AID FOR TOBACCO INDUSTRY

Taranaki Daily News, 23 October 1930, Page 9

AID FOR TOBACCO INDUSTRY

’ NEW ORGANISATION PROPOSED. RESTRICTION ON BOND ISSUES. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night.. The report of . the Tobacco Industry Committee, presented in the House of Representatives to-day/is an extremely lengthy document and contains a large number of recommendations, including suggested amendment to the Tobacco Act and alterations in the duty on imported tobacco. Other recommendations include the removal of the control of tobacco culture from the Division of Horticulture to the Department of Agriculture and placing it under the supervision of a tobacco expert to be' appointed by the Government and to be known as the director of tobacco _ culturej the appointment of an advisory council, consisting of four representatives of tobacco growing districts,to assist the director; also the examination of samples from abroad of export tobacco leaf to enable knowledge to be obtained of the quality of the leaf against which the local grower might be expected to compete on either the local or export market. It is further reccomended that full advantage should be taken of the offer recently made by the Empire Marketing Board and that research experiments should be undertaken without delay in r» spect of quality, aroma, combustibility and other characteristics of New Zealand tobacco leaf; that the export standard should be revised with a view to setting up a new standard of grades more in conformity with world standards; that periodical tests be made of markets in the United Kingdom and Australia and with selected parcels of New Zealand leaf; that in view of published statements appearing in . several prospectuses of tobacco growing companies recently registered the Companies Act phould be amended in the direction of requiring the consent of the permanent head of a Department of State to the publication of ahy- statement by any officer of such department other chva matter contained in official publications of the department; that bond series of tobacco growing z companies issued for public subscription should also be registered under the Companies Act, and further that the law should be amended to make this principle apply to. bond series issued by any concern registered under that Act.

' The Government is urged to come to an early decision in respect of the recommendations of’ the committee to enable the tobacco growing and manufacturing industries to be placed on a stable oasis, especially in view of the fact that certain of these recommendations relate to tariff matters.

The committee in the course of its report deals with the quality of New Zealand leaf and states: “Weighing up expert and other evidence tendered before us, we are definitely of the opinion that New Zealand leaf has been grown of a standard'equal to any grade other than the best Virginian, and that such results have been obtained without the usual experiments extended over a period as have been carried out in ail other countries.”