THE HAIRY CONTROL.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 26 March 1926, Page 5

THE HAIRY CONTROL.

To the Editor of the “Timaru Herald. Kir,— Kindly allow mo as a practical , working dairy fanner to place bet ore , my fellow farmers and the general , public mv personal ideas 01 a hany , Produce ‘Board. f have consistently opposed any form of compulsory contiol or interference with any individual s or company's .private proiierty beyond •such regulations as are necessary oi desirable for the protection ot the public, and such collective agreement or bargaining as may he assented to bv the whole of the units of any industry. While not presuming to claim perfection for this proposal, I hrmly believe it is only on these or similat lines that a Board can work with salctv and produce prompt and lasting beneficial effects. Trusting that fanners and the public will think and think again before consenting to allow tne Control Board to carry; out its proposed introduction ot the mailed list system into the rights and privileges fir citizens of this Dominion and tin, British Empire.— ( l ? am b etc., nsoK Bahotu, March Id. (ENCLOSURE.) ■ - The present Hairy Produce Export Control Act is an anomaly m that while it represents all sections of tlu. dairying community, its; powers am duties are confined to dairy H l ' of ] l . lc ' L I exported, and not the whom of that, certain' portions being exempt, l.ndi M these, circumstances .the Hoard, instead' of being a unifying factor m the industry, is already; proving a sou) ee (A contention and disintegration. V\ bile .>-ood work has been done by the Boaid, evidence is clearly on view that its proposed assumption ol the cum pul. oi handling and marketing of butter and cheese is creating suspicion and antagonism amongst both distnbutms and consumers, in wlmt is, and must be tor in a n v years to come., our best market—that 'of Great Britain. Government or corporate control ol I 11 ";',, property is con (vary to the ideas an instincts of British peopje, and is bound fo arouse opposition anil esentme.it. Trade relations to he really effective must lie harmonious, and hainionv cannot exist alongside opposition and'resentment. “In view ollhe unsettling and disturbing elicit the pio.posed putting into operation ol t ii'cmnnulsorv clauses of the Control Bill has already produced; anil (a) the jpir opposition thereto; (b) tin, ■ su. pieion. and distrust already existing m {lie Home markets. the disastrous lesults of which no one is able io gauge accurately : (c) and the. grave possibility of complications arising }h"Cfvom. hetwooii fhc Home,,., a ml Do-

minion Governments—the H°mo C.o>ernment having already, taken st l» supervise the supply of foodstuffs t-o the United Kingdom: It would seun to be advisable in the best interests of all -'concerned to so amend or lepUt the Hairy Produce Control ■ Act, .as to provido for tho setting,up of a Hairy Prodhce Board, elected by all. sections of the dairying industry • on the single ward systeiu. Tho Board so ejected to have power to regulate the shipping, of produce, make and-arrange shipping, and i' insurance contracts, etc. ; to supervise, in conjunction with slnppcis, as representative of the producers, the handling and • transport .of all daily produce: to generally represent and advise producers in all, matteis p taining to tho industry ; and with pow ci to establish and wnduct laboiatones for research work, and (or) assist ■oi subsidise financially institutions ol the, nature already existing. I'linds for t c work and expenses of the Boaid to lm raised by means of a levy on all huttei and cliceae manufactured m the Dominion, not to exceed- m amount in unv one year one-twcntietli part ot a penny oil avery pound ol butter, anil one-fifteenth part of a penny on evei > pound of cheese .manufactured in the war.” A Board constituted and elected on these lines would he representative of-the whole dairying community, and once steadily concentrated on its work, would provide a undying centie in the -industry. Careful, and sympathetic oversight ol the label ato y and research part of its duties, and the iiiniiv other' problems facing dairy pi oducc'is, would not only safeguard, butextend and advance the reputation New Zealand produce: while concentration on improvement, m quality, manufacture, and general get up would ultimately secure such a. commanding position 'for the Dominion-s .products that no dealer in lugh-grado foodstuffs could afford lo be without them.