WHEAT AND FLOUR PRICES

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2302, 9 November 1914, Page 7

WHEAT AND FLOUR PRICES

v POSITION IN NEW ZEALAND STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER - ■ The following statement regarding the .price'. , .of-..wheat and flour in NewZealand has been made by the Prime Minister (the/ Right" Hon. W. F. Massoy):—"The facts seem to bo misunderstood in some quarters. First of air it is .necessary to remind the public that there is no ■ parallel so far as tho supply, of wheat and flour is concerned' Between Now, Zealand and Australia. For example, a cable' message from Sydney on November 4 stated: 'In the Legislative Assembly, the At-torney-General said that reports indicated that.New South Wales will have sufficient wheat to carry her through to next year and,provide seed for tho following loro'p.' • l "In Australia there is more than sufficient for the present year, but owing to the' drought which prevailed over most of the Commonwealth until a few weeks ago,-it,is'expected that the present crop will be very much below the average, and Australia is providing .for a considerable shortage nest yoar. • '"The real trouble in New Zealand is that, there is undoubtedly .-a shortage of wheat for the present, year, that is. to say, that the supplies on hand will not last- until the new crop is available: "What the. Government has been doing to remedy the, difficulty is this:' When' it \ became obvious that there might be a deficiency the Prime Minister telegraphed I<o Australia 'an authority to purchase. 250,000 bushels on behalf of the New Zealand Govern-ment;-but just at this time the Aus-tralians-became alive to the position in which they stood, and the prico of Wheat, and consequently flour, went .up with a bound. In consequence those who were acting for us in Australia were only able to purchase 45,000 bushels. Tli9. : next step was the appointment of. a commission, in the same .way as was done in Australia, to make recommendations with regard to food prices. Their 4rs't recommendation was that wheat in New Zealand should be ss. 3d. per bushel, and flour £13 .per ton.. : Before this could be acted upon, however, the Commission met again and reconsidered the position, with the result that their second recommendation was that wheat should be 4s. 9d. per bushel and flour/£ll 15s. per ton.' After being given a few weeks trial these prices were found to be unworkable, arid the commission again met, but could not make a unanimous recommendation as to the prices of wheat and flour. The opinions of the -several' members of 'the commission were forwarded to'the'Governinerit, and the Government went back to the first recommendation' of the commission, making wheat ss. 3d." a bushel, and flour £13 a ton. .These are the prices at Which they stand to-day,' at the three distributing centres, viz., Oamaru, Timaru, and 'Lyttelton. "It should also be stated here that the Prime. Minister'during the early days of the war, seeing that there would be a difficulty in regard to the supply of food ; stuffs, and':being anxious that. ■ New Zealand, should • 'supply . its requirements, appealed to' the tanners throughout the Dominion, who had land ■ suitable .for growing cereals, especially wheat, to grow as much as they possibly, could,.; The;Tesu.it,. in. the,, wheatgrcwing 'districts'was,,very.satisfactory, and ■ a considerable, area was sown in wheat, in addition to what was originally intended by farmers. '.'This, of course; is. very satisfactory ;from'the point of view or supplies for the coming year. ; Unfortunately, the season up to tho present has not been .favourable owing,: to.' insuflioient rainfallj and in consequence the crops will prooably be .below the average jper acre. .Having ascertained by careful inquiry by the Agricultural and Commerce Departments'.that there was not a sufficient supply for the present year, the Prime' Minister communicated by telegraph with the Government of AusCanada, and India, as to the pcesibility of obtaining shipments of wheat or', flour from' those \ countries. The. result up to the present has-been the placing of an order in Canada for 250,000 bushels of wheat. Tlie Indian ' Government has also intimated its willingness to supply ' 250,000 -bushels' if required. ' •

"The Australian Government, however, being afraid.,of. a shortage in their own country, have not up to the present intimated their willingness to supply- what has been for,' but they have taken off the restrictions 60 ; far as contracts for the supply of wheat and flour .made before the declaration of war were concerned. This is a very important concession. ' and considerable quantities of both articles are in consequence being forwarded Tiy the Commonwealth to'. this country. '.'The Government have also removed the duty on importations of wheat and flour from Octobdr, 21 until the new crop.in the Dominion is available. The above is a summary of the position up to the present, and it will be seen that the Government hove done everything possible, to meet the Emergency Iwhich has arisen,-and it is an unquestionable truth that where the country is depending for part of its requirements on outside sources. the price of such requirements must depend to a. very great extent' upon the. price: at which they «re imported.