THE SUGAR SHORTAGE

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 195, 13 May 1920, Page 6

THE SUGAR SHORTAGE

- - OUTPUT AND SUPPLY BOARD,OF TRADE'S VIEW of sugar has been acute : - egain lately, and many complaints have ' been', made tby householders. • Answer- ; a-question /on the subject yesterday, tha chairman of the Board of Trade (Mr. W. .'G. M'Donnld) said that' the • . amount of sugar produced nt the Auck- ; laud-refinery during the first four .months of this, year had actually" been greato-\, than .in the corresponding ■ : periodj,of last year. The board was i ■ jconvinccd^that,there had: been no hoard- : '~ing'by. merchants,. .It had means' of ; .'''cßeftking '(he quantity of sugar handled '•. by each merchant. Shipping irregulari- [; /ties had caused some of the trouble, and . ' another''factor had been the stoppage of . importation' l of t sugar from Java and elsewhere; 4 owing to the high, prices in : other parts of the world. , He-was sure i , that the supply of sugar from the Auek- ! land refinery 'would be "amplo for esv ; Bectial purposes if the,public played ; the game." Mr. MTDonald added that as the jam - season .slackened, increased supplies of ' : risugar{would • become available for house- ; hold -purposes. . ffhe'i board • was im--1 restrictions; on the consumption . of'suga- by the breweries, confectionery ; works and aerated water factories. These !■ restrictions might be continued. The , board was, doing -its, utmost to. protect I ; the interests of the public, and a't -pre- ; sent nothing' was being left.undone to ; increase supplies, , . : „."Wo have had the same, statement ; " before and we are no further forward," J'.: : said ra- Wellington retailer yesterday - after reading, Mr. IM'Doriald 6 com- : ments. "The chairman of the Board of Trade-seems to think that the: public . . is hoarding sugar.. How can that, be ■ the :: case, when' the public has virtually been 1 - rationed for. abou£ a year ? Many of my customers, .in' normal times, bay ' . their sugar by the bag. During the shortage they have been getting a fSv . . pounds at a-time. '-. They are getting . from me a great deal less than' their • normal; supply of • sugar. I can show that I have received, during 'the last six. months, not more than half the 'sugar that T'usually'handle "in{ the ■. period. :v' V - "Tho Board of Trade says that the production of sugar is normal and that ; .the., merchants are not hoarding.' Well, what'has happened to the other half of my. normal supply, of siipar? That'is the" question I .would like the Board 1 of Trade to answer.' The board has access, I understand, to the books of the ' merchants. --'It is satisfied, firstly, that i the merchants are getting their usual supply of sugar, and, secondly, that : the merchants are not hoarding it. If • that : is true, then some retailers are ■ as l against others. But :. .' .'where" fire-'the retailers who are , receiving the full supplies of sugar? I would like, to draw the attention of the board-to what happened in Australia. - The authorities there 'were not satisfied with figures and assurances. They searched for: hoards of sugar—and found • , them. Remember that a rise of three- ; penco per pound in the prico of sugar ■ will- mean a-clear'profit of iB2B a ton to . the-main who is, holding sugar." Another,'- retailer suggested to a Dominion reporter that the Board of Trade should publish figures ; showing : iust how much sugar had reached the .Wellington shops during the lasttwelve ; , months or' six months, compared with the quantity,in periods before the shortage began. Sucn ifigures, ho said, would r indicate whether or not the retailers or i '. the public were hoarding-sugar. "Ja the 'Board of Trade correct in saying that - • the output of sugar from the Auckland . refinery is normal?" he asked. "The official figures show a bi|j decline in the V' importations of sugar in the .last year ! or two. The importations' for the first three months of this year amounted to 539,1630wt., as again# 323,72-lcwt. for the ■ corresponding period of last year." He was''quite"; certain that if sugar •' was being hoarded anywhere, it was before I the aiticlo reached the retailers. I. _ Fiji croFpurchased . ( , ,-WELVE MONTHS' SUPPLIES i'l---—ASSUBED. . , known'for some'time that the Government made some ■ agreement with the representative of the Colonial Sugar Defining Company, who came to .. this country on purpose to confer with i the Government here on tlfe matter, for the; supply; of sugar to this country aftoi .tlie espits' ;of tfo current agreement on June:3o next.' s / ? . —4£pJ-Musse'y stated yesterday that • tflo .ivNewJZealand. Government iad purchased ■ from the company the Fiji crop of sugar, • but the agreement-had not been signed. ; All he could'say in the meantime was i, thaUa supply of sugnf to New Zealand was assured for twelve months from Juno ; 80.: fMr.fMassey said that lie f ; lislb- all the details in duo course. I' Mr. Massed has already stated publicly - that-itXe,* .people of New Zealand, who ; havehadthe cheapest sugar in the world ! ; v for the whole; period of the war, miis'; „npt .expect), to .get their sugar at. the !-.'.; same price for very, much longer. He .said on,the same occasion, however, that ■ -lie hopediand believed that even at the 'iiew price New Zealand would still have * the .cheapgs(> sugar in the world. The i ./iffokMHtiw, seem to be that' the new ;*.prico' : about sixpence a pound, jihe.price 'iii Australia is sixpence, but •. ito-Jc?ejp.-th§.price, at .this level the'Aus- ; tralian--Gbvernme'nt is paying some sort '. of - subsidy. Sugar cannot be, imported -jufco.- this;country from Java.or elsei -. -'where to-day at less than iSO per ton, which is a little more than BJd.\ per : pound. '