PRODUCER AND CONSUMER.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 February 1920, Page 7

PRODUCER AND CONSUMER.

EMBARGOES, FIXATIONS, AND PRICES. Messrs. W. D. and Oswald Hawken went to Wellington last week and attended conferences in respect of the embargo on hides, and the former was also at a conference on the subject of the price of bacon. The conferences held very long sittings, and the discussions which took place accentuated the complexities and difficulties which have grown up. The farmers estimate that they are losing owing to the embargo something like 30s a hide; boot manufacturers say that if the embargo be lifted and the price of hides goes up as the farmers estimate them, the price of boots will further rise by 10s or lis a pair; to this it is replied that from Australia, where there is no embargo on hides, boot 9 are being sent to New Zealand, and compete with the output of New Zealand boot factories at present prices; others contend that the price of standard boots might be limited if the price of hides were kept down and the manufacturers of standard boots were given a preference, to which it is replied that leather once disposed of could not be further followed. And so the discussion runs through the whole gamut of opinions in collision, and the matter has resolved itself ultimately in an issue of principle—whether the State is acting fairly in imposing an embargo on one particular article of export at the cost of one particular class for the avowed object, which may or may not be realised, of keeping down the price of the manufactured article to other classes in the community, some of whom are wealthy, wealthier than the producer who under the present system is penalised. The matter is still, further complicated by the circumstance that considerable stocks of hides are held (so it is believed) by merchants, 'tanners, and others, who would make great gains if the embargo were removed, and in consequence the market price advanced. The whole question is so complex that Mr. Massey could only promise that he would bring it before Cabinet for consideration.

As to bacon, it seems to be generally conceded that the control lias broken down. The fixed price of Is Ud gives no profit -when pig meat can be sold at Is wholesale, and as the bacon companies cannot pay an adequate price to farmers and sell at la l'/ 2 d, pigs are not being raised, and the supply becomes shorter and shorter every day. It seems to be a question as between dear bacon and no bacon. So -with wheat. Farmers who cannot hava a free market or a guaranteed price adequate to cover cost of production will not go on growing it, and no power exists capable of compelling them to do so. Henee the wheat shortage in New Zealand, aggravated by drought conditions in Australia. On Saturday it was cabled from Sydney that an increase in the price of bread by Id was inevitable, and notwithstanding official disclaimers the fear is that the price must sympathetically rise in New Zealand.—Star.