STATE OYSTERS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2186, 9 May 1908, Page 4

STATE OYSTERS.

THE PRICE TOO HIGH,

AUCKLAND DEALERS DISGUSTED. The announcement tliattlie Govommemt .proposed to charge 12s (xl per sack wholesaleforoysters at Auckland has been received with not a little disgust among local fish dealers, who contend that- the Government instead of supplying a cheap article a 6 at first promised, is now about to make a big profit out of the buisness. “1 cannot understand at,” said .'Mr. A. Sanford, the well knownfish. dealer, when approached by a “N.Z. Herald representative. “When the Government first took over the oyster beds and decided to supply the market, they announced that- their .principal reason for doing so was in order that tilie public might get the beefit of lower prices. But how, I ask, are they going to do the greatest good for the greatest number when they .are going to make a .big profit out of it. . By charging 12s 6d a- sack, the Government is going to make fully half .that amount clear profit. In such a good season as this it should toe an- easy matter to get the oysters picked at 6s a sack at Waiheke, and sold in Auckland iat 7s. Any man can easily pick three 6aoks at a tide, and some seasons, when oysters were plentiful, we got them picked at 2s 6d per sack. Last season, however, the pickers combined and raised the price up to 14s and 16s, with the result that the public had to pay unfair prices. While the action of the .Government in taking over the wholesale supply of oysters ■will prevent a repetition of this in future, still I do not see why they should derive such a profit, as by this the public get no. advantage whatever, and when such is the case, the whole business might have been left in the private dealers’ hands after ail.” The oyster, season came into force on the Ist prox., and it is estimated that fully 20,000 sacks can he obtained from the .beds at AVaiheke and the Great Barrier.