NEW WHEAT POLICY.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLI, Issue 20340, 12 February 1936, Page 8

NEW WHEAT POLICY.

Every day, as fresh light is thrown on the Government’s provisions for the fixation of wheat, oflur and bread prices, difficulties of solving a most difficult problem are emphasised. So far as the North Island is concerned, the Government’s plan has been subjected to wholesome criticism, and a, strong demand is being voiced in support of the requests being made to the Government for more light on the negotiations that were conducted before the plan was announced. Several aspects of the Government’s new policy are regarded as positively dangerous, particularly the wide powers placed in the hands of the reconstructed Wheat Committee. It seems to be generally accepted that the bakers have been placed in a somewhat unenviable position, while, as we suggested when the broad outline of the plan was announced, the advance in the price of wheat provided for under the Government’s new scheme may not be so real as at first sight, because of additional costs that might have to be met. The Evening Post, discussing one phase of the report, says: “The statement leaves the public in the dark on one most important point: on what conditions and subject to what duties is wheat to be imported? Apparently it is not to be imported in such quantities or at such a price as to create a difficulty in maintaining the higher domestic price. Will the Wheat Committee be responsible for imports and for deciding when they are necessary and where they shall come from?”