CONTROL BOARD POLICY

Taranaki Daily News, 4 November 1926, Page 11

CONTROL BOARD POLICY

A STRONG INDICTMENT POSITION CONSIDERED SERIOUS. AUCKLAND PRODUCERS’ OPINIONS. Opinion in Auckland dairying circles has been deeply stirred by the disclosures made by Mr. T. M. Timpany, of Southland, one of the producers’ representatives on the Dairy Produce Board, concerning what was termed the secret history of the establishment of absolute control by the board, says the New Zealand Herald. Opponents of control see in the disclosures the beginning of the end of the board’s marketing policy, and in some quarters they go so far as to say that the publication of the cablegrams Horn the Prime Minister and members of the board's London agency leaves the board no alternative but to revert to the policy of a free market or to resign. “The disclosures and the manner in which they have been made, constitute the most damning indictment of the board,’’ said an expert. "What beats me is the attempt of the board to suppress the messages, particularly the one from the Prime Minister. That message in my opinion, belongs to the people of New Zealand, and should have been published as soon as it was received. The board not only seeks to suppress the message, but also apparently ignores the Prime Minister’s advice. I would like to know what Mr. Coates will say when he learns that.” SERVANTS AND MASTERS. Tile views thus expressed were en ■ dorsed by others interested in the dairying industry who were present when they were made. Approval was also expressed of the action of Mr. Timpany in making the disclosures, the moral courage displayed being commended. It was suggested that Mr- Timpany deserved the thanks of the whole community for taking on his shoulders the responsibility of acquainting the people with the seriousness of the present position. “And there is no doubt that the position is a serious one,” another expert said. “Instead of being the servants of the people who placed them in office, the board have set themselves up as the master, and instead of giving the farmers, their real employers, full information as to what is happening, there appears to be a deliberate policy of suppression.” DEVELOPMENTS AWAITED. Further developments in the situation are being anxionsly awaited, and, in the meantime, the views of a number of the dairy companies are benig telegraphed to the Acting-Prime Minister, lion. W. Downie Stewart, the Minister of Agriculture, Hon. 0. J. Hawken, and to the Dairy Produce Board. The following resolution was forwarded yesterday by the East Tamaki Cooperative Dairy Company:—■ “Following the expositions revealed at the London end in the matter of New Zealand butter and cheese, as embodied in cables, published by Mr. Timpany, as received by the Control Board from the Premier and members of the London agency, we have lost all confidence in the majority of members of the board, and in the interests of the industry, we feel the board should immediately voluntarily revert to the system of marketing prevailing before September 1, or alternatively, resign in a body and give the industry an opportunity of expressing its opinion in view of the conditions now reported.” Other telegrams forwarded on Tuesday were in similar strain. "THE BUTTER MESS.” Under the heading “The Butter Mess” the Star to-night says: — “The disclosures about the Dairy Control Board’s business indeed make pleasant reading for the dairy farmer. Already he knows that the price of butter is desperately low, and he has perhaps suspected that but for the actions of the Dairy Produce Board it might be higher. Now he will feel certain that the board’s policy has depressed the market. It is perfectly clear from the messages now disclosed that the whole trade in London has been made strongly hostile, to the board, and that the industry has been brought to the edge of disaster. “To the wrong policy has been added internal disagreement, but the country is not nearly so much Interested in individual apportionment of responsibility for this state of affairs as in getting the immediate improvement. What it will demand is immediate and drastic action with regard solely for the interests of the producer. “The board has clearly made a eorry mess of things. It was convinced it could establish a measure of control that now turns out to be disastrous. It thrust itself with cheerful over-confidence, to call it by no harsher term, into an oldestablished and highly complicated business, and it now finds that the disturbance has made an enemy of men who have what amounts almost to the power of life and death over this vital industry of ours. “Control in one form or another, or Want of tact, or both, has set the butter world against New Zealand, and no one can tell how far down in the ramifications of the trade this feeling has gone. It may require only a straw, a whisper, to set the retailer against New Zealand. The Produce Board must forthwith set its house in order, and reverse or modify its policy.”