FLOURMILLING CASE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19366, 24 July 1925, Page 3

FLOURMILLING CASE

(Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON. July 23. Tn the Appeal Court, Mr Skerrett, continuing for respondents in the flourmilling case, said that millers were as much interested as the Government in i providing raw material (wheat) for I their industry. It was to their inter est to have a stabilised price for Hour I and that New Zealand should be inde 1 pendent of foreign supplies. The Gov ernment, under its control system, had to fix the price of wheat agreeable to ' millers, but the Government control was I not practicable unless an embargo was i maintained. Air Skerrett Klid it was clear the maximum price of bread must be fixed, such relating to flour milling as to allow j reasonable profit to the miller. The I Government in .1919 paid a subsidy to] millers and in the following year in j

| creased this to 87s (>d a ton. Th< I prices of wheat, flour and bread wer< I fixed for four years. Then in 1922 flu j Government announced it would no guarantee lhe wheat price further bu nothing was said about an embargo. Tlu millers over bought wheat and decidei Io face the loss by selling flour at com petitive prices. The resultant prio cutting threatened io destroy the mill ing industry and Distributors. Ltd., fur nished the means to present this. 11 tin* propriety of Distributors. Ltd. was doubted, then* was power under the Board of Trade Act. 1919, to investigate its affairs ami. if need be, to supj press the company. Dealing with lhe law on the subject. Mr Skerrett con- ; tended that a commercial trust was not t an offence under the Act. only certain acts committed by such a trust wore I punishable as offences. Price fixing by I a trust was contemplated under lhe I Act and was not an offence unless I prices were unreasonably high. At the 1 Lower Court trial the Crown abandoned I the charge that the prices of flour, brai: | and pollard in New Zealand had been I unreasonably high since October 1922. The hearing was adjourned. !