TIMELY WARNING

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 34, 3 November 1937, Page 4

TIMELY WARNING

-PreBS Association.)

High Costs in Dominion BUTTER PRICES IN BRITAIN AND N.Z.

(By Telngraph-

WELLINGTON, Last Night. Commenting on the remarks made last Saturdft^by Major J. E, King, of Sydney, chairman of directors of .Empire Dairies, Ltd., in tespeet of tho guqranteed price for dairy produce, Mr A. P. O'Shea, Dominion secretary of the New Zealand Farmers' Union, stated to-day that the submissions of the New Zealand Farmers' Union had now received supporfc from an unbiased outsider, and Major King had uttered a timely warning about the high internal costs of Ner. Zealand. In connection with the high price at present ruliiig on the London market for butter, Mr O'Shea pointed out that this price left no room for accusations that the dairy farmer was being assisted by. the pubiic of New Zealhnd. On the cohtrary, tlie public of New Zealand were receiving a very handsome subsidy from the dairy farjner, because they were biiying butter at a guaranteed price which was considerably below the world market price. It would be interesting to find what the dairy f hrmers of New Zealand had lost by supplymg ti 3 local market at less than the world price." It should be stressed also that, on the present price, it would not be very long before the overdraft remaining in the Dairy Account for last year was completely extinguished. The fact that butter was being sold in New Zealand at less than the London price also completely removed New Zeu.l^nd from the reproadh made by the farmers in Great Britain that butter wa. being durnped on the London market • at a price less than that charged in the country of production. This applied in the case of nearly all the larger supplicirs of the London market, except New Zekland. . If the priees for butter in New Zealand were brought into iine. with the prices obtaining in London at the present time, it would be costiag 1/6 a lb. in the shops of the Dominion to-day. Though the price for butter sold in New Zeal;.nd was lower than the London price, the dairy farmer still had to meet high production costs.