DAIRY CONTROL.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 2 May 1927, Page 6

DAIRY CONTROL.

MR HOLLAND’S OBSERVATIONS. ATTACK ON GOVERNMENT. By Teleerapu—Press Association. WELLINGTON, April .'jO. Mr H. E. Holland, Leader of the Opposition, lias delivered a series ol address in various North Island towns, in tne course of winch ho has expressed iiis views on the Dairy Control Question. - As they have not so, far tieen reported, the following summary is given:—

When a vote was taken in June, 1923, seventy-one per cent of the suppliers recorded themselves in favour of the compulsory clauses, and the Labour Tarty supported the Bill. Ho claimed that the position which had arisen ' recently was not due to the operations j of the Board, but to the work of j speculators and the manner in which I supplies had been held in storage, prior to the arrival of the new season’s supplies in November. The fact that the butter had been stored, was used by speculators to discount its value, and to.bring down its price. In some instances, people were advised not to use stale New Zealand butter, but to use fresh Danish instead. As soon as i fresh New Zealand butter was available at the stated price, speculators proclaimed the splendid qualify of , stored butter, and tried tc use it to , got now season’s butler down to lids ! per cent. The policy of certain specu- ! iativo interests was to force prices 1 down’, and then to buy in large quantities to enable them to repeat tho operation later. , Mr Holland reviewed the appoint- ! mont of Mr Paterson, as Government I representative on the, London Agency I of the Control Board, and contended i that the lion. J. G. Coates was behind i Mr Paterson, and that the attitude of tho latter was that of the Government. ■ Ho strongly condemned tho ! appointment of tkreo Toolcy Street representatives to act with the London Committee in i forcing prices, and said ho had seen it ; stated that “these Toolcy Street men, j while supposed to be acting in the i interests of the Board • and tho con- i sumers, had been buying heavily in Argentina butter, in anticipation of a rise on tho market, which they ..iem- ' selves were endeavouring to create.” Mr Paterson had now resigned, but in i the meantime, the damage had boon j done. From the first, he (Mr Pater-j----son) had taken up an antagonistic j attitude towards control, and had done , everything to assist tho opposition to i it. He reflected the desires of Tooley Street, alleged Mr Holland, and move without the knowledge of the Board ; were apparently designed to under- | mine the control policy. The Govern- ! mont had Jet the Board down badly. j The Prime Minister interviewed agents i of Tooley Street without consulting! Mr Grounds, chairman of the Board, 1 who was there in London. Mr Grounds | had offered to be present at the meet- | ing, but was not invited. Afterwards : Mr Coates stated he had asked the 1 deputaton if they wished Mr Grounds i to bo present, and they said they did | not want to see him. Mr Coates acquiesced, and did not invite Mr i Grounds. The whole deputation had I been arranged behind the back of the London Agency, and tho chairman of the Board. Mr Coates's action seemed designed to keep Mr Paterson in a position where he was doing incalculable harm in the marketing of New Zealand produce. The Labour Party suggested that arrangements should bo made with the co-operative distributing organisations in Britain to undertake the marketing of our produce. Some of these endeavoured to eliminate many of the intermediate charges that now stood between producer and consumer, and in any case it was fitting that the products of co-operative factories 'in New Zealand should bo handled by the co-operative distributing institutions of Britain. New Zealand should also open up negotiations with tho British Government for the establishment of a Eood Purchasing Council, through which tho produce of New Zealand could be sold to the British consumer. Proposals on these \ lines iiad been considered by a recent ; conference of the British Labour Party, when, on tho motion of Mr Clynes, resolutions wero carried in favour of tho i British Government instituting bulk j purchase of food supplies aim raw ; material in tho Dominions and elsewhere, either by Government monopoly or by organisations acting under its control and supervision, so as to secure stable prices, and also in favour of the control and cheapening of transport of food supplies to Britain. Arrangements of tins kind would constitute tiie best form of British preference. Reciprocal understandings could be made, Britain taking our primaryproducts, and wo going to Britain for secondary products, such, as machinery, motor vehicles, etc. To-day, we wero sending large sums of money to America, and Canada for machinery and motor vehicles, and other commodities, and those countries wero

taking very little from us, consequently tlie balance of trade was lieavily adverse to us. In the case of our transactions with Britain, the baiai: of trade was more often in our fa ■: . i than against us. In any case, r : lmuKm..ig niiiot. bo . lines that would eliminate clem- ... ' that gambled with the people's food supplies. The Board must be upheld ' against Tooley Street, and manipulators and speculators, and also against the methods of the Coates Government.