WHEAT AND FLOUR.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 August 1915, Page 6

WHEAT AND FLOUR.

A FUSS,.ABOUT NOTHING. HAS- TH»"HJiBIJC BEEN EXPLOTTED? (By Telegraph.—Special to Dailv Nrwsl. Wellington, August ?.0. Tn the Home of Reprsentativca to-day the Prime Minister gave some information regarding the result of the recent grain census. ' He said that f,he quantity of wheat in stock in the Dominion at the end of June was 4-2-1.273 bushels, whi'e the flour in stock at the same time amounted to 10.441 tons. In other words, there was a surplus, instead of a shortage. The figures show that the big increases in the prices of wheat and flour have not been due to shortness of supplies, and they appear to indicate that there was no need for the importation of wheat by the Government. The annual consrimption of wlieat in New Zealand, allowing for seed on a liberal scale, may be set down as G,200,000 busheds. The flour in store on June SO (10.441 tons) represented 4,17,040 bushels of wheat. It appears, therefore, that at a time when the harvest was not more than seven .months' distant, the Dominion had in hand wheat and Hour representing a total of 4.541,913 bushels of wheat. The requirements were approximately 510.000 "bushels monthly, and the stock 3 in hand represented an allowance of, roughly. CoO.OOO bushels monthly. Mr. G. Witty, member for Ricearttui. commented upon the figures to-night. "The figures simply show that there was any amount of wheat here from the first," he said. "There was no need for the importation of a single bushel. There has been exploitation of the public, and the Government is directly responsible for it. The Massey Government was asked twelve months ago to collect reliable information regarding the stocks of wheat. They were told that the existing statistics were not reliable, and that no real shortage of wheat had to be faced, but they would not take action. They allowed the country to believe that there was a shortage, and the result was seen in the high prices."