WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 18 March 1927, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS

DAIRY CONTROL BOARD. (Special to “ Guardian.”) WELLINGTON. March IT. The* two days sitting of the Dairy Control Hoard, on Saturday and Monday, resulted in a majority of the members carrying a motion for the abandonment of the policy of pricefixing. All that the public is allowed to know about the proceedings is con- | tained in a statement furnished to the] local newspapers hv Air William] I Grounds, the Chairman of the Board, I who resisted to the last ditch, with .Messrs Thacker and Bryant, interference with the policy lie had formulated and developed. The decision of tlio majority, consisting of Messrs Corrigan, Forsyth, Runt, Reynolds. Tinipuny and Winks, was expressed with jan dmirnble economy of words. •'Thai all resolutions and restrictions dealing with the fixing of prices.” the morion ran, "arc hereby rescinded.” The Una . members of tbe board absent from Die meeting were Air Motion and Mr Im-ns. who are in London, and Ur Ooodfcilow, who is on his way to Asner!with a visit to London, it is understood, in view. fi is assumed that had tie < three members been pre-ear a! Ihe recent meeting .Mr Toms would have voted with the majority ami Mr Motion and Air Goodfellow with tin* minority, thus reducing the majority in favour of discontinuing price-fixing to two. NEW INSTRUCTIONS. The extinction of price-fixing necessitated sending fresh instructions to the London Agency of the hoard and these were promptly dispatched by the executive in the following terms: “ hoard meeting to-day decided to instruct the London Aogncy, firstly that to clear accumulations allottees must sell total of 00.000 boxes hotter per week iill end of dune and ■l.'i.OUO crates of cheese per week until end of .May. Sales of allottees to he on percentage basis compared with to'al each allottee has to sell. These f|ViantiUes not to be exceeded. Secondly, to ensure these quantities being .sold price-fixing is eliminated and London Agency must co-operate with merchants in reducing stocks anti Agency is to do its utmost to secure best possible returns lor the producers. Thirdly. Mr .1. B. Wright is temporarily appointed to London Agency from date of Messrs Motion and lorns sailing from London.” The return of .Messrs .Motion and lorns to the Dominion had been arranged before this latest development, and it is presumed, though no definite statement on the subject yet has been made, that two other members will lie despatched to London to lo >U alter the interests of the producers. Air AVright, at the agency, with unfettered authority, would not meet with general approval. THE CHAIR-MAN’S CASK. Air Grounds’ statement, when not proclaiming the advantages of “ absolute control ” and “ price-fixing,” is a denunciation of the voracious middleman and the soulless speculator. ‘‘Statistically,” the chairman says, “ the market should have been in a healthy condition, permitting of ready sale, were it not for the attitude of a section of the trade as the campaign against control has had as its primary purpose the complete abandonment of the board’s policy and the restoration of past conditions—importers allege a trade boycott against the price policy as being directly responsible for the piling-up of stocks—the full story oT the intrigue in London at the time of the I’rimo Minister's visit may yeti have to he told.” and so on and so on, | ad infinitum without, it would ' seem, I serving any useful purpose. Air Grounds contends'that the position in London to-day, so far as the dairy produce is concerned, is nut nearly so had ns it was twelve months ago, when I control had not come into operation and the voracious middleman and soulless speculator, without let or hindrance, were pursuing their own wicked way. This seems to have been his nearest approach to argument, but apparently it was of no avail, and “ price-fixing ” had to go. WHAT NEXT? The Prime Minister accepts quite frankly the fact that the Government is unable to interfere with the administration of the Dairy Board so long as that body confines itself to the exercise of its legislative powers. These are so wide and so far-reaching that for all practical purposes they may be regarded as unlimited. If the hoard took it into its head to consign all the butter and cheese exported from the Dominion to the United States or to China or to any other foreign country there would ho no constituted authority to thwart its will. It is only Parliament, which gave these unprecedented powers, that ran restrain a majority of the hoard. Had a majority joined with Mr Grounds in bidding defiance to the opponents of price-fixing a special meeting of Parliament would have been necessary to stay its hand. Even now the menace I of a still gravel- slump in the dairy industry has not entirely disappeared. The distributors at Home may refuse 1 to accept the compromise that has been offered them. They may demand definite assurances for the future before they begin to handle the difficulties of the present. Tn commercial J circles this is regarded as quite a possible development, and it might make 1 an extremely disagreeable one.