THE PRICE OF BUTTER.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 July 1920, Page 4

THE PRICE OF BUTTER.

i THE INCREASE IN ENGLAND. AFFECT ON NEW ZEALAND. (By Wire.—Parliamentary Reporter.) Wellington, Last Night. The Prime Minister made a statement regarding the retail price of butter in the House of Representatives yesterday. In reply to a question asked by Mr. Mitchell (Wellington South), he said that the Imperial Government had been taking New Zealand's exportable surplus of butter at 181g per cwt f.0.b., and the New Zealand Government had been paying a subsidy of 2d per lb. on butter sold locally in order to enable the present local price to be maintained without loss to the producers. The cost of this payment for the present year would be not less than £200,000, the local consumption of butter having shown a considerable increase

The price of butter in England, continued Mr. Massey, would be higher for next' season's output, but the exact figure was not known yet. It cost about 9Jd per lb. to put New Zealand butter in the hands of the British consumer. When the Government knew what New Zealand butter was going to bring in England next season it would consider the_position here. He hoped that the Government would be able to continue making butter availablo to the consumer at a reasonable price without doing any injustice to the producer.