STATISTICAL MAZE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 177, 13 August 1937, Page 6

STATISTICAL MAZE

Dairy Companies Are Busy Filling in Forms for' ten departments Dairy companies may soon find it neeessary to appoint a statistician to prepare statistics for Government departments if further demands are' to be„ made. The layman perhaps does not realise the' extent to which returns regardipg the dairy industry are required by the Government. * * According to a - Taranaki dairy com- • pany authority no fewer than 10 Government departments demand statistics in sonie f orm, covering no fewer th'au 22 separate items. The foremost question is that of income, and dairy factory secretaries are required to furnish a list of all' sup-r> pliers,/ together with the ampunt paid out for butterfat for the 12 months ending March 31, This does not coinside with the. end ox the dairy company year. In addition sepdrate returns of the company 's land and incomo ai'e ' required- by the Commissioner oi Taxes. . "' The employment tax division next comes into J the -pieture with a request for returns; of suppliers with the amount paid for "butterfat and bonuses for the 12 - months. It is intended that there shall be no escape for. the tax evaderv., The Dairy Board requires inf ormation of the average increase per week of each assistant, and or increased costs taken from dairy fa'rmors'- fialanceeheete. . But that is not all. A comparison must be made of the costs of materials and 'service .for the seasons 1935-36 and- 1936-37. Infoiination must also be ; given' regarding butter boxes and cheese crates, and a variety of otfier subjects. The guaranteed price committee requires a schedule of monthly costs of operations figainst • the previous year, while the. Primary Produets Marketing Departmenf requires a monthly xeturn of iocal consumption - «sales~ Even ' the. . Forestry .Department is coneerued in statistics. It is not to estimate the nuihber of shelter trees or hedges required per aere or per cow but simply crates on..hand, with an estimate for the coming season, that the statistics are required. .

After that comes 'the Government Statistician, who requires a list of suppliers supplying more than 15001b. of fat during the 12 months ending June 80? Two special schedules have also to be filled in, one regarding factory working and its financial position and the other dealing -with. wages and employment. Particulars of cheese sold for local consumption during 1936 are required by ' the internal marketing department, though the inf ormation is to be found in the file of the Primary Produets Marketing Department. Lastly there is the monthly schedule showing the butterfat and make of cheese with the pcrcentage of fat recovery. Farmers, it is said^ .are now asking if it is not time that a new department was created — tho . department for the co-oxdination of dairy statistics. V '•