347 



the shareholders are enabled to obtain legitimate prices for their 

 output. One substantial saving, however, resulted in the reduc- 

 tion of the agents' commission by 1 per cent. The company 

 made considerable progress, and at the end of six years extended 

 its functions to the manufacture of butter-boxes and the business 

 of freezing. The wisdom of the latter step was always regarded 

 as questionable, seeing that the Government had previously 

 entered into the work of freezing, handling and exporting perish- 

 able gbods on a practically cooperative basis — that is to say, the 

 Government did not lay itself out to make any profit on the under- 

 taking. This company has now a paid-up capital of £8,000, and 

 a reserve fund of £4,500, and £17,000 has been invested in freez- 

 ing works and box factory. The turnover of the company since 

 its inception has been £4,500,000, and the profits earned £3S,250. 



"About 1904 an impetus was given to the further extension of 

 the principle of federating the cooperative butter factory com- 

 panies by some disclosures made before a Royal Commission on 

 the Butter Trade, which had sat some time previously. The 

 Western District Factories' Cooperative Produce Company, 

 Limited, which embraced most of the butter factories in the West- 

 ern District of the State, was brought into existence. The chief 

 objects for which the company was established are stated in the 

 memorandum of association as follows : 'To buy, sell, export 

 and distribute all kinds of dairy produce, bacon, poultry, eggs, 

 honey, and any farm, dairy, and garden produce ; to purchase, 

 manufacture, and sell all farm and dairy requisites, including im- 

 plements and machinery. 



" 'The shares shall be allotted to and held only by butter, cheese 

 or bacon companies.' 



"The original issue of shares was 900 at £55 each, and the sum 

 of £1,690 was paid up in money. 



"The turnover of the company since 1904 amounts to £5,344,- 

 972. The profit is, approximately, £50,000, of which £12.500 has 

 been expended in an extensive butter-box factory, where the 

 whole of the boxes required for this group of butter factories is 

 manufactured. 



"There still remained a considerable area of the State, in the 

 southeastern portion, known as Gippsland, which had not em- 

 braced the system of cooperative marketing. In 1905, however, a 

 company consisting of thirty cooperative butter factories was 

 formed for the purpose of dealing with the distribution of the 

 output from these factories principally. The business of this com- 

 pany at its inception was confined to the sale of butter, cheese, 

 eggs and bacon. After five years' experience it was decided to 

 extend the sphere of operations to all kinds of farm produce. 



"The original capital of the company, like its predecessors, was 

 on a very limited scale, and for the first three years the sum of 

 £867 represented the full amount paid up. Since that time, how- 



