SALE OF BUTTER.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 553, 30 July 1920, Page 2

SALE OF BUTTER.

Tlit unanimous decision of the i'u';ekohe neoting; of tViiryt-ic-n lo l>ai vie for a free market in the United Kingdom and elsewhere for New Zealand butter is evidence that our views on this question are shared by the dairy farmers of this district. It would be more repetition on our part again to specify the reasons for our views, but we wish to take this first opportunity of endorsing the expression of opinion carried so enthusiastically on Monday night. The suppliers rightly hold that as the primary producers of this Dominion loyally supported the Motherland during the war it is grossly unjust that they should now be placed on an even worse footing than alien producers living nearer to i the London markets. That Great BriI tain gave lis substantial considera- : tion for this support does not alter j t'he essentials of the case. Wc learn from a credible source that if a free : market were now available it would probably mean an additional half-mil-lion sterling in return for dairy produce. It needs no financial genius or expert in economics to grasp the im.-' }H>Mame of the prospect in respect te the welfare of the whole Dominion. There are two things of profound importance in this matter that we find very difficult to believe. The first is that at no time during the negotiations with the Imperial authorities was it possible or likely that a better offer than the present could be secured, and the second is that the Home Government absolutely and finally refused to grant freedom of sale within the United Kingdom. A full disclosure of the details of the negotiations would be interesting and perhaps surprising. At anyrate, it is a case of now or nc\er, and we trust that the producers will make the most of the brief space left in which to improve their position)