TAIHAPE CO-OPERATIVE DAIRY CO.

Taihape Daily Times, 14 July 1919, Page 4

TAIHAPE CO-OPERATIVE DAIRY CO.

l CHAIRMAN-‘s ANNUAL ADDRESS I At the annual meeting’_of the Tai-V 1 shape /, Co-operative D:ufi',\CompanY 0 Ihcld on Saturday, Mr. . . Bennett, , Echairman of Directors, in moving the iadoption of the report and balancesheet, congratulated. ‘each and every‘ . member of the company on completing: another -twelve months successful T A operations. People in this country lhad passed through :1. time of trial 0 lowing to sicknessand the toll of war, ‘and, doubtless those present had lost some rerelativb or friends during ‘the. trials of the last twelve months. He however, congratulated them all on . “passing through.’_’ He would first ‘ tall: of the butterposition as he found. it at present. The most peculiai-A phenomenon was the butter shortage in New Zealand to-day ‘lt was most j |extraordinary_ Asthey were all doubt-» if [less aware the Glscborne supply had. run out; Wellington was in much the __ ‘same position. Most of the butter now came from the Auckland district,‘ land ‘Auckland had only enough to [carry on the season, and hadnothing Ito spare. So far as their own com- ‘,4 parry was concerned they Were all’ 'right, and were able to supply all their customers. With regard to dried ‘ ‘milk the position Was not altered, It was proved that for this industry the- 0 price paid for mill; was at a higher - rate, in fact, it was almost double,_and‘ proved more profitable than cheese= . making, while butter-making came a, long way behind. It was a question of judgment as to what would be thelfuture movement of the dairylng in— 3 dustry, and the question would have to be approached with great caution. The removal and disposal of butter would remain as before. until July 30th of next year, and it was not «likely Par,lizuncnt would do, anything then. The lichairman. referred -to the Butter Commission which was appointed and said“ it“'l_lad not made goodso far.-as the ‘ interepsts of the butter. producers were ‘-I concerned. _..With regard ‘to thee Equa- J['isat'ion- Eund ~lfi_.‘WaS said that 'tl‘lo'=='>‘»‘ “farmers wereca party to the contract, -*3’ and had‘ no right ‘to complain’. This V lhad been touched‘ upon in lighter vein- ~ by ;a Palmerston paper, and this —-sort’ -’ of ithing goes ‘down with‘ -the‘-public," who donot know. The general ini-’: ' pression was that the dairy farmer was 0' a gourmandiser and wanted" ‘everything his own way_ Unfortun- ' ately the dairy" farmer was IT6t"in ‘a ‘ ‘position to state his case 'properly*,? and T lwas in need of some propaganda work’; Jwithout which they must expect -such’ ‘conclusions. The dairy‘ farmer wa"s‘7not* Ll. party to the Equalisation’Fund; The ‘ ' Government fixed the price of butter. ‘The farmers made complaint when the- _ lp.rice'”was fixed‘ at 1/8, and 'el'lquired"' {who was- going to pay the difference ‘ [between that price and that which lCollld be obtained if the butter wast"; |export'ed.', To‘ make ‘the matter clear :3 ‘he would state that local consumption 0 gwas ‘1:0,0'0O’ tons" and producfififi 30.000 ;tons. The farmel's_ threatened to exlport the ‘whole of theflbutter, bpt the “Government said they would soon fix lthat, which was done by prohibiting‘ lexport until local requirements were ‘satisfied. A conference was held, and ,1 1 the Government said they would allow lan export of two-thirds, and made the |farmer contribute to the butter held ‘in this country for local trade. This {was not only a matter aficcting the !dairy farmer, it was a national matltcr. That is how the Equalisation E Fund came in. The cheese people were ;brought in, too——the wholc product of the cow was to be peeled. Since then iothcr arrangements had been madc.. ‘The cheese people said, “Why should .wc contribute to the misfortunes of" the butter pcople'.’»” And they made their own arrangements privately. In-‘ stead of being pa‘rTies to the Equaliszhx ation Fund, they sold their cheese" direct to the Imperial Government at a fixed price of 10-fid per lb, and laughed at the butter community. Instead of the pool, all ‘tllo3,lOSs was thrown on the butter people. It was a disgraceful thing, and a dirty point put. on to the butter producers. In the first place, the cheese people committed butter to a pool with the whole dairy industry, and then. by. special machinations withdrew and left butter in the lurch. That is how the butter producers came to contribute £300,000 to the cost of living of -the rest of the community. Butter was the‘, only article of food singled out for treatment of this kind. They should’ make this question a slogan at election time. As.to the future, the dairy industry was going to continue to be prosperous, and would not go back. There was bound, from the nature of" things, to be an abnormal demand for dairy produce. He could not say whether the present price of land was warranted, but he thouglirt there was‘ still room for a boom in‘. dairying land. Hecould not express an opinion wit; ‘regard to pastoral land; in‘ any cas _W: the tendency was upward. In“ the re- I port it was stated that T-aiha’pe butter 0 * had reached‘ the coveted; position of’? top place of all butter graded at}t.lle7a "port ‘ of», Wellington. It_ was —a l great“ aehiexrenneut.” Heihad beellisitcediih§;fllzE:§::~

gratulated on this‘ point by a. high authority, who stated ‘it was a re-Q anarkable -thing in so scattered a. dis-I Ptrict as that operated -by uthe ToiEhape factory. In the ‘open market at & Home, on the strength of this grading, l~‘« ‘they would -get. flieé. ‘lhe balancesheet showed A ‘firidv ?econom_ical’ : management. Mr‘:};T_'nett. concluded; ' his address in the following words: "There is no doubt about, it, the A - fbalance-sheet will take some beating. I t‘ would like to discover a compa,uy in ;h ?‘the North Island which-. can beat it.” n (Applause.) A . :._- ‘ _.._..___.._._ —_—-::———-—-1- I