WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 15 May 1931, Page 2

WELLINGTON TOPICS

WHEAT AND FLOUR.

REDUCED PRICES. (Special Correspondent). WELLINGTON, May 13. Though the Prime Minister has ventured td propose larger reductions iu the prices of wheat and flour for next year than were generally expected, his are not likely to meet with the general -approbation of consumers and . users. . A decrease pi ls'4d a bushel in the price of wheat and. a decrease of £2 10s-; a ton in trie price of flour would be substantial moves towards world prices; but they would represent neither cheap fowl feed nor cheap bread. Mr Forbes thinks differently. . “This reduction,” he sav-s. referring to the figures ; ,jnsi quoted “while giving the wheat grower reasonably protection for hir produce would at the same time substantially reduce the prices of flour and bread, and would, through the resulting lowering of the price of wheat, assist the poultry farmer .and other users of the latter commodity.” The trouble with the poultry farmer is that he has to look a year ahead and ha 9 no assurance of a remunerative market. • ■ CHEESE PROBLEM. The Hon, A. J, Murdoch, the Minuter of Agriculture, who brings to his administrative office a wide mepsu re of practical knowledge, bps been reminding the cheese manufaetuieis that quality is. the mainstay of their industry. Experience has shown, lie stated in a circular he distributed yesterday, that the great weight of opinion among buyers was opposed to standardized ■ cheese, and that weight of opinion lmd to be carefully regarded. “It is evident,”, he emphasized, “that the, use of the. brand “Chedder”. will have to cease before the new season opens, and a positi°n has been reached when a decision has to be made as to whether the manufacture of whole cream milk shall., be resumed.” 'Mr J. B. Mac Ewan, and other authorities ,w.ere calling attention to the need for reform in this direction months ago and it seems at leayt they, have reached a quarter in which they will be heard. The Minister is taking action none too soon. : A; CRISIS. The “Dominion” referring to what it call the “Crisis in the Cheese In-c’.u.-try” quotas^.again the warnin'? given by Mr. AV. A. Irons, the chairman of the Dairy Board, on his return from his recent visit tb London. “At, that time,” it saj’s, “Mr;.,, Irons estimated that the cheese producers ware losing' one million;: pounds Sterling annually through the. failing away from the quality standards reached five years earlier, and he directed particular attention te the prejudice of buyers against the : standai’djzed product.” Similar .comments''have come from a doeen other authorities since the testimony of Mr Irons was recorded- The wonder is that the Government has not taken action in this grave matter before. What •»» wanted most of- all, according to the “Dominion,” is a' change of outlook that would embrace the requirements of the consumers, at the other end of the world ,and would see that they were fulfilled. The idea that • the whole problem may be solved in the local cheese factory is a delusion and a snare. WAGE REDUCTION, This morning’s paper contains well on ,to a dozen closely ■ printed columns dealing from the employers’ point of view—and particularly from the farmers’ point of view—with the matter placed before the Arbitration - Court yesterday in regard to the reduction of workers’ wages. Mr T. 0. Bishop the Secretary of the Employers Federation, and Mr W, H, Hunt, for the time being the representative of the New Zealand Meat Board and the Dairy Control Board, were the principal witnesses of the day and their exhausive statements were of intense interest. Mr Hunt dealt mainly with the farming interests and in doing go submitted a number of facts and figures of special interest. His main point was that “the foundation of the economic life of the country is its farming industry,” and he made Jiis contention so plain. and so emphatic that the critics who challenged his contention made no headway. The i -port of the full proceedings will furnish interesting reading.