HONEY CONTROL

Hokitika Guardian, 21 October 1929, Page 2

HONEY CONTROL

GOVERNMENT GRANT FOR ADVERTISING N.Z. HONEY. V MORE GOVERNMENT IN BUSINESS AND LESS BUSINESS IN GOVERNMENT.” THE CHAIRMAN, PROGRESS LEAGUE, HOKITIKA,

Sir — I take it that it is just as ipuch your duty to protest against anything that is not, in the best interests of your district as it is to• encourage anything for the prosperity and development of Westland.

I wish to your- attention to the attempt of the Honey Control Hoard, which is engineered by the Directors of the Honey Producers’ Association/ in obtaining from'the taxpayers of New Zealand the-sum of £9,000 for advertising Imperial _ Bee Honey. 'Under date April lltli, the Hon. G. W. Forbes, Minister of Lands and Agriculture, writes as follows: “ With further reference to your letter of' 3rd January in .regard to a promise by my pretUcess r to assist the bee-keeping industry, I now have to advise that it has been decided to include an item of £9,000 on the current year’s Estimates for a grant for advertising.. Payment of the amount caii only be made after the Appropriations have been passed by Parliament, which will not be until the end, of the session.”

. The last Balance-Sheet of the H.P.A. shows only £6 Gs spent during the year on advertising and now, they want the taxpayers of N.Z. to give them £9,000 to spend on advertising. I contend that if it is decided to expend £9,000 advertising N.Z; honey, this sum should be under the adniinistration of the High Commissioner’s Office in 1 London, When Parliament passed the Honey, Export Control Act they / had no idea' how; its operations ‘would, cripple the industry, and debar, legitimate exporters of N.Z. produce from carryingon their business., .Even. Sir Joseph Ward with his 40 years’ experience as a N.Z. produce exporter is debarred frdm’shipping one ton. of honey to London unless.he employs amateurs, ancld consigns ,it to the agents) of the H.P.A., Messrs A. :J. Mills And Co. , ' VVhen the Control Board were voted limited control, they took absolute' Control,'‘and charged' one penny per lb on all exported honey for advertising as well -as all dtl^e^r charges. ' The Control Board have been in absolute charge of- the Industry, for nearly five years, and find they are unable to make a success of. the industry, so they come' cap in hand to the government for '£9,000. ■ Whp knows but that in another two or three years they will come again on the shme errand. ~ ; . ;V; I U, ; “. CM - The f industry in Westland is at a very.low ebb, ,as I have failed to find a "single bee-keeper who is satisfied with the,; price for their, honey obtained through the Control Board. . The' Control Board rode rovfgdf s shod aver every other exporter, even if ■ he. had a;. contract prior to. contrpi coining inf o' /force add inad. - : ;a’. registered brand and an expprt/license. Tliev. Honey .Producers’.. Association also engineered Mr plark, Chairman; of Directors, oUtfie. H.P.A. to the position . off Government noniinceoh . the Qontrol Board, so that no other exporter;, had any : representation on’the, Board;' Thus the Control .BoardAefiised;point; .blank to allow any bee-keeper to ship his liohcy ’td f afiy‘'other firm; tlian A.- J, Mills, wfio. are the agents of the Honey Producers’* Association. Would there not be less - chance of collusion'if morC than one firm, were dealing with the Board?•* ;• 1 • A;- f v :- f "•

When Mr the; Government nominee returned from a trip to the (where he had been on private business) ho was voted. £3OO, Bee-keepefs Granted to-know what he did to earn this amb’ttiit‘ r^dl?.'mbney;i ,&s' i ;ii.'Wouxd"tali;© ; ’‘.a''.'lot''.'of' honey at to 4kl jer.Pb.jto, pay jfqr his services.; Tfiey are Still wondering. , The poneytPfoduCers’ ■ 'Association admit bad management in the past, but when is it going, to end? 7 - Thirty years ago more than, the abbve price was obtained; so that neither the Hoiley Producers’ Association or Control Board have obtained better prices for the producer, as they promised to do if bee-keepers tvould only vote for Control. With an annual export of front 300 to 600 tons of honey the expenses of the Board are too great,, and wfyen the Dairy Board and the Meat Board with their huge output ere considering amalgamation why not one Board, for all New Zealand produce controlled in London !'

