Page 24 Advertisements Column 5

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18906, 22 January 1927, Page 24

AUCTIONS. H. MATSON AND CO. JEOPARDISING THE POPULARITY OF OUR LOCAL MAKAtib. ■ntr -RK«OME RESTRICTIONS ON OUR t r KKSONK RESTRICTIONS ON OUR T K ffi RESTRICTIONS ON OUR IHL REALISATIONS THE APPARENT DESIRE THE APPARENT DESIRE Ttmt REALISATION OF ALL OUR PRODUCTS SHOUD BE TRANSFERRED ■.,-OM THE .'OLONIES TO THE OLD u-oKLD \ND WHILE THE GOVERNMENT VNY THEIR RESPONSIBILITY IN THE \ \TTFK \VE CAN FIND NO RECORD OP VNY REFERENDUM BEING TAKEN IN M v\Y OF THE SECTIONS THAT ARE TOJm- VwCTIVK TO RESTRICTIONS TO THE FREEDOM OF THE LOCAL REALISATION. For a period ot sixty years the Mercantile Priternilv in Now Zealand, from Auckland to the Bluff have douo their utmost to bring the Old World's buyers to our shores bo he land could deal almost directly with them, and iu so unselfish a riuner has this been done that very lew f those business houses who have really icrifiwi themselves for this aim are iu existence to-day. Theso markets have attained such popularity throughout the Old World that traders havo found it to their ■idvuiti"e to purchase direct at the point of Production, thereby making many savings ' huidlin" i« bulk, ete. The Old World's m; kets hive lost favour, and many of the pri • lr v producers, we ure told, aro subject control from banks and joint stock co mni.'s who for the most part, havo their head offices in the Old World, and who, in numerous instances, are associated with the big transport companies. The natural inclination is to realise in the Old World s markets through their head oftice. At the pre- " . ~ any 0 f the local producers have e the willing dupe for those who would puTbarriers in the- pathway of local realisation, and the farmer has go the idea of tnkine his commodity from his farm and putting it into the mouth of the consumer in the Old World, and in his endeavour so to do ho is surely jeopardising the popular tv and machinery o£ his local markets. A loss of the popularity of these markets and the confidence that they have inspired with tho Old World's regular visitors, must react to the detriment of the man on the land. Interference at the present time is irksome, such as licenses, permits,. Orders-in-Council, quotas of ' offerings, committees, and a thousand and one new inventions which were never manifest during tho pioneer days of New Zealand when business men controlled tho centres at their own and their clients interest They nre now hold with a-strangled grip by a third party at all angles,, and the vitality of any centre or any point of tho business fraternity is subjective to the veto of some representative that curtails the wholeheartedness of freedom of handling. Why permit a third party to handle your business? Is it the wish of the man on the In u" Is it -vour wish that such restrictions' should 'bo tho order of the day? If the wool owners are determined that tho wool committees shall control the offerings at eacli Centre, then let us-place the factors before you: FACTORS. Before anything can he done, the question has to he approached with an open mind, and an' honest endeavour made to see both sides. From the point of view of those men who have to wait for their wool money, the following factors operate: — (1) They have not got the use of their money. (2) They have to carry tho risk' of a fall in the market whilst their wool is in store. (3) Loss of interest. The last is actually the governing factor. No. 1 can, to some extent, bo overcome by borrowing against the wool in store, but this, again,' brings you up against the question of interest on the borrowed money. No. 2 is an abstract problem, and is governed by the rise and fall of the markets, which are indeterminable. Now for the early seller's point of view. He is, presumably, satisfied with things as they are. Ho has not to wait any longer for his money than ho has done in the past, and tho market is kopt healthy for him by reason of the other wool being held back. In order to arrive at a just solution, some way has got to bo found of equitably distributing the aforementioned burdens over the whole of the growers. Unless this is done, growers individually aro going to sell more and more wool in their sheds, and more men are going to ship. Both of those practices tako away from the New Zealand auctions the distinctively Now Zealand types which the buyers roally want. Shipping definitely removes the whole of that commodity beyond our sphere. Buyers who come here to buy it are denied the opportunity to compete for it, and the many consignments go into the London market in time to competo against local auctions. COUNTRY SELLING. Selling on the farm has much the same re(a) It reduces competition at the auctions and thus lowers the standard of values, as buyers are able to fill some of their requirements, and can afford to stand off. Tho buyers are becoming restless under existing conditions —racing up and down New Zealand at increased expenditure, ■ to frequently have a catalogue placed before them too Bmall and not containing a reasonable percentage of various qualities and grades suitable for their requirements. They are threatening to break away. Even now it is suspected that some Bre managing to finance purchases privately from country buyers—this removes competition from the saleroom. (b) It does away to some extent with the merits of regulating sales to ease ifinance. (c) It places large quantities of commodities in tho hands of speculators who have not the same vested interests in the article as havo growers. The result will be that in times of stress or falling markets these men may either be forced or tempted to throw the whole of their holdings on the market at once, with disastrous results to growers and tho trade generally. The slump after the great boom eighteen months ago was said to bo partly due to this cause. If speculators have one or two good years, tho risk grows— they are tempted to plunge —weak men, financially, also may join the ranks, and the crash will come as sure as night follows day. Why keep curtailing and interfering, sell while the going' is good. And sell only to the competitor who purchaßOß in open' market thereby establishing a standard for the producers and providing an equitable open door for all grades of sellers. INTEREST BILL DEALING WITH WOOL. Whoever will examine the question quite dispassionately will find that the wool clip of New Zealand is worth to-day about £8 056 209 annually, and as growers finance through banks and brokers at about 6 per Int. therefore growers as a whole lose iki per bale in interest each week while their wool is awaiting sale. Obviously the man who waits the longest time bears the heaviest share of this loss. Ono of our aims should, therefore, be to equitably distribute this loss. With this object in view, I have put forward the following suggestions:— From each and every consignment, when old "1 per cent, should he deducted, and tlin money paid into a fund. Out of this fund ,Vt the end of the selling season every grower whose wool was held over should receive- 7 Tiprcent. on tho value of his clip from date of weighing into store to date of payment. Thus quite simply this part of the burden ,'i J«s«» heavily on small men to-day, whlCl n ß P cauftaby distributed over all the Ca " nr* who can then finance through growers, wno ta their c ,. ! )auk f^ a t they w I not have to bear the ,n JF , tJ the agents to be reimbursed for bfoek stacking%nd breaking down, and the extra cost of insurance. ~■ u nn. can argue as he likes that ,„ *£ a* seller should" not complain and the Into sewer Th {act remamß should not sell P«™ te £• man {rom seUing thnt you where he thinks fit, his produce when an without > nt f fe "?/%o met hing is done which subject, and n un« »»•« e not to Bell , and ,*i „i nresent have another adEarly sett ers at J£ vantage which ijto™*\\ them they can market does not "PPf'J ther date, and so postpone offering until onoi & b the O P n indefinitely. Late: seller , what - MATSON and CO.