OUR EXPORTS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 7, 3 October 1917, Page 7

OUR EXPORTS

;\ij; OUTLOOK FOR PRODUCERS ■ - ■i j : • f¥ DEBATE IN PARLIAMENT \ 4>RIME MINISTER EXPLAINS SITUATION

.-Uα report: dealing,! with, the operations «f?the Imperial. Suppliesi Board was plac- - • led; before 'tie ; House of 'Representatives jßAterday by the Primo Minister. The " cofe.l" payments made by the board up to Kteptemben 30 for products' purchased in Zealand on behalf Of the .Imperial government amounted' to <£36,909,495. i!T,he whole of this huge volume of busi- | p.eis has been done yivhout a hitch and jn;the smoothest possible manner," said fit. Maseey when presonting the report; / j Mt. G. Witty (Kiccartorij said there Were some questions 'he would; like to ■Milt, in connection ivith the'ieport. ■ The purchase 6cheme'had .wo'rkf«l; on the whole, well, but thero was jjisbtae uncertainty regarding the'future.' long was the Imperial Government' 1 / 'prepared to. continue paying for products i nhft could not.be shipped? If perishable / ipToducts continued to accumulate in the ■' sjbres. there; must be a slump .in values : ;at;"the,clc«e"p£ 'the.-war. ' Tho agreement Jwith regard'to nieat covered'the whole period of the'war, but Ihere was no'arjrangemenfc.pf,.thafc kind .with regard to Gutter and cheese. If the Imperial'Gov- ":. Jernmehtcould not lift the dairy produce jiMw in the stores,->the.price ought to be '>edu4d/to|heVopl6 ; of New.'Zealand in iorderito Stimulate, consumption.-' TjThe'-' Hob?'-©'.' 'B.iiddo '(Kaiapoi).-asked ■ |h.Mv many refrigerated steamers were go r Jifig to be available during the remaining jm6nth?_of the, present ,v,ear. . The,.l?nme •jfJinistffiOild}fLrenXassurances. cov.ering &~period to the end of September, but! ffie'te,.S4is^o.;infc^aUp^a l vailable re- : ifie"' : '-ssi.ipp''ng--P r o s, P 6 0!? ' oc tbe -Test-'oMheCyearr-"""""'-""": "" , - :

IT~-~;j.w7=Xhe.r.-Butter-.:P.uf.chasei--Ni.l T ~-~;j.w7 = Xhe.r.-Butter-.:P.uf.chasei--Ni. . I The uncertainty that exists regarding' "the butWwasf inentioned by Mr.; fe. V; Pea'tce. .(-Patea)f<vho toatrthe inew r sealSu's"¥fdauctioii' had commenced; land it was most- impp/tanHhaHhe producers and the'.-fftctoMel , --ehould know 'what their- position was to be. Members Had-been-told that,.the,.cheese.,was»sold. ■fend' tnat %k remaining was fivhether'or-aofcilaet sWson'e foe improved unb'ii'in'.brderto put New Zealand on'tfUeyelittlthlCanam.; Adftiponal cool storage was now being provid■*d in.various-.districtei.: ;aßd :r th<! ;im°Ti\ Ses'wanted to'know if this work ofight to Ibe rushed*. pr.if,, on.the i ifring space , would fee Available during the f Mr G. j:'Ande'rso'n , 'XMataura)'said'he - Understood that a M 3mm)rtm thad been received:from the Inipenal au-. •thorities- regarding the purchase.-of.the. iflairy produce. There appeared to be some floubt whether,J;ha-;.t:heese was' Sold at all. I K Mr: . ;.■: , : Mr ■ Anderson: That is very satisfac- I iiory. I supposethe PrimeMjmster him.feelf cannot tell us when'.the stuff will be 80 "-'*^ > '...Wool,Prospects;.. '..'- - The Hon. A. Ngata. mentioned wool. Ee said the Australian -producers had lbeentoia-by tho Imperial- Government that they must hold their,wool until the Bhippingioonditions became normal. Was Keu- Zealand" in a aimilar position, and 'had the Government.made any inquiries concerning ; the amount- of storage available for. wool?. The farmers'; would -not foe to make their own arrangements Dwing'to-.tKe' hfeh :prices- of.- wood and hoofing viTon.:. . Tten.. with .regard to. the in;store from last : Eeason.was there any intention of pav--sn<"for that meat'before, the,new.seasons WB began to a«ive? Ereeni« would icommence within a' few-weeks, and_ the rarmer* would like what ftw financial position was to-be. .Mr. ftgata'feftSed that the sole .attention of a KS? should be, devoted to .the bus.iess of. the Imperial .Supplies pepart£ent. Mr; had *>ne very good *brk but he was far too busy to gwe-the ■Jiiichase scheme the close dailvatten?on' that its importance/lemanded. If Prime-Minister intended to »tan control .of this .-he should relieve "himself o£. some.of the. multitudinous duties that he was i performing. Mr W H. Field (OtakiVsaid there had been r a suggestion that the; Imperial Governmßnt *£ Zealand butter at ■ al. If B *?|. .tf^tiwffiessst. \h* farmers of his district. ' Mr. H J, H. Okey (Taran.b) asked for information regarding s 0 " iNeiv Ztoland'cheese which • were cumII deeti in the United £»■*«»"» +h' B earlv part of last season. ,H»d tlie ■ SSJoMprice jet been settled in a eatfefaclpry. way? . .

