THE BUTTER TAX

Taranaki Daily News, 23 May 1919, Page 4

THE BUTTER TAX

The deputation of dairymen that waited en the Ministers in Wellington on Tuesday and Wednesday made out a very convincing case for the removal of the hardship placed on suppliers to butter factories I>y having to sell their product locally at less than the market rate. This ivas not difficult, for the injustice ■of the present arrangement to. the .j>opr-

est and hardest worked section of the farming community is apparent. Both the acting Premier and the Hon. MacDonald twitted the deputation with the statement that the butter men had agreed to this condition when the sale was being arranged. But it was a case of "force majeure"; the butter men had no option in the matter. This, however, does not affect the validity or equity of their claim. The fact remains that they are singled out amongst the producers of the Dominion to sell a portion of their output at a low price—lower by 2|d per lb than they are receiving from the Imperial Government—for the special benefit of the people of New Zealand, rich and poor. If the sacrifice were general, then the butter men would raisa no protest. But it is not. No similar demand is made upon cheese suppliers, Tool growers, etc. They are receiving the full price fixed by the Imperial Government. It is unfair to single out in this manner the dairymen, who deserve, if anyone does, full value for their produce, for they have to toil long hours for what at the best of times is often a mere pittance. It has been claimed that for dairymen to make the wages they could command in the unskilled labor market they would require to obtain 2s for every pound of butter sold, and, we believe, the claim can be substantiated. The principle at stake is what matters most —that no one section should have to make a sacrifice for the benefit of the whole; that where it is expedient or necessary to limit prices of foodstuffs the- burden should be distributed as evenly as possible. As it is now impossible to formulate and give effect to an equalisation fund that would press equitably on all sections of producers, the difference should be made up out of the Consolidated Fund. This is what the deputation asked for and what they are entitled to receive at the hands of Cabinet.