GROWERS V. BUYERS

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 43, 20 February 1930, Page 11

GROWERS V. BUYERS

NO BUYING SUPPORT

CASE FOR THE GROWERS

Considerable particular and general

interest was displayed in "the fourth

• wool sale <sf the Wellington season, ■ v fixed for to-day. Many growers declined to accept current market rates-for • their wool, and did not send in to the sale or withdrew their wool from the sale. .Buyers stipulated for an aggregate catalogue of 20,000 .;bales; - the utmost that brokers were able to submit at the sale was slightly under 15,000 bales. Brokers acted. as agents for their, principals, the'-farniers, and were unable to! produce a 20,000 . bale offering. Buyers definitely refused to attend the sale with an offering of : 15,000 bales. ■ When the proceedings began at the Town Hall at 2 o'clock this afternoon there was 'a large , attendance of the public in the galleries, but of-a bench of between 70 and 80 buy- ' ers there were practically no buyers :in the hall and the sale had to be post- " P( Among- those present on the floor were: Messrs. W. H... Field, ' MJ,, W. Perry (of the New Zealand Wool Committee), and.H. D. Acland (president or the, New Zealand .Sheep Owners' 1-edei- . ation). . .'..-•',', AT SHORT .NOTICE. , Speaking on behalf of the Welling- "' ton Wool Brokers' Association, Mr. J B. Hoodie, chairman, said: - "As Wellington brokers, we are here to-day to offer.,our February catalogue •of 14 900 bales, but regret tkat such poor support is .forthcoming from buy-. ■' ers At very short notice we, as an association, we're advised that unless we could offer a total catalogue of 20,000 bales, that the buyers (associa- -• tion) would-not attend the sale. Inis ~ notice was received by the association by telephone from Christchurch last Saturday at' 12.20 p.m., and confirmed by wire on Monday. Previously, we had received no intimation that any • limit was required for the sale, and further, buyers were, kept fully posted as to the estimated ■offering which would be submitted at Wellington. On the 28th January, the secretary of the Buyers 'Association was wired at In vcr- - cargill as follows: ■ " Owing heavy withdrawals here, estimate unofficially Wellington offering about 19,000 bales," • aiid further a wire was dispatched to the secretary at Christchurch on the V 10th. February: "Total offering here 1 will not exceed 15,000 bales." EVERYTHING POSSIBLE DONE. At very short notice '''Wellington brokers were told that ,15,000 Bales r.'ere insufficient, and that the buyers refused to attend for "such a quantity. : Everything possible has been done by • the-brokers to .have the present offering increased, but without success; and it is regrettable that when r fair-sized catalogue such as 15,000 bales is to he submitted that/those grpwers who are prepared to sell their wool at current ■ rates, are to be denied an opoprtunity /of disposing of their dip. ... : ■■'■'. In a statement made by the i)resident of the New Zealand Buyers' Association, published to-day, he remaTks that he maintains the right o'£ every grower■to dispose of his wool as he wishes, but when a certain number of growers are •■• willing to sell, the buyers to -■■ bid-on the catalogue, their argument■ being that other growers who'do not wish to do so, should be forced to; offer their wool to make' up the minimum quantity 'required by the buyers. BEYOND BROKERS' CONTROL. ' "The present deadlock is inoro be- ' tween buyers and growers, the broker having no control • whatever over the situation. Other North' Island centres which are affected are Napier and Wanganui, as in both these places the minimum of 20,000 bales required can-; ' not be catalogued. If brokers had felt disposed to deal .unfairly witl^ the buyers, they could have packed their. catalogues with an extra 5000 bales of wool which would not have been sold. 'By doing this buyers wouia be put to - the troublOyOffeSaluing wool which was . unsaleable.^?*= to>s2^- ,: ~ -■'■ ' "We'ail'know that 'rates ruling at the moment are exceedingly low, and that the return being, secured by growers is well below the cost of production. We do say that when, a reasonable sized catalogue, such as 15,000 . bales, could be'offered, that the growers who are willing to sell should be given an opportunity to market. We sincerely trust that the present unfortunate position will be amicably settled within . the next few1 days'. Everything possible ■ that this association can do to assist in the direction of settlement will have its support, but we certainly as an association and as brokers cannot force . growers to sell who do not wish to do 'so." ' ' '"I look round, and there is a.militant strike on, gentlemen; and we are forced to withdraw our catalogue. The 'buyers practically said to the farmers ■ who wero willing to sell their wool, 'You are not going to sell your wool, 1 unless your, neighbour, who is not prepared to, brings down his wool for us to buy.' " It was unfair to stress the 15,000 bales, minimum, .because with the 16,000 bales available at Napier and the 13,000 at'Wanganui., it meant that thoro were'4s,ooo bales available-in the Wellington-Napier - Wanganui. circuit; and he thought that 45,000 bales within a period of three weeks was a fair • quantity, under the present market conditions, to place beforo tho buyers. •;. "A MILITANT STRIKE." Mr. W. H. Field said he had little thought of being-asked to make a speech, but having boon asked.to do so ho • •was very glad to express his .Views. A. very unfortunate' and intolerable. position had arisen, and. they should see to it that at did not occur again. During tho last session of Parliament they learnt that thero was going to be a poor market for wool this year; that there was a movement at Home to keep down the price of wool; and he had askod the Government if it could not do 'something to protect Llio people of this country against' tsuch tactics. But the Government replied that it knew nothing of the matter. Then at the Australian wpoL sales they had evidence of lot-splitting. The ■ November sales here had been below last year, but they were not bad, and now they had the very ugly position that had arisen. It practically amounted' to a militant strike, with all the bad features of tho great strike of 1913, and it was most unfair that tho buyers should hit in that way, not tho men who were holding back their wool, but, tvose who were willing to sell.' The present was a time when every consideration should be shown the woolgrowers, for it was woll known that the; present prices were below the cost of production. Ho hoped that an amicable agreement migfit bo arrived . at. If not, tho only thing for the growers to do was to market their wool at Homo on their own account. But in doing so they were faced by the threat of the -buyers, that if they did that they must take the consequonees, and they know what that infant —that the buyers would be there, and would do their utmost.to prevent their realising goodpriccs. If the buyers would not come'to reason, it meant that they

