H. FORSYTH.]

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I.—loa.

42. Where ? —ln Australia. Ido not know of any particular parts where they are doing it. I have only heard it. I have not studied it. 43. You have no knowledge of it ? —No, only from the small extracts I have read. 44. You know that an attempt to form a pool was made in Queensland ? —I have heard of it. 45. Have you heard the result of it ? —No. 46. Would you be surprised to learn that it was turned down ? —I am not surprised. 4-7. They had a kind of Marketing Committee in Queensland, and on account of a shortage of butter in Victoria they effected sales :do you know what the result of that marketing was ?—I do not know anything of it. 48. Can you speak on behalf of your suppliers and say that your suppliers are in favour of this Bill ?—Well, as far as I know, they are. 49. But you do not know ? —Well, I should know. I have not consulted them for quite a period ; but I do not know that there is any reason to think they have changed thear minds. 50. You cannot say that the Eltham suppliers are in favour of the Bill ?—They may have changed their minds yesterday, but they were in favour of it when we discussed the matter with them. 51. Can you say definitely that they are in favour of it ?- -Well, I hope so. I can say that they should be in favour of it. 52. Do you remember attending a meeting in Stratford when a resolution was passed unanimously that all chairmen of directors should go back to their districts and call special meetings of their suppliers so that a vote could be taken in order to get a correct indication of the feeling of the individual suppliers ? Did you call a meeting ? —I could not say whether we called a meeting since that. 53. You must know whether you called a meeting. That meeting was only on the 24th May of this year ? —We had already called our meeting. 54. A special meeting to discuss this Bill ? Then you did so before this Bill was brought before the suppliers. You did not carry out that resolution ? —No ; but we passed a resolution at the previous meeting. I could read it to you. 55. You realize that there is something necessary to be done in the way of improving shipping ? — Yes, undoubtedly. 56. Well, do you not think it would be wise to set up a Producers Board first of all, to give them legislative power to control the produce of New Zealand and to make contracts for shipping and see what improvement could be made in that direction before we took on the bigger thing : as a tradesman, don't you think it is wise to act prudently and go on careful lines ?—Well, Mr. Masters, I have given this every consideration, and I consider that the lines we are going on at the present time are going to be in the best interests of the dairy industry. 57. You believe in " going the whole hog " ? —Yes ; I do not say that we are going to use the compulsory marketing clauses for some time to come. 58. Do you approve of an attempt being made to effect some improvement in the shipping, first of all—that is the most important matter, more important than the marketing ? —That is so. If we can get proper control and regulation of shipping the marketing is going to look after itself to a great extent. 59. In that case it would be wise to attempt the improvement in the shipping first ? —Yes ; but the reason why I go further is because in connection with that matter of shipping we want a Committee at Home for price-recording and for an Advisory Board. 60. But you already have a Marketing Association : do you say that has been an unqualified success ? —But that is only for a portion of New Zealand. 61. In regard to the election of the Producers Board, don't you think it would be more democratic if you gave every supplier an opportunity of having a say as to who should control his affairs and get away from this American system of election ? —lt may be more democratic ; but how can you get the intelligent vote of every supplier in New Zealand ? 62. They are intelligent men ? —I do not even regard it as democratic to give one factory one vote, because one factory represents fifty suppliers and another represents five hundred. 63. But the produce of the small man is just as valuable to him as the produce of the big man is to the big man. ? —I take it this way :we cannot go back to tho individual supplier to get his opinion on these matters. They appoint the man who is considered the best of the suppliers to run their concern. We do not go to the suppliers when we want to sell their produce. 64. We were told by Mr. Morton that the promoters of this Bill were the representatives of the cheese-factories of South Taranaki: you were one of the promoters ? —That is so. 85. How do you account for the fact that the big cheese-factories in South Taranaki, with the exception of Hawera ?—And Eltham. 66. I am not quite sure of Eltham ; but how do you account for the change of opinion on the part of those factories, Kaupokonui, Joll's, Normanby : they were the promoters of the Bill ? —They were some of the promoters. 67. How do you account for the fact that the big factories throughout Taranaki are against it ?—Of course, I look upon as big factories only four or five of the large ones, and they are not all opposed to it. The principal reason for the present opposition is the organized opposition against the Bill. There have been letters on the subject in every paper, factories have been canvassed, and propaganda work has been done in connection with this matter, whereas there has been nothing done by the promoters, except the holding of three large meetings, since the time it was first mooted. 68. You said that what was good for other countries was good for us : the Danish people, whose principles you enlarged upon, have no compulsory system, have they ? —No, not that I am aware of. 69. That has been good enough for them ?—Yes.