America Wants Butter. - Mr T M. Wilford.(Hutt).,mentioned thrf- -recently he liad introduced to the rpnme' Minister'an American gentlcmau ■who had stated that butter was selling u> the United States at 2s. 2d. per pound. ■■ ■ Dr Thacker (Christchurch East) con-

firmed the statement as to the prico ot butter in the -United States. He had something to say about the "meat sharks" who were charging in London is. 10d per pouhcT for the meat that the New Zealand farmer sold nt'GJd. Mr. E. Newman (Eangitikei) asked the Prime Minister to put country butchers on the same fo6ting as city; butchers regarding the withdrawal of meat trow the stores for local retail sals. ; Vn attack upon the Government and the farmers was made by Air. J. M'Combs (Eyttelton), who said that the Dominion had been shamed by sordid and selfish attempts to wring the last farthin" of war proßt out of the Mother Country under a guise of patriotism. New Zealand's farmers bad taken advantage of tho necessities of the Imperial authorities, he said, to raise tho prices of the foodstuffs required for the nghting men'in the field and their dependants at ' Mr. i.T. Payne (Grey Lynn) disagreed with his fellow-Labour member. i'Verybddy wasbusily profiteering in tho United Kingdom, from the shipping companies down to the retail butchers, and he did not seo .why New Zealand people Rhould adopt a quixotic attitude ot iorDearancß. The curtailing of war protits must begin in London if it began anywhere. ' ;, ' V .. •Dr. Newman's Suggestions.

-Dr. A; K. Nowman (Wellington East) urged the Government to face facts regarding "the shipping shortage. Inere was "grave "perE lhat'New' Zealand would not be able to ship perishable -products during" months to comer If the Govern-ment-looked, around it could find meats of minimising the" trouble. He believed, for example, that butter and cheese could bo .shipped 'in , hermetically sealed vessels withput ■■• refrigeration. Mr. Hughes had warned the Australian farmers not:'to. ? kill'UieiT lambs', since lamb could-' not .'.be shipped 'w.hilo. beef and ijiutton:.wre'.available, aad\the farmers were acting accordingly. New Zealand afone'time had done a big trade in salted beef."" Could not that tiade bo reTived?" There would be; a"inarkeMor tl?e'TJeef"oii the American continent,, U the supply were available, and again r.e---frigefattdsjiacp;would'sot;V;:neceßary.' Tlien'tue local consumers oughtio.be'enco.uraged .to take. some, of the lamb that was accumulating in.ithe,stores. .

