RESCUING AN INDUSTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 August 1930, Page 10

RESCUING AN INDUSTRY.

The result of the meeting of North Taranaki dairy companies held yesterday to consider methods of improving cheese manufacture was unsatisfactory from nearly every point of view. In the first place the suggested. voluntary pool, in order that a levy might be made out of which a premium would bo paid to factories producing the beet quality cheese at the expense of those with an inferior make, did not appear to have been thoroughly, considered. Out of the score 'or bo of factories represented at the meeting only 14 voted, the remainder desiring their directorates and suppliers to consider the question further before deciding whether or not a pool was desirable. It seems unfortunate that so important a matter as the vital necessity for improving the quality of cheese had not been thoroughly discussed by every factory directorate in North Taranaki. The inauguration of a pool in South Taranaki was a guide to other portions of the province, and the fact that the pool for the northern factories was defeated by only two votes shows there was considerable support for the proposal. The decision forces the conclusion that the gravity of the position is not realised by many factories. Yet the statements made yesterday by the acting-chairman of the Dairy Control Board, Mr. James Hine,, were plain and ominous enough. It is not mere depression of the market that has brought about the criticism of New Zealand cheese: there has been an undoubted lowering of quality. The Dominion’s rivals in the British market are seizing the opportunity. They are studying methods of cheese manufacture in England. with a view to supplying the article the British consumer desires, and if it is found possible to manufacture this in the Baltic States a very formidable rivalry to the New Zealand product will be in evidence. Those States, too, are but four or five days journey from the London market, a condition that increases the handicap of this country. The reluctance of factories to enter a pool for any purpose is quite understandable. It brings back memories of the disastrous control experiment, and there is the fear of a factory losing its identity and liberty of action. ’ But the reputation of the New Zealand industry as a whole must take precedence of individual wishes, and it is the duty of those who have turned down. the proposed pool to indicate what better incentive to better quality can be offered. Unless an improvement is made, and that right early, the outlook for the cheese industry is exceedingly grave.