WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 1 February 1926, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS

MEAT EXPORT. UCEXSEREFUSED. (Special to “ Guardian.”) AYF.LLINGTON, .liuiuai'y 28. ll was an open secret, long before the publication of the fact in the newspapers this morning, that the Meat Producers’ Hoard had recommended tlie refusal of the application of the Wellington Meat Export Company for the transfer ol its export license to Messrs Liorthwick and Sons and that the new Minister ot Agriculture. the Hon 0. Hawken, had accepted its advice. Information of this kind usually is available well ahead of its official" publication and for some days past (tie attitude of the Hoard and ol the Minister has been the subject of much discussion and criticism. With the nreeedent of the Gisborne ease before them both the Wellington Meai Company and Hortliwieks, as the great British linn is usually styled, appeared to have good ground for assuming that the transfer would he effected without difficulty and that an arrangement advantageous to both the contracting parties would he facilitated by the authorities. The Minister himself has been careful to state in the announcement of his decision that “it is in no wa.y intended to reflect upon the conduct of Messrs Thomas Horlhwiek and Sons operations in the meat freezing and exporting business,” and in view of this admission there naturally is much speculation as to what reasons for the refusal have weighed with the Hoard and the Minister. PROHAUI/E INFLUENCES.

One of the suggestions offered in explanation of I lie refusal ol the authorities to help the shareholders ol the Wellington Meat Company out of their difficulties is that several other meat freezing companies In tiro "Wellington province, co-operative and otherwise. have protested strongly against an opportunity being given to Hortliwieks to extend their operations in Xew Zealand with the aid ol British capital and British business acumen while the local companies have to get along as best lltev cm under less favourable conditions. A more plausible explanation of the authorities’ desire to keep Home enterprise out of the Dominion is that, realising there are lar too manv freezing companies in the country and that a reduction in their number, however hardly it might press oil individuals, would he an advantage to the industry as a whole, they are ready to sacrifice the shareholders in the Wellington Meat Company for the benefit of shareholders in other companies. Xo doubt the Hoard and the .Minister liy and by will give reasons

for their decision more explicit than the assurance that it rests “on the grounds of public policy” ; hut meanwhile they have provoked a good ilea! of dissatisfaction in various quarters and probably impaired to some extent Xew Zealand’s reputation as a held for the investment of British capital. HCS AND TEAM.

At the meeting of the Council of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce yesterday the chairman read a letter from the president of the Christchurch Chamber in which that gentleman urged strongly that the Assume.ted Chambers should not commit themselves to opposition to tin- proposed motor Ims regulations. " I hope we shall not agree.” lie wrote, “to anything which will give these omnibus services (which in many eases are merely pirate services on the established tramway service run by the ratepayers'! any advantage over these pub-licly-owned services. I cannot see us. as commercial men. sanctioning anything which will pul this publiclyowned service, in which millions of rate-payers’ money are invested, to a disadvantage, which will impose heavy monetary loss on all the ratepayers, in order to gel Ihe advantage of bus services, ami in order to allow some ralepayor.- to make profils out of these services.'' Whatever may he the general feeling towards these Inis services in Christchurch, it. has been made fairly evident in Wellington that the buses, at any rate so far as they serve the suburbs in opposition to the railways. have come to stay and that neither costly trams nor still more cosily railways are going to drive them out of business. They represent the triumph of the motor over the railed vehicle and can he no more suppressed than were the early railways liv the stage coaches. “. ABSOLUTE CONTROL.”

The official report of tiio proceedings at the mootinfx nf ihc Dairy Produce font ml Board yesterday indicates (lint a .majority of the members of tlie Board are determined to proceed with the institution of ” Absolute Control” forthwith without waiting for nnv review of the oosition by the producers themselves. “ In order to be ready for the inception of 'the control of dairy produce as from August 1 next,” the nutin paragraph in the report runs.

“the .Vow Zealand "Dairy Produce Control Hoard at its meeting yesterday decided to establish branch offices in five dairy shipping centres outside Wellington, at Auckland, New Plymouth. Dunedin and Invercargill.” Tt had heen assumed by many of the opponents of ” Absolute Control.” on the strength of .statements made by the Prime Minister and by the new .Minister of Agriculture, before bis appointment. that this important step would be postponed till after the constitution of the Hoard bad been reconsidered ; but the story going the rounds to-day is to tlie effect that the TTon O. Ifawkcu is not inclined to interfere with the determination of the Board and that the establishment of shipping centres will not lie delayed. This step would entail the expenditure of thousands id pounds, and would go far to entrench the extremists in their policy.