WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 28 April 1931, Page 2

WELLINGTON TOPICS

!* > WHEAT AND BREAD. WIDE DIFFERENCES OF >l OPINION. | y> (Special Correspondent). | f; ; WELLINGTON, April f The Prime Minister’s concession of ;im'"afternooii to the discussion of the pvlreat and bread problem in the House pi “Representatives yesterday never had |ti)e slightest change of reaching an Effective 'conclusion.. It’; Pimply gave members of the House an |f)pportunity to air their contentious Mr W;_J. Poison, the mem|Byr for Stratford, led off the wide discussion by declaring that flhe farming community was reasonable T_in the matter and recognised that if |thc costs of commodities generally were {reduced, then “wheat must suffer a recduetion in duties.” He' thought that 'the profits made by the milling industry were higher than they should be, i?.and that the farmers and tire bakers ’ were getling no more than their fair $ Share. Mr J. A. Macpherson, the ' member for Oamaru, more closely associated with wheat growing than the ’■ previous speaker, declared that the 1. removal of the wheat duties would he disastrous to the country and that if Js the price of the four pound loaf were 1 fixed at-,'lod. over the counter the

.. Taker would have a very substantial 'Xjtnrtrgin of profit and the consumer generally would he satisfied. " A KEY INDUSTRY. Another ardent advocate of wheat growing appeared in the person of Mr 'i. Burnett, the member for Temuka, whose practical experience gave weight to his words. He considered that the time was not propitious for any tampering with the scale of wheat duties. Wheat growing wa s one of the key industries of the Dominion and the growers were asking for no more than a fair share, .of ‘ protection, j such protection as was accorded to the primary f . ..afid i secondary industries in general. wheat grower, he declared, was a working farmer, with an average Elagin of thirty-seven acres, and entitl- : to i; .the , same.,protection ,as was 'extended to similar workers. At this; stage .Mr H. E. Holland' the Leader of is keeping a kindly eye j Upon tlfe' rural elector, declared that what was .wanted was a comprehensive investigationi into the whole industry. New Zealand,' he said, was a wheat producing country and it would be a grave mistake to abandon wheat farming. Having enlarged upon his j>.i*]?ject, 'Mr Holland moved that a

committee should be set up to investigate Hhe;subject atid report- ■ jj&ter.

COST TO CONSUMERS

Mr C. A. Wilkinson, the member f°r ~ ,Egmont, struck the first pronounced note against the continuance of the present wheat subsidy. He did not agree with Mr Holland’s proposal for further investigations and reports. ■ The time was over-ripe, he paid, for the reduction cf the wheat duties, immediate action should be taken and t there was reason for believing the Prime Minister himself was of this !'■ opinion. Representations had ic made to the Government by the wheat the wheat pool; the bakers ■'"and /Other interested parties, but reftfpresentations were to come from the t;} representatives of the people themselves. Flour could be bought in Melbourne to-dav. he declared, for £6 10s ma ton. The New Zealand import duty ■' was £9 10s a ton, and when freight Gjand other l charghs were adclhd the *cprice in the Dominion, was £l7 15s a j ton. "Without the present duties flour be landed in Wellington at £8 f %s a ton. Wheat could be bought •/from outside sources at 2s fid a bushel ...on ship, while the New Zealand pr ,p e - ’ ’was os fid a bushel. The price of the (’four pound loaf in Sydney was from to eightpence. m % THE RETORT.

Mr David .Jones, the member for Mid-Canterbury, the well equipped advocate of the wheat growers, und?rtook the demolition of Mr Wilkinson’s indictment, but he seemed a little less effective than usual. The member fo r Egmont, he told the House, was the most inconsistent person in the Chamber. Why, he asked, did not this gentleman who denounced the wheat growers so roundly have something to say about the bakers in his district. The bakers there, he declarcharge more for the four pound Faf than do the bakers of Christchurch and Dunedin, and Mr Jones fin Id have Mr Wilkinson put his own (■’’strict in order before he cast stones 'tit other places. Other speakers fit-., tgi’hed the problem with less emphasis: inhere the wheat growers were in "numbers they seemed to have ti e goodwill of their members in the House and so the. talking went on until the arrival of the dinner adjournment when the discussion closed I and Mr Holland’s motion went the way of so many good intentions of the <;bind. It now remains for tile Pf l ' ' 0 to say what he can do for J|;the ■ eompFlnents.