i Hundreds, Of bee-keepers in N.Z. were debarred from voting for or .against Control, and to-day the directors Of the H.P.A. are engineering an attempt to control the price of honej'- in New Zealand. ./Does this mean that the small, man, called a side-liner, will be pushed out;of business, when the price will go up by fixation of prices? Where is the difference to a Trust or a Combine? , Westland bee-keepets wouh! be better oft without: the restrictions of' the Control Hoard, as it operates against a fair living being inade* owing to the heavy changes made for marketing honey by the; Board., Westland has the advantage of a grade store for honey> in 'Greymouth,\ and if the Member for Westland, Mr Jas. O’Brien, would bring down a Bill to have Section 15 of “The Honey Export Control Act, honey grading 90 and over should 1 .hot return the .bee-keeper, after all expenses are paid, 6d per lb. i; 'V' . ./y' > ! • /..••:’/ . If the following Bill were passed Parliament we;would not even ask for £9,000 to.adyertise/bitr/honeyift London;VA: “ Section 15 of. V The l ' Hoiieyr Export- Control Act, 10.24,” is hereby amended as follows■ 1

“By adding thereto the following Wrds: Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the provisions of,this Act “it shall be lawful for any intending exporter of honey “to export/the. same free from any control by the Board “if such exporter can satisfy the Minister that such ex- ,• ' ;| “oorter can sell the, same l at a higher nett price than can “he obtained by the Board.” As- soon as'thfe above amendment becomes law a number of Westland bee-keepers intend to form a syndicate and. ship from the grade 'Store in Greymouth to London through a N.Z. firm who handle large quantities of our butter and cheese, thus eliminating the prohibitive charges of the present,Control Board. ;.There. aro, thousands who tell you’ it cannot be done, v V; -There are thousands who prophesy failure are .thousands to point,to you by one ;./ / , The ,dangers that wait to assail you But just buckle in with a bit. of-a grin/-; / A:. /' -Then take off your coat and go ,at it ,'-•' •'; /. . Just start in to sing as, you- tackle the thing ; ■ ;; Thnt cannot be done-rand you'll do it. ' ■ '■ * Ross, September 25th, 1929. / . .. / ;: ‘; JOHN MURDOCH; ‘

Ui. J • „- . •.- j‘l ■■ -'A.//v-V/V (A reply to criticism "of J. Murdoch Ross-.)

-already been fully investigated by the Agriculture Department and rejected. The lengthy correspondence covered practically the entire industry. Mr Murdoch had the whole .facts before him agid therefore in his criticism lays himself open to the charge, by his statements carelessly and aimlessly mad«, of misrepresenting the position, or to being so entirely ignorant of the fundamentals of honey production and marketing, as to warrant his criticism being accorded the indifference due to one who makes statements, careless of Whether they bo false or true. , The honey position in Westland is at a low ebb because of the recent scar city of high grade Rata honey owing to unfavourable seasons and the prevalence of Birch honey of low grade and rank flavour, which, under a system of open marketing, would probably be unsaleable at any price in the United Kingdom. St the present time. The honey industry was fortunate in being able to make use of the services of Mr Clark when in England on private business.Mr Clark handled very, important matters in connection

' A Mr Murdoch, a beekeeper, producing approximately one ton of honey in total production of New Zealand. ,of about three thousand -tons has seeA’ht to issue a criticism of the IToney/'Rxport Control Board. In 1924 the Acting Trade Commissioner, Mr Manhirp,--issued a report setting out the disastrous effect of- all kinds of honeys r ranging from dark colour to wnterWl{ite and from rank flavour to neutralising sold in the United King dom as best N.Z. honey,- and the Honey Expert Control Board was- formed to obviate this and preserve, the high name pf l| 'N.Z. honey. Existing contracts, would necessarily have been allowed to continue, but Mr Murdoch’s arrangement' did not constitute a contract udder the Act, and as such was not allowed. Mr Murdoch evidently still resents this legal decision. rejecte jng, in 1-924, the arrangement he had prior to the Control Board’s operation, as a contract which would be peripitted under the control system. The matter of Mr Murdoch’s grievance has

