Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News AND UPPER THAMES ADVOCATE. WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 1895.

Te Aroha News, Volume XI, Issue 1741, 22 May 1895, Page 2

Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News AND UPPER THAMES ADVOCATE.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 1895.

• This above all—to fcbine owe self bo ferae, And it mast follow M the night tho day v Thou oftoeb not then be false to any man.' ” SIIAKESI'EARB. At; ■■ v' -’ ; : V — - < /

The butter industry is suck an important one in this district that everything in ponnection with it is of vital interest. At the present time the markets in. the Qld Country are in a very depressed state,, so much, so, indeed, that fhe profits to shippers are infinitesimally * small, and as .Great Britain is in reality the only country where our dairy produce finds a market, tlie matter is a veiy serious one for the. Colony. The cause of the particularly low prices now ruling is not hard to find. Up to a few years ago the Danes had practically the full control of the British markets in their own hands, and the price of butter in England.was in reality fixed in Copenhagen. During this time they reaped splendid profits at the expense of the consumer in Great Britain, and

they would have continued to do so up to the present day had not a rival sprung up in a most unexpected quarter, at the other end of the world to boot, in the person of the Australasian* colonies. At first the rivalay was scarcely perceptible, and it was only after a considerable time, when supplies began to pour steadily in, and assumed the necessary high class character, that the competition became felt. This continued for several years until at length, with reduced frejght, superior quality, and better freezing accommodation, the article from the Antipodes could ;be sold at a profit at prices equal to and often below the ruling prices for the best Danish. It was now that the shoe began to pinch and the Danes became alarmed at the prospect. Their alarm at length, during the early part of this season, took the form of a general reduction of prices of their exported article, with the object of bringing values down so low that the colonial shippers would be able to send butter home only at a loss, , and at length discontinue to ship. . Then the* Danes would again have a clear field and ran prices up to the old standard, and, having the monopoly, would reap a rich reward for their present small returns; the system : to be repeated ‘ ad libitum/ whenever competition again became keen. If the Danes hoped to succeed in this, course, they are, we think, seriously mistaken. There is an immense amount of butter manufactured, in New Zealand and it must find an” outlet somewhere, and, however low prices at Home may be, a large quantify will necessarily be sent there It must also be remembered that, owing to. the large cost in providing artifical feeding, personal tending, and adequate shelter and accomodation in Denmark, the inhabitants of that country are now putting their product

oil tho English market at aless cost than we can, and therefore the present low prices are a loss to them as well as to us. It is, therefore a case of who can hold put the longest, and to our mind it appears that the grand finale will be that the Danes, who have lowered the values to a price that was not caused by honest competition, but for the purpose of forcing other butters out of the market, will be compelled to raise their prices again, aud so permit profits, if small, still steady, to other .persons coe<pially with them—solves. The above is a short statement of the present condition of things in the English butter market, as shown by the. most recent files from London. We sincerely hope that our prediction will be realised, as it is,, believed at a Home it will be, and that the next season butter values will have reached their old standard again.