BUTTER SURPLUS.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 January 1922, Page 5

BUTTER SURPLUS.

PROPOSAL FOR PURCHASE, CO-OPERATION WITH AUSTRALIA. REGULATING NEW OUTPUT. - DECISION OF CONFERENCE. (By Wire.—’Special to News.) Wellington, Last Night. A conference representative of the butter producers of New Zealand sat in Wellington to-day to consider what should be done to prevent the disposal of the Imperial Government’s accumulated stocks of New Zealand and Australian butter from having a disastrous effect on the Home market for the new season’s New Zealand and Australian make. The conference decided that if a satisfactory arrangement could be made with the Australian producers it would be best for the New Zealand and Australian Governments and the importers in London to purchase the Ira." perial stocks, with recourse against the producers in the event of loss on the resale.

If the plan formulated by the conference is put into practice a committee representing the importers and the producers will be appointed, not only to control the resale, but also to regulate the shipments of the new season’s butter. It is understood that this scheme has the approval of the Australian producers, but the details remain to be worked out, and both the Australian and New Zealand Governments will have to be consulted. The conference had no information about the quantity of the Australian butter held by the Imperial Government. Ninety-five per cent of the New Zealand butter held is first grade.

If the proposal for regulating the shipment of the new season’s output is carried out it will affect only butter 1 manufactured from January 1 onwards. In other words the shipment of about half of the estimated output for the season will be subject to regulation by the committee.

The conference was not unanimous in its decision. There was a dissenting minority, which considered that th# Imperial stocks should be sold by the Imperial Government through the ordinary trade channels. Mr A. Morton, president of the National Dairy Association, was chairman of the meetin?. Press representatives were not admitted. A committee of seven was set up to place the proposals •of the conference before the Prime Minister tomorrow and to solicit Government support for them.

PRICES FOR PURCHASE,

FURTHER DETAILS OF SCHEME. LATEST LONDON RJEPORT. BETTER TONE OF MARKET. Wellington, Last Night. The critical situation which has arisen in the dairying industry on account or the low prices for butter ruling in England was the subject of an important conference of representatives of dairy factories held to-day. The business of the meeting was to consider an offer made by the Imperial Government to sell back to the producers its accumulated stocks. These amount to 310,000 boxes of New Zealand butter and 560,000 boxes of the Australian article and the prices offered are 100 s per cwt. and 84s per cwt. respectively. The Australian producers sat in conference at Melbourne on Wednesday and decided to purchase, with the assistance of their Government, their portion of the accumulation. They have since submitted proposal to the Commonwealth Government and the result is awaited with interest.

To-day’s conference was attended by about twenty direct representatives of the butter producers of the Dominion and about twenty representatives of the dairying industry. Dr. Reakes, (director of the Department of Agriculture), Mr. W. M. Singleton (actingDairy Commissioner), and Mr. W. J Lees (Imperial Supplies Department) watched proceedings on behalf of the Government. Mr. A. Morton (chairman of the National Dairy Association) presided. The result of the proceedings, which lasted all day, was that the producers decided it would be in the best interests of the industry to purchase the New Zealand butter from the Imperial Government at the price named and to pool it, together with this season’s production, placing it under the control of a committee representative of their own interests and of the Tooley Street merchants. It was decided to place on the market only sufficient butter to meet supplies from time to time. 'rhe re-sale of the purchased butter will be conducted under the supervision of the committee and any profits arising therefrom will be distributed amongst, the producers pro rata. Should a loss be sustained in the sale it will be defrayed by a pro rata levy on the producers on a basis of this season’s output. The Government will be asked to assist, together with importers, by way of guaranteeing payment, and in the event of a loss the Government will have recourse to the producers. A representative committee was set up consisting of Messrs. T. Basett, C. Motion, Sinclair (Auckland), J. Brown and A. Morton (Taranaki), E. Broadbelt and J. C. Ewington (Wellington) to bring the matter before the Government and to formulate details in the event of the purchase being effected and tfie scheme being put into operation. The committee held a meeting tonight, when matters of organisation were discussed. The chairman, at the conclusion of the .meeting, told the Press that the Imperial Government had originally fixed January 7 as the date up to which the Commonwealth and Dominion producers might make purchases, but a cablegram received that day from the High Commissioner intimated that the Imperial authorities had extended the time till January 14. According to information received by the Government the first proposal of the Imperial Government was to sell the butter to an outside firm. In the interests of the dairying industry, however, it has been considered highly inadvisable to do so, as the operations of the firm in question might result in disaster to the industry, through price for the remaining part of the year being brought down to a low level. . It was in order to prevent the possibility of such a thing happening that the' proposal was made that the producers themselves should repurchase their butter from the Imperial Government.

During the meeting, remarked Mr. Morton, a much more reassuring cablegram had been received from London in regard to the state of the liome market. The demand for butter had evidently increased largely, owing to the lower price at which it had lately been retailed to the consumers. The present position had been occasioned in, the first place by the policy of the Imperial Government in continuing the rationing of the British public, for a much longer period than was necessary and this had been accentuated by largely increased production in all butter manufacturing countries during the present season. The production in New Zealand at the present time was phenomenal. This was principally due to the very favorable climatic conditions being experienced.

AUSTRALIAN ACTION.

PROPOSAL TO PURCHASE. By Telegraph.—Press Assn—Copyright. Melbourne, Jan. 5. The conference of butter producers considered the possibility of the surplus butter in London being unloaded on the market, and decided to purchase the stored butter in London at 84s, the Commonwealth to be asked to give a guarantee, provided the New Zealand conference decided to purchase the New Zealand stored butter. Representatives subsequently approached Mr. Hughes, who was personally unfavorable to the proposal, stating that he was not convinced that the Government would be doing the proper thing by giving the guarantee. If the dairymen wanted Is 6d per lb they would not get it by such a device as suggested.