with the industry from which direct benefit has been derived to the industry as a whole. This was in 1924, prior to the Honey Export Control Board coming into operation and there for had nothing to do with the Board. In 1924 before control, five hundred tons of honey were exported. In 1918 the honey export was one thousand and thirty tons and in 1929 one thousand and ninety tons, proving the efficiency of the Honey Control Board’s policy and operation. The control is not absolute. It merely requires that the honey be distributed through the Board’s agents. The honey is not pooled, the Shipper making his own arrangements with the agents. Liberal advantages can be obtained, if desired, immediately the honey is shipped. • The Honey Producers’ Association Ltd., working on a capital Of £IO,OOO advances to producers £50,000 per year and during fihe latter end of the war period, when shipments could not be made, the beekeepers were carried for a period of two years until a market could be established. No bet-

ter testimonial to efficient management could he made to refute any suggestion of bad management in the past. 1 ...

The report of the Imperial Economic Committee’s seventh report—‘Honeygives the consumption of honey in the United Kingdom as fottr thousand tons of which three thousand tons are imported. There are therefore two alternatives: one is to scramble for the three thousand tons business on a basis against Californian, Canadian, Russian, Argentine, and other honeys returning threepence pey pound and less to the producers as compared with New Zealand honey at 4Ad. or by a system of standardising and parking in retail packages assisted by propaganda, publicity work, organising a market, and. building a connection which will: be permanently profitable and which no competitor can take aWny on a basis of price. That this policy. is sound is proved by the fact that in the United Kingdom, New Zealand honey, holds the premier position, and as regards imported honey in Scandinavia, New Zealand honey is also first.; - •- '■

. Compare the position of the .New. Zealand producer receiving 4|d per lb .average for his honey, as against the ; Californian packep receiving 3d per lb average. Californian and Canadian freights,, in .are .’only about lhalf of ours! The comparatively enviable position of the New Zealand bee- • keeper is due to the soundness of the marketing policy and the efficiency of its operation. The break down of control in export markets would bring about the same unsatisfactory/conditions as prevail in New Zealand to-day, where beekeeping, following the ; elimination of orgaised marketing Seven years ago are actually selling at less than export parity. Bee-keeperS to-day, in selling and packing tiled, own honey, are selling below market parity, because their labour and cost of packing must be charged as this time and effort put into production would yield a greater pronoiViionate return. The National Beekeepers’ Association, composed entirely cf beekeepers, recommends organised marketing in New. Zealand because it would mean that the . price of honey would be standardised and yield an increase in the returns to the beekeeper. The tendency towards elimination of price cutting is a universal movement and the application of similar, measures to those .recently passed in,Australia and the United States of America, to the lidney'.industry in New Zealand, would be very valuable to the" beekeeper. New Zealand honey- is prominently displaying, the name' of New - Zealand ip; shop window displays, exhibitions, and in> general , publicity throughout the United Kingdom, Northern Europe, Germany, Austria, Omcho-Slovakia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Colombo, Straits Settlements, Malay States. Sales have been arranged at exhibitions and very valuable publicity work has built up a name for New Zealand honey second to none of all the fine products which New Zealand produces. This has been solely the work of the control organisation.. The total cost of the, Board to the industry is £IOO in honorariums, £lO office expenses and sundry expenses. The personnel of the Control Bonrd and its policy can both be changed by vote Of the beekeepers concerned, all beekeepers who are exporters, being able to vote.

In ; 1928 the total export of honey was 2,806,065 pounds, of which, the Honey Producers’ Asspciation exported ‘2,2<T,305 pounds, roughly 1,000 tons, as against 15$ tons .not . handled by the Association. In 1929- total exports .were 2,455,2921b5. of which 2,407,8241b5, was handled by the Association, and only 50,4681b5., equivalent of 22$ tons outside of the Association, which was split up between eight shippers and eight producers. The Association therefore is almost as representative of producers as the Board. Last year a sum of £7,169 17s was spent in advertising in export markets, the accounts concerning which are aecessnble to every producer. The disbursements for advertising under the grant of £9 000 from Parliament will be made in close co-operation with the High Commissioner’s office in London, with the officers of which in the past, all matters concerning advertising have been discussed. '

Bodi Control Board and the Association have every desire to thoroughly satisfy all concerned with the industry and are at all times pleased to answer any criticism and give the fullest information. JOHN RENTOUL, Chairman, Honey Export Bonrd. Auckland, 14th October, 1929.