DAIRY CONTROL BOARD.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVI, Issue 4825, 20 March 1925, Page 3

DAIRY CONTROL BOARD.

'. DEFENCE OF POLICY. SPEECH BY THE CHAIRMAN. The chairman of the Dairy Export Control Board, Mr W. Grounds, opened a campaign on beh.alf of the board’s 'policy of “absolute control,” when addressing a large body of dairy producers at Palmerston North on Wednesday. He was accorded an excellent hearing, and at the conclusion a vote of thanks and confidence in him as chairman of the; board was passed. An attempt to move an amendment was . not taken seriously by the chairman, Mr S. A. Broadbent. It had been said that Jhe Control Board was dominated by Waikato influence,, and when he had refuted this Mr Grounds said it was stated that if —■ it had not been for the influence of the : Waikato companies the ward system of voting Would have been granted last year. The board and the speaker recognised the desirability of the ward system of election, but it was one of the points which did not come wtihin the scope of the board’s power. Referring to the question of the beard’s powers, Mr Grounds said the board had secured an opinion from its counsel, who stated that it could, under the’ present Act, exercise absolute control, although in the event of litigation the Act was supplemented by the provision for an Order-m-Council. Mr Grounds, added that the Act was quite secure in respect of absolute "control, but not in respect of limited control, for there .was no such thing. Limited control was no control at all. What justification was there for saying that, an assurance had been given that absolute control would not be taken. What had been said was that complete investigation of the, position would be made by the board before any conclusions were formed. Mr Grounds proceeded to review the arguments for control. Dealing, with the question of pooling, he said most of the objections arose from the experiences of war, but wherever scientific marketing had been undertaken it had proved a success. Graiiberry growers in Wisconsin, and citrus fruit ■■'growers in California were instances that pooling scientifically done was a sound proposition.

Finance is coming. from the game merchants, as in the past., but it would be arranged through the board instead of through individual factories. The speaker described how the pver- ■ seas delegates secured their information in London, stating that they called. upon all the importers and invited them-’Io discuss various matters. They readily assented, and after the varied aspects had been dkscussed some of the leading importers could foresee no appreciable difficulty in the successful working of the board’s plan. They heard of the antagonism of Tooley Street, but 'merchants there recognised the advantages of a stabilised market. Questions were .asked-whe-ther the board could guarantee the same advances ats producers were gett at present. “We say yes, if you want it sold in the same way,” said Mr Grounds, “but we’do not want that. We. want the market stabilised, and a system introduced under which we can sell the produce with much better results, and the factory which decides that the price is not good enough can hardly expect to get the same advances against a reservation. . Thfcj is the soul of the whole cooperative movement. Make a sacrifice to-day, and reap a greater benefit tomorrow'. If we think that by making a reservation we can secure better average prices, that is our business ; ji nd finance will be stronger under the .board than it is at present, owing, to the increased stability caused through consolidation through the board.” .Tooley Street merchants interviewed had promised the same financial assistance as hitherto. Subsequently, relative to this point, Mr R. Cobbe, member of the Dairy Council, produced a cablegram stating tliat the delegation from New' Zealand had never met the Dairy Produce Importers’ Association of London (comprising all the Tooley Street , merchnast) on the matter of finance. A sensation w’as caused by this — statement. • Mr Grounds warmly reiterated his statement that the had discussed finance with every single .member of the association.

SUPPORT FOR THE BOARD. RESOLUTIONS BY D.F.U. A conference of delegates of the Dairy Farmers’ Union met in Hamilton on Monday and was presided over by the Auckland provincial president (Mr C. Parker). The meeting, which consisted of delegates from Waikato and the Lower Waikato districts, passed a resolution urging all dairy farmers to support the Dairy Export Control Board in its decision to establish absolute control over “all exportable butter and cheese as from August 1, 1926. '

LOCAL MARKET. ,■ The following resolution was pass- ' cd: "That this conference of delegates of the Dairy Farmers’ Union of a Lower Waikato and: Waikato districts deplores the competition in butter oh the local market, and considers that each company is entitled to ,a share of the local market trade in proportion to its output. Furthermore, this conference believes that the average price on the local market should be equivalent to the average price received for export butter, but considers that:, owing to the distance of New Zealand from the Home markets, the - High' Commissioner’s cable in itself is not a satisfactory basis of pricefixing, without some scheme of stabilisation similar .to the proposed Paterson scheme for Australia.”