FAILURE OF FIXATION OF DAIRY PRICES

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 72, 16 June 1927, Page 14

FAILURE OF FIXATION OF DAIRY PRICES

VIEWS OF MR. 10RNS “BUYERS DRIVEN TO RIVALS” (From Our Resident Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Wed. “HHHIS dictatorial attitude on our part, opposed to all British methods, had it been prolonged, inevitably would have driven the big buyers in England to the formation of a buying committee which would have deprived New Zealand producers of the advantages of trade competition.” In these words Mr. "W. A. lorns, n member of the London agency of the Dairy Control Board, who returned to New Zealand last week in company with Mr. W. Claud Motion, another member of the agency, criticises the policy of the price-fixation. Mr. lorns gave his view of the London operations in an address at today’s meeting of the board. CUT OUT CHANNELS

Very shortly after his arrival in London, he said, he had realised that any attempt on the part of the board to cut out any legitimate channels of distribution or medium between the producers and the consumers that was already serving a useful purpose would be disastrous. The adoption of this policy drove a number of operators into the arms of the Dominion’s rivals, and immediately resulted in the lessening of the premium which had existed for New Zealand produce and the widening of the premium-for Danish. GOODWILL AND ILL-WILL

Mr. lorns said he had been astounded at the statement of Mr. W. Goodfellow, managing director of the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company, and a member of the board, that there was no such thing as goodwill on a wholesale market. Every wholesaler handling New Zealand produce in London spoke of goodwill as an important factor in his business, and if Mr. Goodfellow had been up against the ill-will the London agency encountered while it was trying to establish price-fixing, he would have realised what the other term • meant. British goods, in general, and New Zealand goods, in particular, made a very real appeal to the British , consumer, and it was only when tlie agency attempted to fix prices that he began to “kick.” The speaker continued that he had never been able to understand why the board had not paid more attention to the representations made by the agency. The practice of the manager, Mr. J. B. Wright, in consistently communicating with the chairman of the board, Mr. W. Grounds, and with Mr. Goodfellow without even informing the representatives of the board of his intention to do so caused an under-cur-rent of uneasiness. NEWSPAPER PUBLICITY “There can be no doubt, I think, that much harm has been done to the interests of the producers by the publication of the ‘Exporter’ newspaper under the auspices of the board,” Mr. lorns said.. “There is a free Press in this country, which the whole world is commending, and surely this ought to be good enough for all of us. One of the large dairy companies in New Zealand had asked each of its agents to contribute £250 toward the institution of the ‘Exporter,’ and the paper is now being used to further the ideas and interests of individual members of the board.”

Mr. lorns expressed very high appreciation of the services rendered to the board by the Prime Minister and the Government’s representative on the London agency, Mr. Stronach Paterson.