The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 1887.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2329, 14 June 1887, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 1887.

Equal and exact justice to all men, _ Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or . political. .

Everyone will. admit that our i cheese factories have, in a great measure, fallen short of our expectenons so far as paying interest on ' is eoneerried, and finding " * purchasers for cheese at a price sufficient to enable them to pay ifor figure' anything like • that v [■.'^ijiapiecLat their commencement, viz., ' per- gallon,, On,the other hand, they have demonstrated the ] fact that cheese and bacon of excellent " Quality can be turned out of ! ; factories, and that a market for

milk at a reasonable price can be provided within an easy distance < f the producer. That they have n>t been a dividend; paying,concern is not all the fault of tlie originators. A heavy fall ;in the value ofipche.qso in our own and in the English market has perhaps • been? the principle cause. Others, arc baying more land than was absolutely necessary, the erection of too expensive buildings, and in other ways incurring expenditure* through inexperience, which, in starting a new industry, is almost unavoidable. But there .is another cause, and one that is by no means creditable to some of the parties whom the factory system was intended to benefit more than others, and who, if they were wise, would see the folly of " the goose that lays the golden eggs " by taking every opportunity to enrich themselves at the expense of the shareholders in sending their milk to the factories when it pays them to do so and keeping it at home when it doesn't. It is; well known that; until buying milk by percentage of cream was resorted to of the supply was of a quality strongly suggestive of the idea that the owner had, whilst putting it through the process of refi'iceration, somehow put the water inside of the tins, instead of out. A.recurrence, However, of this land has been effectually prevented by adopting the percentage system. Then it was found that some of the suppliers who were most regular in their attendance during tlie summer months —when butter was difficult to make, and more difficult to sell—when autumn came round and the Auckland consumer was a purchaser at a price which was considered a little more tempting than that obtainable at the factory, took their departure, and wore seen no more. To obviate that difficulty, the directors decided that in future they would retain in hand until the end of the season 5 per cent, of the amount due to all suppliers, to be forfeited in the event of their keeping home their milk before the factory- closed. For a time this plan worked well, but recently some of the suppliers who formerly were loud in denouncing the selfishness of such practices have themselves, in defiance of all rules and regulations, on certain days kept back a quantity of their milk, and other days have not put in an appearance at all. As a natural result, the diminished supply of milk caused a corresponding falling off in the, quantity of whey, and a number of pigs had to be sold at a very great sacrifice. It is no excuse to say that the milk is required at home to make butter for butter contracts, or for fattening pigs kept on the farm, because anyone engaging to supply a factory knows well enough that a large stock of pigs have to be kept during the summer when milk is plentiful, and that they have to be kept till the end of the season or sold at a considerable loss, and they (the suppliers) have 110 right to keep pigs or make contracts that will interfere with theirobligations to the factory. It is clearly the duty of the directors to protect the. interests of the shareholders by enforcing the penalty whenever an infringement of the regulations has taken place. Then again, another cause why the factories have not been financially successful is the high prices paid for milk, especially at the commencement of operations. Not that those 'prices were higher than the producers actually deserve for a genuine article, but that the market value of cheese would not admit of anything like 4d per gallon or eveii 3?>d being given for the raw material. Threepenceper gallon seems a low price for milk of good quality but in the ipi'esenj) condition of the cheese marketno factory can afford to ijivo more. Low ?is tliG pries fippojxrs it is hot unreasonable after all. 1 At that price a fair cow should give are- ; turn of soniething like £5 a season which is certainly better than fattening a bullock for £1 or£l 10s and in. some cases nothing at all, or making butter and sending it to Auclclond for kl or 3d per lb. That our cheese factories have in the past greatly assisted many of our farming' community cannot be doubted, and if milk producers will only act fairly and reasonably, and endeavour to get such useful institutions .properly established. there is .no reason to doubt that at no distant date they may do for us what they have done for Canada and the United States, eventually become! 'one of the chief supports of our farming industry.