CORRESPONDENTS' VIEWS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 172, 23 July 1942, Page 4

CORRESPONDENTS' VIEWS

CITRUS FRUITS

(To The Editor) The leader on citrus fruit and Government control appearing in Tuesday's Stsr serve to awaken consumers, more especially women, to the vital necessity of organising and bringing pressure to bear upon every member of Parlia. ment I have always been amazed at the inaction of our housewives no matter to what heights prices rise, what subterfuges are used to increase prices or decrease supplies, what amounts are dumped, or what their families have to forego. From the taxpayer's point of view, I feel a public inquiry and a new policy for our fruit marketing is sadly overdue; the State is incurring huge losses, last year £432,000, on its fruit transactions, this loss being considerably greater than the net amount received by the grower for his fruit Normal fruit exports cannot be resumed till some years after the war, and Parliament is failing in its duty in permitting the accumulation of these losses (will they be charged to the War Expenses Account?) for our armed forces to help settle or pay interest on after demobilisation. The women of New Zealand should demand that the health-giving foods of this and other lands be made available at prices all members of the community can afford, that the Marketing Department be cleansed of inefficiency, inexperience and political appointments, and that an elective internal marketing board, if necessary, be established on which the consumer interests shall be fully represented. ANOTHER VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS.