BRIDGING THE GULF

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 6, 29 March 1927, Page 13

BRIDGING THE GULF

DAIRYMEN CONFER QUESTIONS OF CONTROL DISCUSSION BY COMPANIES Press Association PALMERSTON NORTH, To-day. An important conference of dairy company delegates, arising out of the meeting held recently at Hamilton, assembled at Palmerston North this morning. Approximately 200 were present. The object of the conference was to secure an expression of opinion upon the policy of the Dairy Control Board, past, present and future. Addressing the delegates, Mr. Sinclair, convenor of the conference, said that in the hall were some with divergent views on the question of control. The industry was split into two groups, each cling tenaciously to beliefs which appear to be so irreconcilable that it had been said there was no common ground upon which they might meet it. It was wrong to say this. No matter how great the differences might be the gulf dividing the producers was not too great to be bridged, provided they were animated by one common ideal —the welfare of the industry. No one could deny that che Dairy Control Board was absolutely necessary in developing the industr-” said the speaker, but the most urgent jmoblem the industry had to face was the full restoration of Goodwill and confidence that had been jeonardised abroad. The question was, should the board continue with a r»o]ic~- which has caused internal dissension at the source of production and antagonism at the source of marketing, or should it follow the more cautious policy of the Australian Board. Mr. J. A. Nash, M.P., chairman, expressed pleasure at the presence of Mr. T. M. Timpany, a member of the Control Board, who was there in a private capacity to learn something more of the feeling of producers towards control, and thus possibly strengthen his hands as a board member in opposing the operation of the compulsory clauses. Mr. Timpany would not address the meeting. Mr. Sinclair urged that the Control Board be requested, at its meeting to-morrow, to consider the abolition of all compulsory clauses, and the wisdom of going more on the lines of the Australian board. Mr. Gibson (Rahotu) moved: “That this conference is of opinion that the existence of a dairy produce board is necessary in order to organise and arrange shipments of produce, to secure the most favourable shipping, freights, and insurance rates, to advertise fully and systematically the country’s dairy produce, to enlarge the existing markets, to establish new markets, and in other directions to establish our industry on a more efficient basis.” This was carried. “That this conference believes the first essential in marketing Dominion produce is the maintenance of confidence and goodwill in our chief market, and that the extreme policy followed by the Dairy Produce Board is directly responsible for the loss of goodwill, also for the heavy financial loss now facing the industry,” was a resolution moved by Mr. Hine (Tikorangi). & Discussion was proceeding when the luncheon adjournment came.