16 



I;..Y\I i IIMMI>N|I.\ 



i i.n I:K. 



. 1 



Mi: It. .1. THinil'-iV n 





>ni|M>iljl. ( . out nine mamil ii luring 

 i-r ion "in! tl '" order '" enable 



in he iiuiiiitHiii.il .11 th. n figure. 



:-. ,,e, thai in j.i-i 



,,,... no competition in tin ! 't -nl 



... in uiliir word- lliiil ill.- pnr, - .-i. 

 l.\ ill.- Siil|>ht<- "I Ainiii.iiiiii < ommilt..- M. tine 

 .i III.- market li.i sulphate "I ammonia a- 

 nhrn.il entirely nn export market : sulphate of 

 niiiitiontn uo cX|Hirt.-d to tin- extent ol H'JO.dUl ton- 

 |HT nniini in good year, nu.l "I cour-c inanu 

 lu.lui.r- .-n- aly- uh in "ill abroad. 



!0ll. A* a matter "of f ( I there was no competition 

 ..ml ill.- prices .-n- fixed by tin- Sulphate ol 

 Aiiiiiiiinia Committee. I suggest to you that the 

 siilnidy Hit* "lily necessary IWiin-c tlint Committee 

 de-ir.-d to have ' larger profit tli-in they could him 

 ..I. lain. -.1 trnni farmers, having lost ih- 

 market." I am afraid I mum differ from you. 

 Farmer* had no other source "f nitrogen than sul 

 ph*tr of ammonia, and if it hail not IM-CII tor tin' 

 . i.nliollcd price they would have been forced to liny 

 sulphate of aniinonin nt a \ i ry much lusher price 

 than tin- price fixed, namely, !<> per ton. 



'.i.-H-J. It larmers had had to buy at n higher price it 

 would have boon in ronsi-i|iu-nce ol the Sulphate ol 

 Ammonia Committee, which was the only individual 

 seller of sulphate of ammonia d siring a higher profit? 



You aro referring to what is called tho Equalisation 

 Committee of the Sulphate of Ammonia A-sm -iat im. 

 I bcl 



!M13. That M BO. That Committee always fixes the 

 price so that there is only one price of sulphate of 

 ammonia from the various sellers? Thero is no doubt 

 In-fore the war they did do so. 1 quite agroo they 

 advised their members as to the prico they should 

 charge. 



9314. And their members always took that ad% 

 Probably. 



!:tl~>. Are you aware of the fad that when your 

 department -topped in and regulated the prices of all 

 artificial manure-, those pricos immediately advauc. (I ? 



Do you mean every time v. o fixed a price: 1 



ilMlli. The f.rst time you fixed a price: I'rin-s wore 

 fixod 'vith tho object of keeping the prico down. 



!>:JI7. lint in effect it mixed prices!- I suluiiit that 

 n ran only have prevented thorn from going higher. 



Ml*. I.et mo put it to you in thj way; a prudent 

 farmer doc- not wait until the day lieforo he want- 

 to lino artilicial manures; he buys forward, does he 

 Yes. 



!]!>. Are you awaiv that -i niimlM-r of laini.-i- win. 

 did buy forward had their contracts cancelled. ai:d 

 were only able to got their manure-; at a greatly on- 

 h.in. . <1 prii e. in consequence <if your department fixing 

 No I am not aware of that, and I do not 

 itniik that is quite rorrc.t. 'I'lie Fertiliser l'i ' . - 

 Order, or any arrangement that we made, iliil not 

 cancel contract- in ex-stnice at the date of th ' ' 

 o that it the farmer- \ on -peak of had a ilefinite 

 i iintraet they were perfectly at liberty to require the 

 maker to carry that contract out. 



!:fji> A- you know, if your fixing prices did not 

 break contrails, there are ways and mean- by nh'ih 

 manufacturer- desiring not to supply can get out 

 .1 lh. c out t a. t . they have made? 



AT. \..ii aware that that is what was done 

 in num1ci . of caw. !- I am not aware of it. 



-.. xon individual cane- where that ha- 

 happen, d - ^ 



!l.T2.'l \V,ih regard to \.nir . <-mparison of priies 



ami l.eiling Htuffs you have put your 

 figure* forward rather with a view to showing the 

 <vf than the actual price, have you not- fn 

 price* will vnry from one Her to another. 



9SU. To Hike th. mangold need no small 



fmrrner could buy mangold seed hint spring under 

 alxxit 9*. n Hi., could he- \. 



