FAVOURS CONTROL.

North Otago Times, Volume CVII, Issue 17165, 23 March 1927, Page 2

FAVOURS CONTROL.

PrtrBO Assoelation.)

( SAYS BOARD BROKE FAIT1.'.

(Pcr

! , ; HAMILTON, March 22. The attitude of the New Zealand Co-operatiye Dairy Company in the dairy crisis was defined to-day by Dynes Fulton, chairman of directors. Mr Fulton said the attitude which the company took up was that the case was essentially one in which a meeting of dairy companies should be called by the Control Board along the lines of the meeting held under the auspices of the board in Wellington in April last. The company had embodied its views in a communication sent to the chairman of the Control Board as follows — "Our company, representing approximately 8060 pro|ducers (30,060 tons of produce), deI sires to enter an. emphatic protest 1 against the decision of the board I in abandoning price fixing. We coi^sider that the Statute, wliile ! fully empowering the board to take 1 the control of and sell produce j j could not possibly be taken to have ! | contemplated the handing over of our produce to third parties without any reserve being fixed by the board. This, in our opinion, constitutes a breach of faith with the producers. The basic principle on 1 which the Control Board was con- j stituted was regulation of the mar- j keting and thh decision of the board . re price fixing is an absolute nega- j tion of this principle. In further ! pursuance of our protest we-de-j sire to say that while we should j have been prepared ot place confld- > ence in the board itself mar- \ ket our goods, with adequate safe- ; guards, we emphatically state thai the present action on the part of [ the board has had the effect of , handing over the sale of our pro- , duce from the board to the third : parties. Such a radical1 depqrture , from the principle of market regu- ! lation on which the Control Board ! foundered could only be justified on an unequivocal mandate from j the producers according to their in- i terest in the issue. j "We ask that thefboard take im- j mediate steps to convene a meet- : ing on the lines of that which was j palled by the board in April last in order that the board may place j the position fully before the pro- j ducers' representatives, and in : order also that the producers may have an opportunity of expressing an opinion on lines we have alreadv . Indicated. "In particular we desire to urge . upon the board that the responsibliity of seturing such an expression of opinion niust rest with the : board and cannot be left to third parties."

Mr F.ulton said he agreed with the Prime Miniater that the qhestioii was for the producers, and was due to the producers. He thought that the Control^ Board should convene such a meeting as suggested in order that the board might state the case fully to them. Meetings convened by partisan interests must be entirelv unsatisfactory, not only because they must inevitably be coloured by the interests calling them. but also because the board which is an essential party would have no voice in the meeting. The position that had arisen, was, said Mr Ful- • ton, nndoubtedly n critical one calling for calmness and clear thinking. It should be the aim of all producers to help the board in the present difficult position. This could *' liest bp obtained by free and frank j discussion at the meeting convened ; for the pnrpose bv t.he board along ' the lines suggested by the company. '