THE FLOUR BUSINESS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12084, 13 August 1917, Page 8

THE FLOUR BUSINESS.

TOO MUCH OUTCUY. In the opinion of a leading Christchurch flourmiller there is too much outcry concerning tho stato of th© milling business. There, is an undoubted difficulty in selling New Zealand flour, but periods of dulness in trad© hatfe to bo accepted from time to time aa inevitahlo. Tho millers' only grievance is that tho dulness is duo to the failure of tho Government to carry out to the letter tho arrangement made with them early in tho year. When the pric 0 of wheat was fixed it. was decided to allow the millers a fixed sum for milling the wheat into flour, and on that b_asis the price of flour was Cxed. But tho millers stipulated that if price-fixing was to be adopted hero they must be reasonably protected from any dumping policy on the part of Australia. It is pointed out that the Commonwealth has enormous wheat stocks, and big milling concerns, who do not deem the present Dominion flour duty of £'l a ton a. prohibitive impost, hence the largo importations of Australian flour lately to this country. It. i s somewhat anomalous that Australia puts on a. tnriff of £2 10s against New Zealand (lour, but is able to dump large quantities of flour tnto this country because our millers are not protected as they are. Tho local millers quite understood that tho New Zealand flour duty would be raised, and are asking that this bo -done.

No Christchurch mills havo closed down. Two Timaru mills are reported to havo done so, not on account of any wheat shortage or difficulty, but merely because on the basis fixed by the Government they are unable to compete against tho imported article.