J>3i" If vriu ndmit that tlio are not actual pi 

 that i umcient for me'r They are nholennlo pricos 

 in f'- 



9S2T. With regard to linseed rake, do you not think 

 it w n gr-nt mi'tnVe for lin-co,) cnke to be de- 

 Tolled wh-n it .i- In Mnrch IM 



KT Y.s. I ,ln not think that I ought to IH- n.kel 

 that nirtioii 



- Sii|Mi-ing your dopiirtmont had bought Ir 

 I submit to \oii It should ha\e been po-siblo tor 

 them to have bought at a price which would have 

 enabled it to IM- -<iid to consumers during the ensuing 

 u inter at flu a bOB I 1 ym mean the makers .- 



oil Controller iiiuld ha\o bough! cake 

 and entered into arrangement- ;c- he did last \.:ir to 

 sell it at CIO a ton. M\ n-aMui f..r asking you i. tl-.at 

 rake did go dow n. and I myself piirclni-ed Unseed cake 

 at IHi a ton. What I did the l-'ood Controller cor 

 tainly could have done, and could h.n. -ec-tired the 

 iak. to the British ci.iisiimor at a not higher price 

 than that: I submit there is a difference. You might 

 purchase a small quantity, but it doe- not follow thai 

 you could buy a large quantity, or that you could go 

 on doing it. 



!i:t). I a iimo that the manufacturer who s.ild me 

 that linseed cake was able to buy i' and resell ai a 

 proli:. and I -uggest to you that the price which 

 linseed cake ha- HOW reached has boon reached in 

 consequence of speculations due to the Komi COM roller 

 de-Controlling it at a particular date: I think you 

 will agree that I cannot a'iswev ipio-tions which rolled 

 upon the Fond Controller. 



O.'i'H. .1/r. 7,' iiiirinl : Mr. Matcholor asked you some 

 questions ji,.i now about the controlled price of lin- 

 seed I think he suggested that the farmer had boon 

 rather unfairly treated in the matter. Is it not iho 

 fact that tho price of linseed has risen from i".'!' to 

 !_">"> a ton. and that, when the price of linseed was 

 29 a ton the price of linseed cake was 1!" a i 

 T have no doubt those figures are approximately 

 correct. 



9332. Now. when lins. ! i- L'.Vi a ton. the price 

 fixed to the farmer by tho Mini-try of Food for 

 linseed cake is 25 a ton. which i- not a rise pro- 

 portional to the rise iii the price of linseed ^ That 

 is so. 



9333. Tt means, does it. not. that most of tin- 

 increase in the price of lin-eed ha- 1 n put on to 



the other product of linseed the oil? 



9334. I have here a statement by the Secretary of 

 the Ministry of Food, which .says: "The paint and 

 linoleum trades are thus subsidising the farmer by- 

 paying a high price for the oil." Do you agree with 

 that !- Ye-, that is so. 



ll.'V.Vi. In paragraph (1) of your ovidence-in-rhief 

 yon speak of the price of superphosphate probably 

 ruining down owing to cheaper freights, and in answer 

 to one of the Commis.sion.rs on some point you 

 -poke of Heights becoming easier? Yes. 



!I33<). 1 was not quite .sure whether you were antici- 

 pating a fall in freight rates or wen- only thinking 

 of greater facilities in the way of shipping at certain 

 ports in regard, for instance, to some ol these lor 

 tilisers which come a very long voyage!- -1 was really 

 referring to freights as a whole, but more specifically 

 in connection with these fertiliser-. I'robably im- 

 portors will not have to pay so high a freight in the 

 autumn of next year a- they are doing at the present 

 I i:no. 



!i.T.!7. What reason have JFOfi lor -uprising that the 

 freight rates will be lower?- Only the opinion of 

 :>.-oplc at the Ministry of Shipping, who have given 

 me that forecast as a probability. 



!i:WS. It strikes me as a layman that as the cost ol 

 shipbuilding is going up booan-o of higher wag. 

 higher coal prices, that will tend to raise froighls- 



Inil I understand that the rate is more dependent 

 upon the supply and demand of shipping, and a- the 

 supply will undoubtedly improve, the freight i- likely 

 to go down. I am not sugnesi inu a large decrease. 

 .is you notice. 



ii.'Mi. 1- not the freight al-o dependent upon such 

 factors as the merchant seamen, the rosl ot 



hunkers and so on- No doubt. 



!i:UO Any increase in those wages or in the price 

 of hunker- would make for high freight nrfc 



!:UI. Do you happen to know whether freight rale- 

 form a smaller proportion of the selling pi i- 

 fertilisers than they do of imported corn? On ihe 

 of things one would imagine that the freight 

 in the case of a commodity which is of greater value 

 and occupies less bulk, would form a smaller pro- 



