AMUSEMENTS. CORRESPONDENCE.

Hokitika Guardian, 7 February 1925, Page 1

AMUSEMENTS.

CORRESPONDENCE.

DAIRY CONTROL. (To the Editor). • " Sir,—The report of the proceeding at the meeting of the Dairy Product Export Control Board last week—pro sumably supplied to the newspapers b} the secretary—makes such a scant} and ambiguous allusion to the proposa for the assumption of “control” hy th Board that room is left for many alarming assumptions and speculations. “Tin members,” a paragraph in the report runs, “devoted a considqi'abe portion of their time to a discussion of the report submitted by the Overseas Delegation, and eventually unanimously decided to establish control and set up a London agency, The extent of the control will he determined at a later stage. It was also resolved that as far a.s possible dairy produce shall he marketed through tho present channels hut final distribution must he with the hoard. The London agency is to consist of two members of tiro board and the Government’s nominee, and a London commercial manager will he appointed.” Though 1 am not directly interested in either the manufacture or the sale of dairy produce, I must confess I am confused and a little alarmed by these vague statements eoneernning an industry of great national con-soqmionc-e. What is control and what is a London agency? If the control the hoard has in mind is of the same character as the control the older and more experienced Meat- Board has established, all is well and good. The Meat- Board, after the- closest investigation of all the facts and circumstances of the case, has assumed control of the quantity of meat shipped each month and in this way has maintained prices at a reasonable level satisfactory to sellers and buyers alike. Of course this is not tho only thing tlie Meat Board has accomplished, though perhaps the stabilising of the market is the inost important- of its achievements. In addition it has secured reductions in freights and insurance; provided for grading meat and for its inspection at ports of shipment and discharge; supplied authentic market reports and returns; has encouraged by judicious nr vertTsing and propaganda the consumption of New Zealand meat abroad, and in a score of other ways has rendered invaluable service to the producers and the Dominion. But it has

rigorously abstained from meddling with the actual buying and selling ol meat and thus, to the advantage of all parties avoided any sort of conflict with either the shipper here or the consumers at Home. Again, what is control and what is a. London agency in the language of the Dairy Board? The constitution and the authority of the Dairy Board arc practically tho same as the constitution and the authority ot the Meat Board. Both Boards have statutory power to regulate shipments and to absolutely control the.. shipping and marketing of the farmers’ products. The .Meat Board has demonstrated plainly that it can best serve tin- interests of tlie producers by confining its efforts to the activities it already has instituted without friction and with a very large measure ol success. But there is a rumour abroad to the efleet that n majority of the members of the Dairy Board, iiot content to follow in the well considered steps of the Meat Board, are bent upon exercising lorthaiill the authority they have to take charge of the farmers’ butter and cheese at the iaejorv door and to handle il as Ihev please I ill it realties the retailor at Home. The leglislatioo which L-onl'errcd this authority upon bulb the hoards was never intended to lie exorcised in Ibis fashion. The supporters at control, including the Minister of Agrioiill me. and, 1 think, the present chairman oi I In* Dairy Board, leitei - itcd again and again that the authority was being taken merely as a sateTuard against the machinations of un--(■riipulniis shippers and speculators, ,i ho might, attempt to rig the marketigainst the producers. It was on this listinet understanding. implied and 'xpressed, that this unprecedented nu.horitv. except in the case ol the Meat Board', was given t-o the Dairy Board, md now. so it is rumoured, certain member.-- of the hoard are striving to In-ing the authority into operation vithoiit any ol the interest it was in.ended to safeguard being even threatmod. AH this conjures up the spectacle of .wo members of the hoard, a Governnent representative and a “ coninercial manager,” with no more landless knowledge and equipment between hem than is possessed hy an avoiage ,-lerk. sitting in a palatial office in London and controlling the destiny ol die Dominion’s most important iudusrv. which hitherto has engaged the attention of many of the best commercial brains in the Empire. There are only two trained and experienced business moil on the hoard, and it is not likely „hat either of these could abandon ins nterests here to go to London. The Government's nominee might he a civil -servant standing first on the Commissioner’s list for promotion in the Alines Department or the Justice Department, ind the “ commercial manager,” it is predicted, would bo the London representative of a dairy company who told his principals a little while ago that Hie recent slump, which to most people

seemed inevitable two or three months before it came about, was “ unexpected.” Surely, the Government, which happily has tho last word in the matter, will not allow such a crazy experiment to he inllibtcd upon a section of the community which already has sufiered sorely, and still is suffering, from having entdustod the administration of its commercial affairs to well-meaning people insufficient! y acquainted with the customs, intricacies and perils of commerce.-—I -am,, etc., —- SHAREHOLDER IN STATE. Wellington, February 4, 1923.