WOOL PACK INDUSTRY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20001, 28 July 1939, Page 5

WOOL PACK INDUSTRY

DOMINION MANUFACTURE EXTRA COST TO FARMER i __ (Parliament ary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. To support ithe contention that, much of the money the Government >vas spending to expand secondary industries would be wasted, Mr. H. G. Dickie (Na.t., Patea) made some extremely critical comment on the Foxton wool pack factory in tho House of Representatives yesterday. It had, he said, been in operation for some years. The raw material was in the country. To get it going the company -was given a loan of £28,150 from the employment fund and 3d per pack as a bonus on all packs produced. Yet this year it showed a loss of £1790.

If the farmers could get the Calcutta wool packs at their proper price they would pay 2s lid, hut the Foxton packs cost 4s sd. The .wholesale distributors were allowed 2s 4d for eight packs for .heir services and bad debts. The result was that the grower had to pay in the aggregate £22,000 a year more for the packs through taking the Foxton product. This comparison was made with jute prices at a high level though jute packs had been bought as low as 2s each. Mr. A. F. Monicur (Lab.. Rotorua): Supporting sweated labour.

Mr. Dickie added that if all the packs were made at Foxton it would cost tihg farmers £06,000 a year more compared l with jute. The Minister of Education, the Hon. ?. Fraser, suggested that there were the usual difficulties with, new enterprise.

“They have got over the pioneer stages,” replied Mr. Dickie, who added that flax was actually being .ransp.orted from his district, over ’OO miles, to Foxton. to make these packs. Mr. A. S. Richards (Lab., Roskill): That's private enterprise.

Mr. Dickie retorted that in view of all the State aid, it was really State enterprise. Mr. Fraser: It would be very vuluible in the event of war.

Mr. Dickie: If we could not get our wool out it would not matter about the packs.