Mr. Massey's Reply.. ■•' ; : '.'Tlie Prime Minister,'replying after fur-, ther 'discussion, said-that the-debate I had been -interesting, and to some cxteM.j instructive/: '■ He would try to reply to Borne of the points that had. been raised. He had. been told that ought'to prevent- undue-profits tang, .made,out of-New Zealand meat in the 'tTriited' Kingdom;-by tliß'Bpemng_ of re•taiU shops' if. iiecpssatj.". Tho [fact was that New Zealand had nothing to & Wiethe sale of,.the meat in Britain. TfiiS'lni-tierial-Governnienttdok 'the vhote output io.b. in New. Zealand,, and paid , Wth'- here. -Then he ■ had- been told ■that-the.-Government should Telease meat IfonrtneHtoreii for local" consumption 'JMt'-iwas exactly! what the Government «s.-doing.. Any reliable «tMler,o* ; . the : recommendation oi a local .body,courd take meat from the stores at tue -price the Imperial Government-was pajPooleY Some retailers ar.e eellinsr meat in Christchurch and Well&gton aUower prices than they would have. to. pay. for the Government meat oßT'tHe" hooks. - .■ , , Mr.-Massey:.- '.1 .can quite, understand .-that,'aiifd;.pTptably;..fte,ppMtm;ff#-|>?; conte niore pronounced as time goes on. It .we a. strange facf that the, inajonty of the NeV.Zealand, people ..yere prepared to pay more for fresh-killed meat than for fro.zen',meat. . . Th<f /preference was due to V prejudice that ought not to exist, since as a matter of fact the frozen meat, if d?frested carefully was at least'as good as' the best meat sold in the local markets. ; Frozen meat, hud teen used' in tlie. military r camps for eiWiteeu months, and the,soldiers found it thoroughly : gooa; But, still, most New Zealand people preferred tci payM. to 2d per" pound extra rather than take tlie meat from 'the cold storejj. Hβ did>st feel that-he ™*. <"f: worked as Minister in charge of the Imperial Supplies. Department He felt quite capable of controlling the. Department as he had controVed it from the first Hβ was forunate in being assisted bv a very capable staff, and the Department had. handled nearly- 437,000,000 worth of produce without a hitch. ■■ r ■ Mr; T.'Paine: What an :argument for State control! " ' ' ' ' ■Mr. Massey: It. may lw. I do not dispute it. "I think that whatever private, enterprise can do successfully it should be allow?d to do, but-'sometimes it is not possible for private enterprise to give satisfaction. Then the State should.come in. .'.' ■ ' .

The Shipping Outlook. . The situation with regard- to shipping was .difficult. A pessimistic cablegram had appeared in tue newspapers on the previous day, and he had regretted its appearance.' He did not think that it should have been-published. "So f as my information' goes," he adde'd, "we will have enough shipping for this month and next inohth; 1 that is, for October and November. Beyond that I cannot go, because' I have' not the 'inforrnntipn." I" have the.'utmost confidence-"in the Shipping Controller, and I believe that he will do everything possible to get .outproduce, away. from.this country'. He made'promises of that kind to; Sir Joseph "Ward and myself -when we; were in the Old Country. The Shipping Con 4 trojler had to consider the necessities of the TJnited Kingdom, and could not send

I ships to New Zealand, if they wero ruquired for the carriage of goods from countries nearer, to the'''earl of the Empire tliari .New- Zealaiil iras, but he would" not overlook the interests b£ the Dominion." With regard to the cheese, the. Imperial authorities had informed him that they would take iiearlv the' whole' output of New Zealand' for the coining 'season' at a price to-be arranged/ The price had not yet been agreed, upon. The quantity to bo'takwi-iVas" 50,000'tons,-and ho did iiofc think that the factories would'produce much more than" that this season. The delay in settling the details seemed to havo been due to the reorganisation of'the Food Controller's Department, which" had' been 'divided- into branches, one branch dealing with cheese, pno with butter, and so on. Retail prices, as well as wholesale prices, were to receive attention. He wns pressing for an early settlement'! The matter mentioned by Mr. Okey had gone.to tho Courts, and i\ decision Lad been given in favour of tho owners of the cheese. If the New Zealand producers were the owners, tho Imperial Board of Trade would havo payments to make to them. ■

Wool, Cheese, and Butter, The Wcquisitious C'ouimittee had resigned on' account of a difference of opinion with tho Government on a ceriain point. Dr.C. J.'Ke'akes, who had boon a member of the committee, roriiained a. public'officer, and his services would be used as required.' Mr. Massey spoke with -warm approval,of the work tho Eeqiiisitions Committee had done in conlieclion with the wool purcliaso at a time when its expert assistance was urgently fe'ojiiwd' by the. Governineiit. Hβ had been infonned that there : would be" sufficient shipping to Hit''practically the wholo of'last'season's wool clip.before the new season's wool ■ came . in. There wiis very- little' of last season's cheese lefI; • in' store, hot morei than 6000 crates altogether. The butter, '.season had commenced, and there -was sCill a considerable quantity of butter in store. The Government would do its best to' get the pld butter away, and he thought'it would succeed in doing so. "Then' if the butter purchase falls through,,. we have another string to our bow," added Mr. Massey, "and I do not think w; e will neefl-to go to America. I think we will be-'able' to place oiir butter oil" the London' market, .tliough we may not be; able to ; away very- quickly." .-The-.lmp'eiial'.'authorities contended, in regard'to: the price of cheese, that the , pw'ce ■;pftid' ; " , tq ! We.w' Zealand producers' j iftsf'Seasoh v, ; aa"e?|myalent.'to the price paid'S' the Qaiafiiatis.'. ' " . ' •

