PRESS OPINION

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 190, 13 August 1932, Page 1 (Supplement)

PRESS OPINION

SOUTH AFRICAN MEAT. The bold announcement at Ottawa that South Africa wants an opportunity I to penetrate the British market for ehilled beef has been followed by the arrival at Smithfield of the first commercial shipment, alter two experiment tai shipments had been previously landed. Eulogistic opinion about the quality of the meat are given in a cable message. 1 his does not mean that South Africa has conquered the market. Neither would the establishment of a quota nor the granting of preference. In 1928 there were some 10,412,000 cattle in the Union, compared with 3,274,000 in New Zealand in the same year, and 11,200,000 in Australia at approximately the same date. The South African herds are more numerous than those of other countries which export beef in quantity, but the actual number of cattle is no true criterion. A survey of the meat situation, contained in a recent South African publication, while claiming that the export of beef should be one of the great industries of the Union, admits that much must be done before such a hope could be realised. Under war conditions a certain amount of trade was developed, but it subsequently languished because ‘ ‘the South African exporter has had to recognise that grades of meat which were eagerly accepted in wartime would not pass muster in normal markets.” Since 1924 there has been a revival in the export figures, the value of meat sold overseas in 1930 having been £372,000. The greater part of the trade has been with Italy, and little headway has been made in the more critical market of great Britain. It is frankly admitted that there is not enough quality stock for regular shipments of chilled beef, and the export of live cattle, though possible, is not an economic proposition owing to the high freight and other costs. If South Africa ig really to challenge the supremacy of Argentina in the chilled beef trade, it will be necessary to breed and fatten, as Argentina has done, with a direct eye to the requirements of the British market There is no reason why it should not be done, but it cannot be done in a day or a year. —New Zealand Herald.

SUPERANNUATION FUNDS. The condition of the superannuation funds from which retiring allowances are paid to pensioned civil servants has caused anxiety for some years. Before the depression raised economics to the position of first importance in the affairs of the Dominion the then Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, expressed concern in regard to State superannuation funds. They were, he feared, actuarially unsound and a very large sum would be required to put the funds on a proper basis. His successor, Mr. Forbes, has made similar observations from time to time, while the retirement during the past two years of many highly-paid officials has made the position even more acute. Mr. Forbes has hinted that a revision of the whole scheme may be necessary, and that it must include among other conditions a limitation of the maximum pension payable to any retiring civil servant. The suggestion has been made that any modifications might have to be retrospective; that is, they would apply to civil servants now in receipt of pensions. Naturally, these people are protesting against the proposal, maintaining that they were contributors to a fund which promised certain results and they have a right to the pension they are now receiving. One speaker at the meeting of the Superannuated Public Servants’ Association, Mr. Marcus Marks, complained that the public did not understand the real position in regard to superannuation. He is probably correct in this statement, and it is a condition which the association might set itself to alter. No one wishes the pensioned civil servant to suffer any injustice. At the samo time every other section of the community has been called upon to accommodate itself to lower economic values in incomes of every description. If the pension system is unsound and is costing more than the country can afford it will require alteration. There is all the more reason for putting the real position before the public, and Mr. Marks and his colleagues should spare no efforts in this direction. —Taranaki Daily News. A GOOD BEGINNING. Officially the New Zealand dairy export season opens on August 1, beginning with outputs of butter from the favourably situated North Auckland districts, and the season has now begun. Presently small parcls of the new make of butter will be shipped, to arrive in British markets at a time when production in the Northern Hemisphere will have slackened off. Stocks of butter in the United Kingdom at latest cabled advices were less than they were at this time last year, ah hough the carry-over in New Zealand was rather heavier than that of a year ago. Consumption of butter, for all the huge quantities of that article landing from ah dairy countries exporting to Great Britain, continues good, stimulated by the attraction of the low' prices. The immediate future of the British dairy market rests with New Zealand and Australia in regard to butter and New Zealand ami Canada in regard to cheese. Prospects of high prices for both commodities are not assured, but it does seem that New Zealand dairy fanners may expect payable returns during the 1932-33 dairy export season, providing the industry is economically managed and the market is satisfied on the score of quality. As it is, when all accounts for the season just closed are squared, it will probably be found that the dairy industry as a whole has done remarkably well compared with other export industries. Already New Zealand supplies 60 per cent, of the British import trade in cheese and 25 per cent, of that trade in butter, and year by year it is increasing the volume of its export trade in both articles with the United Kingdom.— Evening Post.

