying in so many ships. The next dumping will be the dumping down of the value of most of it, which means factory pay-outs also dumped, and the dairyman badly bumped again, the same as a year or two ago. Now, who can we blame for this state of chairs? Where are those who allowed, happen? Secondly, what is the ‘ remedy ? Is there none, and is there no attempt to be made to handle this good stuff which is worth millions to the man on the land?

I will deal first with the unsatisfactory state and bad management by those who have cleared the produce out of the cool storage here in New Zealand as fast’ as it has been put in, with no thought of spring quantities or summer’s big flush. The quantity during the dwindling autumn will soon be on the tail of all the other swag, lying in the boats and landing on a glutted market, and the last (or autumn) cheese, the very best, will bring the lowest price. It is a very strange thing that the dairymen never get the chance of seeing about a dozen boatloads of slag or manure imported and lying in the harbour waiting to be sold or thrown at them at any price owing to a glut. It is usually the other way when he has to buy anything. It is always in very short supply, and the price is up again. As an example, take the common article, salt, which dairy factories and farmers must buy. It is always well up in price. Cotton again. If the raw market moves up one penny, a bandI age rises sixpence. Take parchment. If a factory in Belgium has a week’s holiday, up parchment goes z again to pay someone for this happening. But now the dockers are having a few days off, the New Zealand dairyman will not get paid on account o>f this. On the other hand, they will pay someone to pay next to nothing for our butter and cheese, and the dairyman is down again, or, using Taranaki cow-cookie slang, “he is out with the bulls.”

Now the remedy is, what? Some say, ask the Dairy Produce Control Board. They are the heads know all about the business, and with all the talk, meetings and voting which have taken place in New Zealand during the last two years, and with the assistance of the Government, there should easily be found a remedy. In fact, this dumping should never have taken place. From what was said the board had the control of the stuff, would see that the man who milked the cow got all that is in it, and Tooley Street would be cut right out. Well, to start off, Tooley Street is right inside of the business, and the first surprise the dairyman got was that the produce was going to go as usual through the same channels. I do not mean the English Channel, which is blocked up just now with this butter and cheese, but the produce merchants, as of old, who, it was said, were getting such a fine fat commission out of the stuff. I take it, then, that the promoters of the Control Board climbed down right from the start, and, as we know, the Tooley Street gentlemen are still the same gentlemen and not likely to get any less commission. Then the next climb down was all those big cheese and butter ships owned by the farmer, who owns the produce, but that question, or alleged improvement, also has not eventuated or is possible. -All the dairyfarmer has to do with the ships is to pay the freight, and on top of that he will have to pay the strike hang-up, while his produce is either freezing or heating and Waiting to be unloaded, as the shipping company does not take any risk. When a strike or blockage occurs the dairyman again gets the bump, and has to pay. He also pays hU subscription to the heads who look after the shipping of his produce and arrange his shipping contracts, namely, the New Zealand National Dairy Association, and thia saves the produce agent the trouble of shipping and employs a number of hands of the association, but the dairyman pays for is the latest levy that has been demanded compulsorily under the Dairy Control Act, one-sixteenth of a penny on every pound o>f butter, and one thirty-second of a penny on every pound of cheese before it can be exported. This, of course, is only another little tax for the dairyman to pay, and will only amount to roughly £6OOO hard cash. This money is to be spent by the members of the Control Board, who will no doubt manage it quite easily, as gome of us know. Yourself, the writer and a pal could manage to go round the world looking for new markets, and finding out a lot of things, and spend the £6,000 very well, know-, ing if they get stranded another levy can be struck to bring them back again. On? thing is certain:-if they go with the next boat they will have a nice big sample of butter and cheese ready landed to show to the customers, and while on the spot cut the Tooley Street , man right out, as the Control Board of New Zealand, with £6,000 hard cash, lean say: “We are the controllers,” but they'will have to be lively or it may l appen that these Tooley Street gentlemen will buy all this butter and cheese and re-sell it later when the market is bare as usual, about August, September and October. The writer, who is interested in more than a box of butter and a crate of cheese landing home from Taranaki, would suggest as a remedy to try and save thia dumping on the market, to use this £6OOO immediately, not as a tourists’ fund, or exhibition stunt, but to apply it solely towards keeping this season’s produce from being thrown away, and would suggest, as soon as possible, buy in this butter and cheese, or take it and store i'; so as it can be handed out between the present time and September-October, when a price can be got for it. In the event of the Control Beard grabbing it off the market, they would have to pay the merchants their money back, and this money can easily be found by our own Government, backed by the dairymen who own the stuff, as if it was safe enough for the merchants to advance on the produce, it is also safe enough for the Government to advance on it and take the risk like the merchants have done. The- security is | good, because those who know tell us it is the best in the world. The butter, someone says, is better than Danish, j The writer hopes it will not deteriorate

in storage on those boats just now. As for cheese, well, that is the stuff. Just like whisky, it improves with age, and if stored,for another six or nine months it will also be the finest in the world and ought to be able to command the fancy price which is paid for English cheese, 140 is per cwt, when New Zealand is only bringing 100 s. Why is this? Perhaps the Control Board will find out from the Tooley Street merchant on the quiet, same as the writer found out about the York ham sold in Sydney shops, but grown and cured ten miles from Sydney, and fed on the. scraps which fell from a Sydney hotel table; and who cared and who paid? Of course this “Mellon,” and not the producer, the dairyman or the pig man got the good gold, yet it would have paid the producer to pay a levy and get his fair share. He did the dirty work, the same as the thousands of dairymen are doing in New Zealand to-day, and on top of it they also }•*»-'“ to do tae p«,ymw. Well, Sir. lU ' 'w

the dairyman does not mind. We say, strike a levy four, five or six times as big, but spend it where it is urgently required, and that is to-day handling that produce, landing, holding it, and storing it, and getting a fair price for it, so as.the dairyman can get a living, and pay his way. Now is the time to act, now is the chance for the Control Board to act, and prove if they are any good. So far they have done nothing. After six months they have struck a levy of £6OOO. It would pay to give another £6OOO to get an aeroplane, and fly them Home right after that butter, which may melt away into oil and leave the dairyman without enough to grease his boots during the winter months, and wet feet means bad temper; and bad temper means no milk, and no milk means’ no money for those who do the work on the dairy farms of England, and are asked to buy British goods with British money. Give us the British naiwyv and we will buy British gjrfds wkM jtnuH be cheese

and butter are sold cheaply, as thia ill where the hard part comefi in. If slag and manures, salt, wire, clothes, boot< and all other imported articles are dear, and our produce is sold cheap, how cure we pay and live? We must live, and 1 While we live we must grow, and cut? out a lot of this crow about all the butter and cheese we have to sell each month, but go right in and sell it within, the Empire and not mind looking for fresh markets, but secure the present markets in the Empire that are being collared by foreigners who get fat on it and then fight us. In conclusion, wo say to the Control Board: “You control . us here, now go and control the produce market in England. When you manage that, get fresh markets.”—l am, etc., “GREASE Stratford, Feb. 29.