THE BUTTER-FAT LEVY.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 June 1919, Page 7

THE BUTTER-FAT LEVY.

•STBONG HtOTEST'BY FARMEHS:

NEED. FOK POLITICAL, CHANGE;.

(Special' Seporter.).

The action* of the.. Government, ittscompelJiiig butter producers, to bear the Whole cost of. supplying the. people, of New Zealand! with cheap butter wasithft subject of comment at the annual meet--ing of the 'National Dairy Association, at Palmexston North on V¥ednesday, (when some strong'remarks .were mad 9 onent Mr. Massey*. I Mr. Basseifc (Northern WaiTioa)? moved: That this. meeting- of' representa•tives of the dairy industiy,. assembledria' •conference.at Pabner3ton'NoEth,.sj3!onglyj! .protest against the- butter producers be!ing compelled l to lose the difference.! in. prjce between the. local" price* njliich tbe. ractories>arfi.entitled* to.receives'for'their,butter and tho export value of same-,, and. ask- that such difference should be paid'outjjOff tho. consolidated funds, Hei referredn'to. the., fact' that the. fa* had; first beoni placed' on the. cheese, people, las well, but these had 1 been cut out n [probably with the idea- of weakening' jtheir opposition. Ho- did not see why ithe verj»smallnneniin the backblocks.and iln scattered'districts should be penalised jby tho imposition of such a tax- This tax hit the butter factory harder than {it hit the cheese people, as suppliers to. cheese factories-took butter from butter factories at the local price and sent their whey-butter home, where it realised nearly as much as the best butter. Now was the time the press the question, as an election was coming on shortly, and.j that was, the only time-to get anything done.

Mr. J. B. Gow (OpotDdy said: he had been surprised at hearing so little protest at this tax -which had heen placed on the poorest section of the community in order to cheapen the cost of living to rich and poor. If Parliament wished to do this the whole community should unite in barring it. When the levy on the whole of the dairy products was withdrawn, the Government, instead of taking the obvious cause and putting the tax on the consolidated revenue did a greater injustice in placing it on the butter people, many of whom were pioneers of the country and could not live without the separator. He thought they should all lift their voices against the iniquity. Mr. Daysh (Otarara) considered that, as in the case of flour, the money should have been taken from the consolidated fund.

Mr. T. D. MacFarland (Woodville) said that the butter people should disabuse their nfinds of the impression that the cheese people were dealing lightly with the matter. It was bad principle, for the Government to single out and penalise any section of the community. Mr. Hutchings (Featherston) could not understand why the butter people agreed to the equalisation scheme. As a cheese producer, he strongly supported the butter people in saying that the tax was an unfair one.

Mr. Buchanan (Thames Valley) said it was never the intention of the producers to accept an equalisation fund at less than 186s, and he therefore supported the resolution, which was carried. The chairman, said that, without going into details, the negotiations were set out very fully in the report. Ho then outlined the negotiations at length. Had Mr. Masßey obtained official recognition of Mr. Ellison as their representative in England, Mr- Ellison would have been of great assistance to them. Mr. Massey, however, on his return stated that he had not mentioned the matter to the Food Controller, and they did not get any recognition of Mr. Ellison until near the end, when the Food Controller had decided on the price. Regarding the price, they were met with the same condition as the previous year, for while they were negotiating with the Imperial Government the latter closed with Australia for two years, and the committee then had no option, for the National Government practically told them that the Imperial Government controlled the shipping and if they did not dispose of their output to the Imperial Government they would not get any shipping space. Mr. Anderson (Ashburton) said that he was only sorry that the farmers of Mr. Massey's electorate were not present to hear this.

Mr. Aagar (Tai Tapu) said that it was no good talking of the past. They must consider the future. He was a Masseyite when he joined the Butter Committee, but he had since been converted. He was of tho opinion that they could not look to Mr. Massey to give whole-hearted support to the industry, and when they returned home he asked them to look round and see if they could get someone to represent them in a statesmanlike manner. "I blame you," he added, "I don't blame Mr. Massey; because you put him there. He was too small for the job and you ought to have known it."

Mr. J. B. Gow considered that, instead of making reproaches about the past, they should consider the future. Mr. Eanford (Stratford) asked what reply had been received by the deputation.

The president stated that Mr. S. G. Smith, M.P. for Taranaki, who introduced the deputation, had received a reply stating that the matter would be decided when the two leaders returned, and had circularised factories to this effect.

Mr. Eanford considered that they should get a petition prepared so as to bfl. able toga on the floor <o£ thei House.

Mr. Sinclair (Opotiki) said they would not get anything unless they made a good deal of noise. Fixing the price at Is 8d wtts a political job and was only done to satisfy better organised sections, and, though the Government had done this for vote-catching, they would not get half a vote from them while the people who put the Government into power were slighted. They'shbuld decide to gp on with the and he con T sidered that every cheese man would .support \t. . . • ;

sMr. Anderson (Ashburton), said that Cabinet had given the lead by paying for'lvheat out of the consolidated fund, and if they petitioned now on the injustice of the incidence of the equalisation fund they would have a better chance of getting justice for this year and being prepared for rectification next year. He moved that the National Dairy Association prepare a petition and circulate the same for presentation to Cabinet.

The president said that such a petition to Cabinet would be lost. They should send a strong deputation to the Premier and Sir Joseph Ward, and then if they were turned down they should prepare a petition to Parliament, to whom they should look for redress and justice. The deputation should be representative of every butter factory. A. speaker: "Cheese too."

The president said they would be verv

glad of the assistance of the cheese people. Mr. MacFarland moved that a deputation of butter and cheese producers wait on the Premier and Sir Joseph Ward, and that the N.D.A. circularise factories with a petition for presentation to Parliament.

Mr. Ranford (Stratford) secondedMr. .1. Brown (Maketawa) said, that they should do as was done in Taranaki —get every member of Parliament on their side—as they would require the support of members to a petition.

Mr. Buchanan said that it was a very opportune time for directors to place the matter, before their suppliers at the annual meetings, and it would have an effect on the elections. He favored the executive of the N-D.A. comprising the deputation. Mr. Bassett said that it would have a good effect if the different electorates could induce their Members of Parliament to take part in the deputation. This was carried.