THE PRICES OF VEGETABLES

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23965, 4 June 1943, Page 7

THE PRICES OF VEGETABLES

REASONS FOR CONTROL MINISTER’S STATEMENT From Our Parliamentary Reporter WELLINGTON. June 3. The reasons lev the introduction of the vegetable price orders were given by the Minister in charge of fflisation .the Hon. D G Sullivan). The orders were designed to bring to n end conditions under which, in some «es the retailers of cabbages, for examale had at times been getting a margin over tlie wholesale prices ex«eding 300 P er cent - and S r °wers in the North Island had been receiving n average of more than twice as much a " thev had at this time of the year fn 1940. '1941, and 1942. Mr Sullivan laid that as marketing and production conditions might change after June 30, the price orders mi Sht be amended. unwarrantable increase in the nrlce of vegetables, said the Minister, had serious repercussions in the cost of living, and by reducing purchases was likely to affect the health of the Mip'e. H had boon urgent that stabiDnun measures should be applied to «|etables, however complicated the prSilem might be. Price was only one o( the factors concerned in stabilisation—the others were the maintenance of quality and supply. The investigation concerning cabbages, for example. dealt not only with the retail prices in recent years, but with the prices received by the grower on the market, and production conditions. In framing the orders it had to be seen that the price to the consumer was reasonable, that the retailers’ margin was sufficient, and that the grower received an adequate price to encourage him to continue or increase production. Example of Cabbages "Cabbages provide an example of thf kind of facts produced by such an investigation.” said Mr Sullivan. •Tor 1942 the Wellington retail profit margin on cabbages averaged about 170 per cent., while the top margins in some cases exceeded 300 per cent. Tlie average price a sack received by growers in the Wellington market in May and June was 5s 5d in 1940, 4s M in 1941, and 4s 9'd in 1942. Similar prices prevailed in Auckland and Palmerston North, but in the first three wgeks in May this year, just before th» price order came into force, the average Wellington price a sack was 11a 4d.” Cabbages could also be used to illustrate another aspect of vegetable price, fixing, the change to sale by weight. Prices could not be fixed unless there was a defined and stable unit. Vegetables varied in size, shape, and quality, and were sold singly, or by bunches or roots. The only possible standard was weight, and the wholesale price of cabbages was now by the hundredweight. Most cabbages were previously sold wholesale by the sack, and sacks varied in size and content. Sacks were 351b, some 501b, many 561b, and others 601b or 701b, "The wholesale price of cabbages in the North Island is now fixed at a maximum of 13s a hundredweight,” continued the Minister, "If we take the lower average weight of 561b a sack, and convert the three years' Wellington prices from the sack to the hundredweight basis, we find that the May.June averages were IQs 10d In 1940, Bs 4d in 1941, 0s 6d in 1042, and 22s B<J in May, 1943. The 13s a hundred, weight of price order has to be placed against that. Supply Discussed "The question of supply is important. Already New Zealanders have had to face some shortages, because our own and allied forces in the Pacific need large quantities of vegetables. That position is being relieved by the growing of vegetables on a large scale on Government farms under the services production scheme, but the position is not yet assured, and that is why the scheme for the contract growing of vegetables for civilian use is so important, and why everybody Is being encouraged to grow vegetables in their own gardens. It is a means of ensuring that vitally important supplies will be forthcoming. “All these things,” Mr Sullivan con, eluded, “are being done in the interests of all the people. They can succeed only with the full and understanding co-operation of every member of the community.” The illustration used by the Min- ’ tster was the cabbage order in the North Island, and in particulars referred v the cabbage production and sale in the North Island. The position in the South Island, where conditions are more favourable for growing caboagee, is somewhat different. There growers have consistently been receiving lower prices than those ruling in | the north. Consequently, a lower! wholesale maximum price of 11s a hundredweight was fixed in Dunedin ot the end of the second week in I May, growers receiving 4s 6d to 6s a sack of 601b to 701b, making the hundredweight price actually lower than that set by the price order. Retail price margins in Christchurch have not reached such a high level as in the s°ti ’ Dunedin has had a consistently higher level of retail margins. STATEMENT BY MR BARCLAY <P-A.) WELLINGTON, June 3. th. r W t lsh "J Bk , e ‘t dude clear that i«M«.^ ternal^ arkot ‘ n S D ‘ v i s ion has be B nlH n hv o tho r K req i ,iri J lg Phases to nf k« hundredweight instead ? by the sack,” said the Minister of Siting (the Hon. J. G. Barclay) toa rep ° rt which had lTrrXt ed t0 th J S effect Probably bvthfn 1 th m V® cent Pf«* order issued iuKai'r T i lbpn , al - fixin e l he maxi£'Cabbages" Whole " Ie selli,lg prices