PRIVATE SETTLEMENT SCHEMES. The announcement that the trustees of the Auckland Savings Bank will help land settlement and unemployment relief, in the same actions, with two handsome sums of money, is good news. These gifts are in keeping with the custom the bank has established of applying surplus to community ends, and they are an example in initiative and enterprise that should give a lead to the country. In this depression there has been too much leaning on the Government, and it is refreshing to find private enterprise planning such schemes as are the subjects of these Savings Bank grants. The first grant is of £lO,OO0 —conditional on another £lO,OOO being raised by the public—for a settlement plan framed by a number of Waikato farmers for the placing of unemployed on the land, and the second begins with £2OOO for the purchase of land for the training and settling of unemployed boys, and proceeds to the spending of up to £20,000 during five years. It is proposed, under the Waikato scheme, that small farms be provided complete for suitable men, and the community basis of settlement, which has been much talked about but never tried in this country, will be introduced. The experiment will be of great importance to the whole (Dominion, and every effort should be made to ensure its success. The value of the provision for training boys for land work and settling them is obvious. It is a practical move for which the community should be grateful. The trustees of the Auckland Savings Bank are to be congratulated on their farsighted patriotic action. Auckland Star. IS CONCILIATION A FARCE? If there is one man who is anxious for the success of the conciliation system, it is surely the Conciliation Commissioner, and he can hardly be blamed for the arresting fact that under the amended Arbitration Act not one agreement has been concluded before him. A permanent stalemate might be welcomed if it led to a speedy restoration of compulsory arbitration, but that alternative is not in immediate prospect, and Labour and Capital would be wise to make the best of the system they have. Uniformity of wages and hours is the only alternative to an altogether undesirable state of uncertainty and under-cutting in industry, and this fact ought to inspire a determination on the part of employers and employees to make the conciliation system workable. It is in nobody’s interest to create a stalemate that gives every employer a free hand in the fixing of wages and working conditions.—Christchurch Star. RADIO INTERFERENCE.

Not many listeners in Christchurch will accept the invitation of a North Beach reader of the Star to attend a demonstration of the nightly horrors of radio interference, for no district is free from the nuisance. If anybody needs convincing on the subject it is the radio inspectors, to whose notice the matter should be brought more pointedly by the radio dealers, in the interests of better business. There are electrical machines in the city that can put even a trolley-bus in the shade, but it is possible to neutralise their interference, and this should be insisted on. New Zealand is much behind older countries in the protection of its listeners.—Christchurch Star. UNEMPLOYED BOYS. It is satisfactory to find that so much interest is being taken in the need for finding work for boys who a>e unemployed. The number involved is generally put at 20,000, but this appears to be an exaggeration. According to figures supplied by Mr. S G. Smith, M.P., the total number of boys leaving primary or secondary schools in 1930 was 16,737. Of these 6750 went on from primary to secondary schools, leaving about 10,000 roughly to look for jobs. Of these 1459 went to their homes. 999 were not traced and 7529 were placed in jobs. These figures give 2500, of whom some are in their homes and some untraced, as not known to be at work. The position has become much worse than last year, but 20,000 unemployed is too big an estimate. When in New Plymouth unemployed boys were invited to register under the kindling wood scheme 50 boys put their names down and 20 have since been found employment. It is useless looking to the Government to devise big schemes or to grant subsidies. Each district must tackle its own problem, and Messrs Smith and Ansell who are looking into the question will be able to advise as to the most successful method. The kindling wood scheme in this town finds the boys who are ready to work, tests them out and finds places for a considerable number. The Government can do a great deal by legislating to cut the wages of apprentices and easing the conditons of employment. At present employers cannot afford to put on apprentices with wages from 15s to £2 10s a week. If these wages were lowered any slight improvement in trade would lead to boys being taken on. Ina court case in New Plymouth last week it was stated that under the award a boy between 16 and 17 years old must receive 27s a week for delivering meat for a butcher. These wages may have been justified in boom times, but they are too big today. In occupations not governed by awards, this is recognised. A boy of 18 years who is entering on a professional career after passing matriculation and other examinations may receive, until he has proved his worth only 10s a week and be delighted to accept it, an easing of apprenticeship condition* will make work for boys in towns, ami more of them must seek work on the land. These arc the immediate solutions of the problem of finding work for boys. —Taranaki Herald.