THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1912. THE LOCAL CONSUMER.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10577, 7 March 1912, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1912. THE LOCAL CONSUMER.

L paragraph in the "Age" yesterday ecorded the pleasing fact that a parel of New Zealand butter in the lands of a Homo agent had realised si to l,s 6d per cwt. higher price than he Danish article. Every resident in sew Zealand is delighted at the apireciatioir of the article produced in his country, but the consumer has much to be enthusiastic about, 'von at the high price now ruling on he London market, 132s per cwt., j utter is locally twopence per pop- " earer, and, when we come to "' hat the quality is si"- -.jn^itler reight and other o'- . t that aid and the nr- 1 ' .*!&* have to be eahsed, + v --'Oman's .'profit* to be 18 " '-f«»«»*Hb;eone.: ile <W> - J " S sU Sp, C,t ' l, !% Aler can-: onsun- "° sa v s: J ""fortunate: i&r i . -'Ors in New Zealand are penal-; - a in every way. They help to pay! :he salaries of graders, and yet. very' itth\ if any. of the butter 'sold in S'cv/, Zealand is graded, At times'

some awt'ul butter is wrapped up in prettily printed wrappers and extreme prices charged . . . During the next few months the people of New Zealand will be asked to pay from Is 5d to Is (3d per pound for butter, which will mean that many will have to go without this necessary artide, and yet the people must look pleasant while money is taken from the Treasury to 'encourage' the industry." The picture is not overdrawn. The position of the consumer is an unenviable one. Butter which would be condemned as second grade has been retailed in the Dominion at Is 3d and Is Id per lb all through the summer months. An industry which is worth so much to the dairy farmers —and which might be made infinitely more remunerative —is surely entitled to pay for the maintenance of the graders, and it is stated authoritatively that an export duty of sixpence per hundredweight would'more than cover I the amount. There are a good many anomalies to be remedied in connection with the dairy industry, and it would be interesting to know why the | people of a butter-producing country I should be compelled to eat an infer- | ior article costing twopence a pound [ more than the first grade produce sent to their Home cousins. The farmer is ! not getting the extra money ; high wages and the cost of living are not j responsible for it. Therefore it is time a proper inquiry was made into the cause or causes, in the interest of I the local consumer who is, after all, ! a very important factor in the success | of the industry.