The Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 1882.

Temuka Leader, Issue 9422, 24 June 1882, Page 2

The Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 1882.

The promoters of the butter, cheeße and bacon-curing, factor/ have, .after many furtive efforts of a very discouraging,: character, at last arrived at definite and' business-like conclusions. They have resolved to form a company with a capital of £5,000; drawn up a prospectus which we venture to think will commend itself 'to the-attention of; anyone who rrads it, and appointed an energetic man as broker who will canvass the district for shares. With regard tc the capital required it was fully discussed at the meeting held in the Sj;ar Hotel last Thursday, and though some were of opinion at first -that £5,000 would not be required, the meeting ultimately agreed that it would be' better to fix it,at that sum, so that, in the event of the company at any future time finding it necessary to extend its business.and establish branch's in oilier | parts of the district, it L would save i the trouble and expense of going through the tedious process prescribed by the Joint Stock Companies Act.; But though the capital'is nominally £5,000 in reality it is only £2,500, and though the shares are £s,atrictlv spe*kihg they are 1 only £2 10s.. Reference | to the prospectus will show this,.as it distinctly states that it is not proposeJ to call up more than half the capital, or £2 10s per share* tt is supposed that this will be ample to carry but the present proposal's of the company, arid that the' : balance will not be required except jto extend the business when it has proved itself a'success. , : That it will /result in being successful, and prove a great boon : t3 farme's, has'been ' shown by J-those ; who have paid most attention to' (the subject, and who understand it best; "while those who have disapproved ;of,jit have completely failed to give any sound pr-comprehensive reason for theirloppositidn io it. Their arguments are these—that 3d per gallon for milk will ndt;pay; ithat even if a farra3r:lias cows he canhot get persons to milk them ; that the ..district is not sufficiently, advanced in settlement for such an undertaking; that enough.milk to. keep the. factory going cannot be obtained ; and that it is not an industry which will benefit the dis-: trict'very much, as it will not employ much labor. Now these are the .prin T ■ cipal argnments used by those wlio have . declined to take ::any interest in the starting of the factory, white those who* have persistently stuck to it through thick ai»d thin, show that such factories, : liave worked very successfully in other places, and proved by figures, that the failure of such an enterprise if properly managed is hardly; within the bounds of possibility., In this paper several articles quoted .from; other journals have appeared," showing that, butter.and cheese, factories have bsen carried on very profitably for years'in America, in England, in Sweden; and in the Australian colonies. We have n t yet heard of one place where they have failed, and we now ask is not such evi- , dence of their successful existence in other countries fat more reliable than the random opinions of farmers, however practical they may be, who very probably have given the subject very little conThe '.fact that they-have'* proved successful elsewhere ought to remove all doubts as to their suitability for this district. In a district in' New]

South Wales, where the factory is shut I up a part of the year through the drought, milk is sold at 3d'per gallon. If it pays in a district where nattle die of want of grass and. water, why should it not pay in this districts which has no such drawbacks ? A gentlemen who hasgrcat experience in. these matters says that there is no other way in which . a-farmer would get so much profit out of his land as by selling: the \ milk of ~ his cows at from to 3d per gallon. Now, these are actual experiences of practical men who have tried and proved these facts to be true, and are they ' not more reliable! than themere of any man ? But as regards the' price of milk that has to he settled yet. It is quite' possible that the factory may. be able to give 5d or 6d pence per. gallon for it. Mr Sando' said there would be 4d profit on every pound of cheese after all expenses were paid. If this is a fact the company could give much more than 3d per gallon for milk. The quantity of milk required to carry on the factory has been set down at 400 gallons per day, and it has been also asserted that every, gallo ll of milk will produce more than one pound of cheese. That, would give 400 lbs of cheese per. day, and we think th at a profit "of twop en ce instead offourpehce per pbuncLwbuld give the shareholders, splendid 'interest"on their capital. r Anyone 'that 'will 'go' 'to- , the trouble of making :the cajculatic-n will find that 400 lbs per day (including, Sunday's) af a profit., of twopence per pound will' yield.,a weekly ; ; income 'of £23 ss,ahd pay'* shareholders! at the , rate of about 35 per cent on a ckpital'of £23UO. We are sure the shareholders would be fully 1 satisfied with half* this interest. f It has not been started by capitalists in order to find investment 1 for their surplus cash, the object of ; its promoters being to.make a market for the surplus milk of the farmers. It is '■ therefore obvious that the factory com- . pany will give the highest price they can for milk, and from the information already at our command we feel certain they can give more than 3d per - gallon for it, No one, therefore, should , hold aloot because of the fear that :3d per gallon will not pay. As for the arguments that labor is not obtainable, and that sufficient milk cannot be got, we do not.tnink.thpy ought to be considered at all. We are credibly informed that there is as much milk thrown to pigs in this district as would supply the factory, and surely if persons are found to milk it for that purpose they-would be found to milk it for selling. Besides there are a great many farmers in the district! who, have families cf their own, and would not have to employ labor at all. That it is, an industry that : will not benefit the district because it will' not employ much labor is as" feeble an argument as : any. Surely anything that will* increase the income of the farmers will benefit the district. If it does not benefit' Uhe town directly, it will indirectly,; because if the farmers find, themselves in receipt, of an 'increased income they will spend it in t,he t on luxuries in which 'they . wouldlnot; indulge if . their. ) meaW •had - : been, more limited., When furriers aie flush with money townspeople • always find business -more briek. One, clause of the prospectus points out that as the factory will pay cash .for. milk, farmers will be able to buy for cash' from the storekeepers. This will be a great advantage to them, as they have now to pay dearly under the credit system. Another'matter in connection with the floating-of the company is - that it<is proposed to place the factory where the greatest number of shareholders live. This bughtto bo an inducement to persons to take up shares so that they-may got the factory established in their own'' locality. ' And now we hope that all * ' i I the difficulty-with regard to the matter is past and that shares will bo taken up rapidly. In fact we have very little doubt that they will, and that the company will be an accomplished fact be- , fore many months elapse.