ROBBING THE DOMINION

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 125, 19 January 1932, Page 4

ROBBING THE DOMINION

One of the difficulties which the New Zealand dairy producer has to face in his efforts to strengthen his position on the British market, and one, moreover, which it is quite beyond his power to overcome unaided, is the shameful dishonesty of many of the retail traders in Great Britain. These gentry, if the evidence available is worth anything, do not hesitate to attacli to the products they sell, butter especially, any label which is likely to attract buyers and increase proflts. The difficulty Is by no means- a new one, but it has been intensified in the past year or two by the increased public interest in Empire products which has been aroused at Home by the efforts of the Empire Marketing Board and, in the present case in particular, by the advertising campaigns conducted by and on behalf of the New Zealand producers. This, of course, was only to be expected in the absence of any effective control over the marking of products • when otfered for sale retail and unless or until retailers are obliged to mark goods with the name of the country or countries of origin and, in the case of butter, with a statement whether or not it is a blend, the trouble is likely to continue. Legislation designed to check, if not wholly to eliminate, the injustice of which New Zealand producers complain has been placed on the Statute Book by the British Parliament, but, at least insof ar as its most vital provisions, from the Dominion point of view, are concerned, its operation has been deferred, we believe until April next. Since this legislation was passed there has been a change of Government at Home and it is at present impossible to f oresee what action will be taken by the present Government in regard to bringing the law eff ectively into operation. That there is urgent need for such legislation is demonstrated by the evidence produced by a Hamilton resident, Mr. H. D. Oaro and reported in our columns recently. Mr. Oaro, during a recent visit to Great Britain received complaints about the quality of butter sold to friends as New Zealand. He therefore instructed his agents to deliver an original 561bs shipping box of New Zealand butter to his friends and since his return home has received a most enthusiastic letter from them praising the butter and stating definitely that the butter obtainabl.e by them in the retail shops was a very different article. Mr. Caro's statement was supported by two leading Waikato autborities who gave instances of unfair

practices, in one case by strong inferential evidence that Dominion butter is blended with English and sold as the latter and in , the other case by quoting the entire "disappearance," after importation, of the large quantities of inferior Russian butter shipped to Great Britain by the Soviet, such "disappearance" being obviously due to the refusal of the British public to buy Russian butter as such and its consequent blending and disguise in other ways. A few years ago, wlien there was little or no public demand at Home for New Zealand butter, tricks of this kind were understandable, if not defensible, but this excuse no longer holds. The awakening of the British public to the needs of Empire, and more important, to a recognition of the high quality of its products, has resulted in the creation of a definite consumer demand for those products, butter amottg them, and it is little short of a erime that the avarice of traders should be permitted by. dishonest practices to injure thus seriously their reputation, upon establishing which both the producers and the Empire Marketing Board have expended so much'money. Such a policy, though at present no doubt highly profitable to the British blender and shopkeeper, is even from their point of view an extremely short- . sighted one, made doubly so by the recent conversion of the Old, Pountry to a recognition of the virtues of the preferential and protective tariff. From the Domimons' viewpoint it is a fatal one, tending as it does to confirm and increase the prejudice which still exists in many parts of Great Britaiii against Dominion dairy products. Unfortunately, there are no very effective Steps — apart from costly advertising propaganda, which present financial conditions will not permit — which can be taken to correct the evil by either the producers themselves or thq Dominion Government. - It is a matter for the Home Government to deal with and the most which can be. done immediately is to request, .as urgently as possible, that the existing law be strengthened where necessary and administered as effectively as possible. At the Qttawa Economic Conference, however, the position will1 be different, and New Zealand's representatives should be definitely instructed to press for effective control of the branding of food products, and particularly that such branding shall indicate clearly the country or countries of origin and whether the product is pure, or has been blended or otherwise adulterated.