THE DETAILS SUPPRESSED

Taranaki Daily News, 21 July 1933, Page 9

THE DETAILS SUPPRESSED

BALANCE-SHEET REFERENCES LEPPERTON COMPANY’S ACTION. NO DETAILS OF PRODUCTION. DECISION OF ANNUAL MEETING. r. ■ . e A decision to suppress publication of details contained in the balance-sheet and references to the statistics of production was reached yesterday at the annual meeting of the Lepperton Co-op. Dairy Company. Mr. P. A. Openshaw presided over about 60 suppliers. The subject was raised by Mr. E. E. Snowball, who expressed the opinion that the facts and figures revealed by the balance-sheet were private to the shareholders of the company. In his opinion much harm had been done by the- publication of details concerning the production, manufacture and. quality of dairy produce in New Zealand. A man had recently returned to New Zealand from Great Britain with stories of brushes and other articles that had been found in New Zealand cheese, and the Press had published the details. The motion was seconded by Mr. H. E. Blyde, who said he believed the competition between companies, had been stimulated by .the publication of production details. In his opinion ,the deterioration of quality was largely due to the race for yield. He also expressed the opinion that derogatory publicity was often not the, fault of the Press but of speakers who made unwise public statements. Mr. W. N. Ackland opposed: the motion on the grounds that the company had nothing to hide. Its balance-sheet was a good one, and he did not see what there was to be ashamed of. He was sure the suppliers of the Lepperton factory read the reports of the meetings of other companies with interest. Mr. Snowball blamed the Press for damaging the position of New Zealand dairy produce on the British market by references to its poor quality. He thought the less published concerning the company’s affairs the better it would be. Why should the Press publish such letters? A voice: Why should the farmers write them?It was the company’s hews and the company was a co-operative one, said Mr. Ackland; Would Mr. Blyde support the restriction of Fanners’ Union news? “I will say this,” replied Mr. Blyde. “The Farmers’ Union would not be made the subject of the same ridicule if the Press took.less notice.of some of the utterances at the meetings of Farm : ers’ Union branches.” A motion suppressing the publication of the details mentioned was then carried. ' z . The directors’ report stated that the season had. been an excellent■ one. for dairying. Otherwise it dwelt on items revealed in the balance-sheet and compared the statistics of production. In moving its adoption the chairman followed similar lines in his remarks. Messrs. E. Old and W. Cartwright were elected to the directorate, Messrs. E. Old and A. Old being the retiring directors.