THAT WHEAT DEAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 126, 14 February 1918, Page 6

THAT WHEAT DEAL

MR. BRANDON'S STATEMENT. In the course of his speech at Kelburn Air. Brandon' mado the statement that the Government had lost £90,000 in a certain transaction in wheat. Air. Brandon must have been referring to the purchase of wheat in Canada in the year 1915. Tho facts about that purchase were given to a reporter by the Prime Minister yesterday. In that year there had been a failure of the wheat crop in Australia, and Australia, not only had no surplus for export, but had not sufficient wiieat for her own requirements. New Zealand obtained wheat from Australia, but only on loan, and repayment had to be made in wheat, and not in money. Tho Government Statistician's Department made the usual inquiries as to the amount of wheat in sight, and the report of his agents all over the country made it appear that there would bo a shortage of wheat in this country. The calculation was that if normal consumption Went on New Zealand would bo without wheat for two months before the next harvest was saved. Under these circumstances the Prime Alinistcr, on behalf of the Government, cabled to tho Canadian Government to secure for New Zealand option over a million bushels of July wheat. The option was secured at a price which was then considered to be satisfactory. As tho returns from the.'■ thrashing mills in this country came in, it became ovident that the information with which the Government Statistician had been supplied was wrong, and that there was enough wheat in the cow-try to satisfy the needs of the Dominion. < in the meantime some of the wheat had been brought down from Canada, some to repay the debt to Australia, and some for local mills, but there remained in Canada 900,000 bushels of wheat belonging to New Zealand. Tho Go--ernment arranged with the Government of the Dominion of Canada to sell this wheat on the best possible terms, and the wheat was sold at the best market price. It'bad been bought on a rising market, and if the. mistake here hail been discovered in time, and wheat could have been sold at a good profit, but in the meantime the market had broken, and New Zealand had to make a loss in quitting the whent. The loss was nothing like £90,000, however. It was about £30,000.