had arrived at a dead ond. They had reached a position of affairs when tho woolgrowors had got to turn, and fight for -themselvea. CASE FOR THE GROWER. Speaking as a woolgrower, Mr. Charles Gray, of Pukerua, said tho unfortunato position which had arisen botween biiycrs and growers at the moment, was to be deprecated. "From statements rocently made from the buying side of the trade (he said) it appears that the blame for tho present hold-up of the sale is attributable to the actions Of brokers. Looking at-it from the growors' position, it seems to mo that this is entirely wrong, and that the brokers are only too eager and willing to offer at any centre the minimum of 20,000 bales insisted upon by. tho buyers. From results of provious sales conductedin the North Is-, land it .has appeared as if the buying power on the benches have held very limited orders, and that if any heavy-, weight of wool, was offered at any one ealo prices would' sag to the level below true market value. "In a statement mado by the president of the New Zealand Buyers' Association, he gives it out that he maintains the right of every grower to dispose of his wool as he wishes, and deprecates the action.'.- of the brokers in holding np the whole sales of the Dominion, but why the brokers should be blamed for holding up the sales is difficult to understand. If Mr. Milne maintains tho right of every grower too market his wool when and how he wishes, then why does his association refuse to assist in this direction. It seems that if I am willing to sell and my neighbour is ]*6t, that Mr. Milne and his buyers say to me, '.We cannot buy your wool unless you got your neighbour, Tom Jones, to also sell.' CLOGGING WHEELS OF INDUSTRY .. " Tho present hold-up is ' without doubt clogging the wheels of industry and holding back necessary funds which should be going into circulation. I do not know whether the buyers have the right to dictato to selling brokers as to what quantities must be offered at each sale, but, as has been stated, it appears to me, as .a grower, from results of previous sales1 held in tho North Island that a catalogue of 15,000 bales, is a fair and reasonable quantity to be put forward to buyers. '.'lt may be that 'certain sections of the buying trade are adopting their present attitude in the "hope of forcing growers to market a larger proportion of the Dominion clip in London. "I think a reasonable .suggestion to make is that a committee of buyers and growers should meet and discuss the whole position." BROKERS' ACTION ENDORSED. Mr. J. E. Hewitt, of Wanganui', as a grower, thoroughly, endorsed the remarks made by Mr. Gray. It certainly appeared to him that the present hold-up is a move oil the part of the buyers to force an unreasonable quantity of wool on the market within a short period. It is well known, he said, that at the present moment the grower, is not receiving a net return of more than 5d to 6d per lb for his wool, and at such a figure it is impossible for a sheep-farmer to live. Mr. Hewitt continued: "I also agree with Mr. Gray that the present deadlock is more between'the buyers' and growers than between the buyers and brokers. Brokers find it impossible to offer a minimum of 20,000 bales, but can put up a catalogue of .15,000 bales, and why should those growers who are prepared' to sell at market rates be asked to stand aside at the will of the buyers until another centre who can offer, 20,000, bales have had their Hvool disposed of? ■ ■ , ■ '■■' ■ "Looking at the position impartially, it appears that Now Zealand brokers would be-weak if they allowed tho buyers to break the present selling roster, 'and journey from centre to centro that can offera iniiiimuni quantity as asked for by the buyers." . '■ He understood that Wellington was not the only centre .'which found it.impossible to offer 20,000 bales, and that Napiet and Wanganui were faced with the same difficulties. He sincerely trusted that before long the buyers would adopt a more conciliatory attitude.' . v ' '■ ■ ■ Mr. William- Perry (Masterton) regretted the occasion that had arisen. He defined the duties of the Wool Committee. Its function was to allocate the quantities.of wool, and it.was constituted of farmers, brokers, and buyers' representatives. He explained .what had been done by tho New Zealand Wool ■ Committee, of which he was chairman, in extending the selling season. What ;.was done in regard to extension was done to meet the financial exigencies of selling firms. The committee ascertained Bradford's views on extension of the season, but tho cabled reply was unanimously against extension. - He had found that farmers „ were inclined to hold their wool, as they had a right to do. He could not question that right. "Things have come- to a queer pass," ho concluded, ''when the .woolgrower is considered to have no.right to do what lie likes.with his own property." :-;

Mr. W. H. Field, M.P., moved, and Mr. J. Hewitt seconded:—"That this large, meeting of .woolgrowers of the Wellington District strongly pi'otests against tho action taken by tho Woolbuyers' Association in. abe/uting themselves from to-day's sale, and reducing it to a farce, and thus punishing, too, the growers wVio axo willing to offer their wool and meet the market. We strongly assert the right of growers to market their wool.in such manner as they may consider most advantageous to .themselves. We hold strongly also that the next sale' should be in' Wellirigton, and that afterwards the arranged programme bo strictly adhered to." . ' .■■ .-■ . '

Carried with acclamation.