WHEAT CONTROL.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 852, 28 August 1933, Page 7

WHEAT CONTROL.

Effect on New Zealand Improbable. DETAILS LACKING. Those most closely In touch with the industry in Canterburv find the cabled decisions 'of the Wheat Conference rather bare of what they consider vitally necessary particulars. For instance, no mention is made of the actual machinery by which a limitation of wheat areas or yields is to be ensured. Another point that was questioned was whether farmers would be willing to sell at the fixed price in the event of crops being substantially shorter than the total planned for. Limitation o i Crops. One man who has been connected with the wheat industry for a great many years- raised both these points immediately. “It is hard to understand just what the cablegrams mean without further particulars,” he said. " New Zealand is not a signatory anyhow. and the decisions are not likely to affect us.” New Zealand, he said, waS well u?ed to control of prices for wheat, but although the subject had been discussed often enough, and very closely studied, no workable suggestion had ever been brought forward for the limitation of crops, even though this would be more easily done in a self-contained country like the Dominion than in most countries. The Labour Party had gone closely into the question some time ago, but had found that unless an army of inspectors was created, a supervision of the area of crop would be impossible. Apart from this, there was no definite indication, from year to year of the yield from a given area. Centred of Market. Another merchant intimately concerned with the world’s wheat position said that the interest for New Zealanders was th'at apparently an attempt was being made on a very large scale to control production and at the same time the market. It would be most interesting to see how this aspect was dealt with by the various Governments throughout the world. The problem was comparatively simple in New Zealand where conditions in overseas markets were not a great influence, especially lately under duties and control by the Wheat Board, but in European countries where actions in one had a direct effect on its neighbours, he considered the problem of limiting production would assume enormous proportions. Farmers the world over were a class which resented any attempt to interfere with what they considered their own business. The outcome would be quite as interesting as the outcome of the imposition of quotas by importing countries, and would more than likely mean reorganising the industry in many countries. The price of 63 gold cent? per bushel represents about 3s 6d in Sterling or 4s 4d in New Zealand currency.