WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 24 November 1930, Page 2

WELLINGTON TOPICS

UNEMPLOYMENT MEASURES.

COMMITTEE’S RECOMMENDATIONS

(Special Correspondent.)

WELLINGTON, November 20.

Mr T. 0. Bishop, the secretary of the New Zealand - Employers Federation, who next to Mr. W. D. Hunt, the chairman, was the most active member of the Commission which prepared the way for the Unemployment Act of last session is not altogether satisfied with the use Parliament made of the Commission’s ■ labours. He takes, however, a generous view of the situation. “The success of the Act or its failure , he says, “depends entirely upon the Board’s administration. I can only wish tile mombcVs will, and assure them Employers’ Federation will '< assist VBs' far as possible to make the so long as it is administered economically and in the interests of tho Dominion as a whole, and. apart from party interests”. Returned Soldiers express warm appreciation of the representation they have secured, Hit Labour, as was expected, is somewhat drisgruntled by the choice of its representation'. On the whole, however, tne Minister appears to have (btte very well. Huge'Annual Loss, Afn the course of. his presidential'address at the annual meeting of the Employers’ Federation yesterday the Hon. T. Shaler Weston, fresh from an educative trip to Europe, told liis audience again that the railways of the Dominion are being operated at a huge annual loss. “At the present time”, he told tli© members of the Federation, who had reason to look aghast,: “three railways are being completed which, as far as the expert testimony goes, will when completed, involve the country is a loss of interest on capital cost; and working expenses of £735,000 a year.’' This is a huge sum of money to he lost every year, at the expense of the taxpayers’ great and small, but Mr Weston does not point to a very obvious remedy. “Surely”, he exclaimed, to his audience; “Parliament could rise above party difference, forget past promises and opinions, local self interest and that of individual members, and in the interests of the whole country stop the imposition of such a ghastly burden upon New Zealand.” But what then? New Zealand Cheese Abroad. Recent reports from London made : available the other day suggest .that there really is something wrong with •■ New Zealand cheese by the time it fetiches the other end of the world. Here are n few sentences taken from the reports of dealers in the great met. ropolis: “For some time 1 past the quality of Canadian cheese has been ' superior to New Zealand, owing to the fact that the standard of Canadian : cheese has been maintained whereas .New Zealand has undoubtedly deteriorated”. “New Zealand cheese is less attractive than Canadian in appearance when cut”; “New Zealand cheese compares very unfavourably with Canadian as a general rule” ; “New Zealand ;cheese is not nearly so good either in texture or flavour as Canadian”; “Make for make New Zealand cheese does not compare favourably with Canadian’’. The author of the. last pronouncement gives it as his opinion “that quality this season has' deteriorated, but only to the slightest extent”, but whether he refers to Canadian or New Zealand cheese is not dear.” Further Testimony. Additional opinions are by no means reassuring to Dominion producers. : “New Zealand cheese”, it is averred, “does not compare favourably with

Canadian. On our experience of this ’" / 'season we feel that New Zealand cheese has gone back in the quality of the "'•lnst fe\v_ seasons. With the ever in* creasing: world’s competition fbr an outlet on this market, we think that

the producers of cheese in New Zealand * ' should endeavour to supply , this coun- • try witli what the market requires, and not think so much about putting up exactly what they would like to manufacture.” Here doubtless is the rub. New Zealand producers, and the authorities by whom they are led, have been entering for a local market and local taste and more or less have lost some of their oversea market. Whether or not it is possible for New Zealand to satisfy both markets remains to be seen; but it seems probnble that m the long run it would be easier to convert the local consumer than the consumer at the other end.

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