THE PRICE OF BUTTER.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3601, 13 October 1920, Page 6

THE PRICE OF BUTTER.

. RAILWAYMEN'S PROTEST, CHRISToHURCH, Oct. 11. Tho following Tcsolution was passed at a meeting of railwayinen held at Lyttel.on this morning: That this eom"bined massed meeting of railwayinen strongly protests against the recent rise in butter and other organisations, J&s well as the general public to endorse the "proposal declaring butter consign- j ed for export ' 'black' r '"umil it has, been reduced to its original price, or I a proportional increase in wages is'j . granted to wage earners. Further, we j call upon the Government to take more drastic measures to prevent profiteering, also to take into serious consideration ; .he contiunal rise in the price of the necessaries of life with the object of arriving at some solution of the alarming difficulty. We also urge the executive councils of the three railway societies to press for increase in i wages to meet the increased Tos'ti of living that has taken pace since the I last negotiations under the Labour Dis-! putes Investigations Act. WELLINGTON MERCHANTS' j VIEWS. -' It seems hard on the people,'' said | b Wellington merchant '' but. what's j the use of kicking There's the price, and if ;he people don't lik to pay it j —well, they-ve got to go without. I There aren't many philanthropists in j the business world to-day—i .a man in- j troduces i hat sort of thing into his .business he usually "lands in the Bank- | luptey Court. The retailer's profit, I taking the advanced price into consid- j eration, is small indeed. It is very { evident, that he, at any rate, is reaping no advantage at: 'he expense of the public.. Should anyone doubt this, he i could very easily be satisfied as fo the j correctness of my statements.'.' 1 "What is the remedy?" counterqueried another merchant to whom a 1 question was pui!'. "It's hard to sayj ~* off-hand, but I think the people of New j Zeaand should have been given some protection. Because one part of the j world is in a state of chaos, because j food production is almost at a standstill, and famine prices are ruling for aneat, butter, eiflc, that is no reason why New Zealanders should be penalised and forced to pay such prices because foreigners 14,000 miles away are short. If there had been fewer revolu- I tions and more work these people j •would have had more food to-day. !

"What should be done? Let the producer get the "best market he can for his produce—but leli a sufficiency of that produce be kept here and the price., controlled so that the people's urgent requirements in the way of essential foods may be met. If the Gov- I crnment—had recognised that "i! ; s first' iduty is to protect --- interests and the pockets of the people who placed them in power, to consider the con-1 dition of the small population of this fair .land, and to see that every man, i woman, and child, is able to get suffi- j cent retained in New Zealand and the .price fixed nt a reasonable figure, the j people wouldn't care a jot what was ' ■done with the surplus.'' / .