About Patriotism. The member for Lyttelton had accused the Government/and the. .farui.e.i'S of lock of patriotism' in 'conibction with the sale of New Zealand produce. .What V.ad the iriember'himself done in the .nation's cause? HaiMitt-lifted'-a- finger to help win the..war?. The ; fact..was that the nie'mber lia'd done" a&olutely "nothing. He must know" 'perfectly well -tfuit :it JS'ew Zealand-had not 'been' Sble._ to tell produce'-at-I'easoiiable prices during tlie war 'it' 1 would'have. , • been : iinpbseible for the-Dominion to maintain'its ' military effort. ..'•■• .. . • ■ 'Mr. M'Cpmbs: Make England pay,! Mr. .Jlassey: "If'.the honourable,- gentleman had his way he would make .peace at 'any price."- i'he ! member for-- liyttelto.n'did-, not appear : ti> carfe '-w hat "dishonour :f<!ir : .upon the Empire,' ; pr hoiy his couii-try'.wfta'shamed. ." . ■"We 'Speaker" said' that. these expressions" in.ust"n6t be applied to a.member of tho-Hottse. ■■■ '. -■- ■■■ •■ :" ■ ■ V\: Ma'ssey: If' the honourable g( ntleinan will stand up n'ow and say' that he is ; "patriotic' and is anxious that we should' dp our share in the war until yicbory comes, I will accept his statement.' .-.••.- '•■■■' Mr. M'Combs: Honeet men do not carry resolutions that.they are honest. The only ones who need declare that they ar'§, patriotic 'are those whose patriotism lis under-suspicion , . ilrTMa'ssey. Quite' so. The honourable gentleman placed himself under suspicion when he voted -against the loan required to pay pur exnenses in'cpnnjctToriwitli this war. There is "proof'of his patriotism.' 1 have no time for such patriotism. ■ ' • : : •.■•■■■• Our' Meat in England. The Prime Minister proceeded to quote from a report written by the High Commissioner on July 5 relating to the.sale of 'New Zealand meat in- the . United Kingdom. The High Commissioner said that the War Office'had jirst.calf lipon New 'Zealand meat; , and took what was required for the' feeding of the troops and tlie maintenance of large reserves, in view-of '-'.contingencies that might arise. Each week , a certain quantity of meat was released' for civilian - ctossumptioii, but the amount was small compared to the quantities that would have wen available under normal conditions, ihe New' Zealand''iprodiiaers" received bid. per lb. for liliiib «nd"4ld." for Mutton. The wholesale butchers in the United I Kingdom sold to the retailers at ICJd. f and- 9d. • The diiferon.ee was iiccomited I for by freight, storage charges, insurance, and demurrage. The freight alone was about 2d. per lb. When meat jvaa released it was fiold to the wholesalers by specially-uppoiiited Government commission- agents, who leceiyed a maximum ooinniissiou of two per cent.,-while tup wholesaler ■ was not allowed to ( charge profit'of more than Jd. per lb. All chance of prolitedring or cornering was. elimuiated up' to' that stage." But once, the meat left the hands of the; wholesalers the control ceased,• there being.-do check on the prices- to be charged by the retailers.' The home-grown supply.ot beet and'mutton iepcesentecl about 60 per cent, of the meat consumed, the remaining- -40- per' cent.- coming from abroad, chiefly "-from-New Zealand, Australia, and Argentine.- The home-grown' supply was quite uncontrolled' as regarded price, and- it; seemed' that';the retailers, who received' individually : very little New Zealand meat, in comparisoa with the quantity they would receive in normal times,-simply added- the Doiiiinipn ri)eat to"'tlie"houie-killetl'meat and chavgedthe same- price'all "round. It might fiurly be argued that under the abnormal conditions he'-was entitled to average hisprofits: "The High Commissioner adoed that iii'any case'no charge of pronti-er-ing co'uld be brought against the j<ew Zealand producers. -■ ■ ■ •' • Mr. Maesey "mentioned that »«e changes were now/being mads -in the arrangements. He had put a stop toiiie practice bf Borne firms of marking tbeir meat at this end in order that it miglit be handed over to agents.gf their section in the event of its being released by the Army authorities. ' An. nmcer of tho British Board bf Trade had been appointed in the United Kingdom- to deal with any. complaints that migut be made regarding the distribution df tho frozen meat. He, believed.that the ufw l-'ood Controller, Lord Ehondda, would prove the right man for the job. -Lord llhonddaV'was"dealing."already''*ith lie question of retail prices of meat m tbo .TJnited Kingdom..