OUR PRODUCE ABROAD

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 724, 27 December 1933, Page 4

OUR PRODUCE ABROAD

The views of the Lord Mayor of Nottingham on the dairy produce question are arresting at j this juncture when the outlook I is contemplated with gravity by New Zealanders. "Great Britain," he says, "owes a debt to our eolonies for the splendid way in which they are sending food to the Motherland, and it is to be hoped that British housewives will stock their larders with New ' Zealand butter and cheese." This i suggests that the movement to ' increase home production is not : taken so seriously as cabled mes- j sages would imply. Indeed, we ! have always regarded the activi- 1 ties of the Minister of Agricul- i ture in the Imperial Government j as skilful propaganda intended to increase the export trade of Great Britain in accordance with the principles laid down by the Ottawa agreement. The Lord Mayor of Nottingham spoke as an expert in dairy produce as | he has judged at several shows | and his opinion will be received : with respect by the people of his ' country. Nottingham is well up i in the centre of England and it is gratifying to learn that the f ame of our butter and cheese has ' reached so far north of London. I It is in this area and in the East Coast Counties that Danish ; supremacy has never really been ! challenged and the time has 1 come when New Zealand must j compete for every ton of busiI ness offefing in Great, Britain. The publicity such utterances give our produce is invaluable 1 and it is particularly comforting to know that it is viewed by such • an authority as a debt that we should market our food lines in the Old Country. It will be re- | called that the Governor-Gen- | eral has never lost an opportunif.v nf im-nrpssinp- nr>nn Npw Zea-

landers the fact that even more | extensive markets are awaiting j our people in that sphere provided that excellence of quality is maintained, and that is a matter for the manufacturers of the produce. It cannot be expected that any country could live long on its reputation if quality deteriorated and it is easy to keep the butter and cheese up to an acceptable standard. Granted this, and the knowledge that the Lord Mayor of Nottingham is probably voicing the opinion held

by many others in England com- ; petent to judge, the prospects for ; the future are not by any means alarming. Of course we realise . that with prices 50 per cent. be- ; low normal increased production is imperative and, despite the threat of the quota, it is important that farmers should pro- i ceed on the assumption that more produce has to be sold and : that the markets must be made j available in some manner. Great j Britain is our best customer and will remain so, and it would be a i mistake to assume that the vol- ! ume of our trade will be regu- ' lated by the increased output of j the Home farmers. The case for j the Dominions has already been j stated emphatically by the Eng- 1 lish newspapers, and there is a j distinct feeling that any reduc- j tion of imports should be at the expense of foreign countries of which a round dozen are supplying varying quantities to the Motherland. Our purchases from Great Britain are restricted by the 25 per cent exchange rate, and this, probably, has influenced the Minister of Agriculture in th.e policy he has initiated. It may be taken for granted, we think, thqt, as manufacturing

operations are restored,. there will be a corresponding reduction in farming activities, and in a few years the same position will exist as before the depression set everybody wondering as to where next to look for the means of purchasing the necessities of life. If, as the Lord Mayor of Nottingham qdmits,. we- are sending excellent . produce " to Great

V": '■ ' I land and Wales by so doing, our capacity for trade expansion shoulcj not have been stretched to breaking poiht, and there remain in Central and Northern England and in Scotland many other profitable fields tq explore.