The Waikato Times AMD THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1950, 6 January 1885, Page 2

The Waikato Times AMD THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

iliiil uul ex nt justiit: t > .ill nu-n, ■Jl vlntMii>\»r state or pcrsinsion, rrligious or poliiK.il 'lore sh ill tV I're-ss the Pi oplo'<i rii;ht maintain, I n iwnl by influfnre nnd unbribeil l>> RAin

TUESDAY, JAX. 6, ISSJ.

.V covntatiox of delegates representing th'> various cheese factory companies in the Waikato, and probably those in other parts of the provinciil district of Auckland will i»p hold at Hamilton on Friday next, This is decidedly a stop in the right direction, and should be closely followed up. Cheese-making has now attained to tho full proportions of a national industry, and it is quite time that measures are taken to ascertain in what manner its interests may best be conserved Mr Bowron was never tired of urging upon the factories the necessity for united action, and t]ie question has frequently been touched upon in this column. It will be a source of gratification to the late inspector, ere he leaves the colony, to know that his advice has been taken. There are many matters of prime importance to the industry calling for consideration, chief among which is the questiou of sending the produce in the cheapest and best manner to the world's market. As the, quantity of cheese manufactured increases, and it is increasing at a remarkably rapid pace, it becomes quite evident that London, and not Auckland, or even Australia, is the -,pot on which the directors should I\k their thoughts. Such as it is, we have secured the local market, but unless, we are prepared to retrograde, we must go further afield to sell our produce. So far, and there cxn be object in hiding the truth f. otn ourselves, the export business has resulted in a loss. The quality of the cheese sent to London Ins been unexceptionable, and it was eagerly taken up, but the price obtained, though higher than that received for American, and higher than that got for most of the Home article, did not, after deducting the enormous charges for freight, commission, insurance, primage, and all sorts of other items, xfTord a margin sufficient for profit. Nobody looks for high dividends, but enough must bo got fo pay the farmer for his milk and for the cost of converting it into cheese. Now it is only in combination, in co-operating ono with another that the factories can hope to reduco tho sum total of tho charges to which allusion lias been made. It is quite clear that a large shipment, say a hundred tons, can be curried at a lower rate per ton than a small consignment, and the amount of the commission on the sale of tho produce in London would also bo much less in the one case than in the other. Further than this, if a reasonably I arge supply of dairy produce could bo kept up, it would bo cheaper and inoro satisfactory to have a regularly employed agent on the other side of the world. Theso remarks are not intended for tho guidance of the delegates, who are perfectly well awaro of the facts adduced. Our object is more to direct public attention to this industry, and through it to the subject'of local industries in general, and their important bearing upon the future of the Waikato. Many farmers frankly confess that tho choose factories havo rescued them from the verge of bankruptcy; it is something more than probablo that tho dairies and the sugar mills will place them in a condition of sound prosperity.