THE BUTTERFAT LEVY.

Taranaki Daily News, 25 June 1917, Page 7

THE BUTTERFAT LEVY.

MINISTER OP AGRICULTURE SPEAKS OUT. MB. MORTON'S SPIRITED REPLY.

(By Our Own Reporter),

, Additional interest was lent to tlio animal smoke.concert at the Palmerstou Winter Show on Thursday night by tlie .presence thereat of the Minister of Agriculture (Mr. W. D. S. Mac Donald). There was a large attendance, including a representative gathering of directors of dairy factories who had been attending the conference.

Hon. Mac Donald, in reply to the toast of, the Agricultural Department, stated that while they at times came in for criticism, they had been trying to do their best in the face of difficulties. He urged farmers to co-operate- with the Dairy Department.' He had been criticised over the industry, but he hoped that prices, would keep remunerative, as otherwise dairy farmers could not keep •up/; The Gdvemment were prepared to assist farmers in every way possible. Since the started over £17,000,000 had been paid out by the Government on behalf of the Imperial Government for beef, mutton and lamb, and also £11,000,000 for wool. Never had the pastofal industry enjoyed such prosperous lives..

He referred to difficulties of shipping and the faft that a lot of nfeat, butter and cheese were still in store. A great deal had been said about the apathy o* the Government, but all that he could do and the Prime Minister and Sir Joseph Ward coul4 do, had been done to urge on the Imperial Government to send transports. While blamed for not doing anything, they could not blazon out what ships were coming. There were 69 refrigerated ships trading to the Dominion and Australia at the commencement of the war. Eight had been requisitioned by the Imperial Government, nine sunk by the enemy and three by accident, thus reducing fhe number by 20. In addition they had diverted 66 ships from Australia. It had been said ship* had been diverted from London to New York, but the position was that there were thousands of ships waiting to load in London aiid instead of waiting in •London some of t the ships were sent elsewhere for a load. The divergence was not caused by the trusts, as stated, but the Imperial Government took advantage of every opportunity to use the ships to feed the millions of men that were fighting. He had told the Imperial Government that if ships were not supplied it would be necessary to reduce production. The Government -were taking the responsibility in regard t4 meat, and there had been a good deal of negotiation with the Imperial Governt merit lately regarding cheese and butter He could not say publicly why the matter was held over, but he was certain that it would be satisfactory to the producer.

Referring to the butter fat levy, he said that as this had been sufficiently discussed, there was probably no, need for him to touch oif it. Voices: Yes. , ■

. Well, continued the Minister, if its a popular subject, I'll have a go. It was probably unfortunate that butter had been separated from other products in the way in which the levy had been made. The Government had been 'told that the levy was a tax on butter fat alone, but he pointed out that it was stated sheep owners had lost millions through the sale of their mea(; to the Imperial Government, and It was said that more could be obtained for the hides. if they were shipped to New York. Possibly higher prices still could be obtained if they shipped to Germany. When they received more than the market price for their meat, every one was satisfied, but when the market price went up they were disappointed. Producers said, Why wot give us the world's markets for the disposal of our produce? But, he asked. Where would the world's markets be but for the British NaVy? The Government had made the levy on butterfat, so as to put those supplying the local market on the same footing as those who exported. It was unfortunate that' they were unable to ship the butter, but butter had been shipped this Beason to within £20,000 of what had been shipfed last year, despite the quantity stilt in store. It had been said that Is 7d or .1? 8d was not tog much for the people of New Zealand to pay for butter, but ■it would have been Is lOd and then 2s or probably 2s Gd if they had their own sweet will. As a matter of fact the very day the Government decided to make the adjustment the retailers in Wellington were going to put butter up to Is lid. He would ask every fair minded •man in the room, when they remembered that the pre war price received for butter-fat was Is 2d, whereas to-day, after deducting the butter-fat levy, it was 17 l-4d, whether they would say that there was any hardship? As a Minister of the Crown, he would not take one farthing from the farmers, but if everyone got the price he desired, what would the people in the country have had to pay? It Was the duty of the Government to deal equitably with every section of the community, anil he •wanted to tell the land-holders of the country, whether freehold or leasehold, that they had a duty to the country in which tlie.y lived. The Government had no desire to interfere with tUp trading concerns of the country. It was a unpleasant duty, but there were times when it w:\-i necessary to curtail their rights without any desire to interfere with their privileges. The Government had been told to put on an export tax, and as far as taxation was concerned he could assure iliem that there was not one source where revenue could be produced but would be taxed, and probably this session. It was very easy to put on an export tax, but it 1 was another matter to take it off. When one saw a casualty list containing the names of a thousand boys who had been .fighting for us, was it not right that we should at least protect their interests and the interests of their dependents? As regards differences of opinion in connection with the methods of taxation, the matter would be discussed by Parliament, and, if considered inequitable, would be remedied/ The Government did not wish to detrimentally tax one section of the community for the benefit of another. There were difficult problems ahead. Cabinet was doing its best to cope with the difficulties, members having sunk their individual opinions, and he appealed to all sections of the community to show a united front to, help the Dominion and the Empire.

MR. MORTON'S REPLY. Mr. Morton, president of tho National Dairy Association, later in the evening, made a spirited reply when responding to the toast of the National Dairy Association. He Stat dealt with the

"growth of the induerty. Those present were in hopes that they would have had a definite statement from the Minister in regard to what was proposed to be done in connection with th 6 iniquitous butter fat ta*. (Applause). He had waited on the Minister on several Occasions in connection with the mattar and' though his representations had always been courteously received, he had never had the sati/sfac'' -i of knowing whether anything was ■« to be done to redress the grievov, rang inflicted upon the industry. It ii.ul been reported, and he hoped correctly so, that the Minister had said that the levy would be removed at the end of June, and that Parliament would have to devise some ether means, not necessarily another tax, for assisting tho6e for whom it had been levied. He hoped that the levy would not only be removed but that Parliament would see fit to reimburse the money already paid. (Applause). The Minister had told them that an export tax was undesirable. What, ,he asked, was the butter-fat levy but an export tax? Because they were prevented from exporting until they obtained an export license, aiid the levy was really equivalent to an export tax of four per cent., and for whose benefit? There was not a dairy farmer, who would complain if the tax had been levied to assist the Do-; minion Government, or if levied as was the purchase of choese, meat, wool, etc., to assist the Imperial Government in the conduct "of the war, but it had been levied for the benefit of the remaining portion of the community, one third of whom were in a better position to pay the high price than were t)ie dairy farmers; to pay the levy. These were facts that could not he controverted. A lot had been said about patriotism, but dairy farmers were one of the most patriotic sections of the community, and they had gone to the front in equal proportion to those of any other section. Ho had a friend in the backblocks of the King Country sitting beside him whose five sons had gone. Another farmer at Tariki had sent five of his sons and a sixth drawn in the first ballot had also gone. One had been killed some time ago and that day's papers chronicled the sad fact that two more had made the supreme sacrifice. Were not farmers doing their duty equal to other sections? The Minister said that the Government had to see that justice and equity were dealt out to every seotion of the community. How much equity and justice was theer in the but-ter-fat levy? None! (Applause). He felt sure when the matter came before Parliament members would see their way to redress the grievous wrong that had been done.