MINFTKS OF EVIDENCE. 



September, 1910.] 



MK. R. J. THOMPSON, O.B.E. 



{Continued. 



9217. Mr. Batchelor: In paragraph (2) you give an 

 opinion that prices of oil cake will fall in the near 

 future. Do you know on what principle the prices 

 were increased from 19 last control up to 25 agreed 

 prices this year? They were raised to 2o after dis- 

 cussion with the makers, and at the time that control 

 was imposed there appeared to be every prospect of 

 their going up. They appeared- to be soaring every 

 day, and 25 was taken as a maximum price. 



9218. I suppose you are aware that immediately 

 after the last control was taken off the prices wont 

 down. After the price of 19 was taken off, the price 

 went down to 18 first, and then to 16? Yes, I 

 Relieve that is correct, but of course it immediately 

 rose again. 



9219. What caused it to rise? I believe one of the 

 most important factors was the belief that there 

 would be heavy buying from the Continent. 



9220. As a matter of fact, wa there heavy buying 

 from the Continent? No; as a matter of fact that 

 did not turn out to be the case. 



9221. Do you know yet what put up the price of 

 that feeding cake? The prices of raw materials rose 

 all over the world. 



9222. Was that caused by speculation ? If you call 

 -pei ulation the opinion of the trade as to the probable 

 demand. I suppose it was. 



9223. Were not the Board of Agriculture repre- 

 sented at the arranging of this price of 25? Yes, 

 they were. 



9224. Then could you tell me what convinced the 

 Hoard of Agriculture of the necessity for those price- ? 



Tim In-ill f that they were going still higher. 



9225. Had they not figures put before them to 

 justify these prices? To justify what do you mean ': 



9226. To justify the price from 18 to 19 as the 

 case was, up to C2o? Yes. 



922". What kind of figures were they? It was the 

 fact at the time these prices were fixed, that they 

 were the market price-. 



922S. That wa all:- Yes. 



022!). \Vho created the market? Did not the mer- 

 chants and manufacturers create the market? Is it 

 the case tliat immediately after the merchant- and 

 niannt'arl i! i ! tlie market at 35, the 



Mini-try of Food and the Board of Agriculture 

 accepted those as being the prices? It is rather a 

 hard question ti> ask me. 



O-.'.'IM. I will put it in another way. Is it the case 

 that at the same time these prices wi re being agreed 

 to, the price iif oil. tlie other product from lin*ccd. 

 had also risen very considerably? Yes. it had risen 

 very consideniMv. 



9231. In ordinary instances if the price of oil, one 

 of the products, ros,-. the price of cake, the other 

 product, should have fallen. Does not that follow?- 

 Yes. ii frequently happens. 



0232. Therefore, is not there a very uphill fight for 

 anybody to show that there is a necessity for a rise 

 in take of from tl!) to 2">? Of course we had to 

 take into account the prices which were ruling in all 

 parts of the world and the prices ruling for linseed 

 and other materials; and the prospect at that time 

 seemed to be that thc-y would go still highe< . 



9233. In that same paragraph it is stated that 

 cotton seed in also said to lie falling. Is it actualh 

 falling- Cotton seed has fallen lietwron Julv and 

 a few da\- a^o from t'30 to 2o. That is Egyptian. 



0234. And has cotton cake fallen? No; I do not 

 think cotton cake in this country has fallen at all, 



.ppiics of cotton seed are short. 

 16. Do you not think it is time for the Ministry 

 of Kood and the Board of Agriculture together, or 

 i ltd. T of idem to agree on reduced prices for feeding 

 -lulls and publish these at the very earliest? These 

 are maximum prices. They have done a very great 

 deal of good in preventing" prices rising higher, and 

 the view is that we can leave the competition of id. 

 ti.nle to effect a reduction. 



!>.'.; lint is not it also the case that they can go 



the public and say that they are agreed 



prices witli the Ministry of Kood and the Board of 



Agriculture? There is a very strong emphasis 



on the word " maximum." 



9237. I am afraid not by the seller. Then will you 

 look at Table III. Your prices now are prices ex 

 mill in many instances at least. From June, 1913, to 

 May, 1914, were your prices free on rail? Yes. 



9238. I suppose you are aware there is a consider- 

 able difference between the two nowadays? Yes. 



9239. It costs a big lot of money to take it from 

 works and put it on rail? Yes. 



9240. At least there is a big addition made for 

 that? Yes; I am aware that the ex mill price is not 

 as favourable as an f.o.r. price. 



9241. Then you have feeding molasses per ton in 

 casks 11 in September, 1919. Could that be pot 

 anywhere as low as that? I should hope so. 



9242. You know that feeding molasses have gone 

 up by leaps and bounds within the last two months? 



Yes. There is a rise shown there. 



9243. Mr. Aslibt/: I was surprised to hear you say 

 that the 1913-14 prices for feeding stuffs were free on 

 rail, because I notice they are the same prices as those 

 that have been used by the Board of Agriculture right 

 through the war, and they are really Mark Lane 

 prices. They were taken mostly from the grain, seed, 

 oil and other market prices which were not necessarily 

 free on mil prices. I would like you to clear that up? 



Were, not the prices quoted at Mark Lane before the 

 war f.o.r. prices ? 



9244. I am not quite sure, but I take it that the 

 main idea you had in view in preparing these tables 

 was to make a comparative statement of price show- 

 ing the percentage increase? Yes. 



:i-).">. Although you had many difficulties in dealing 

 with the quotations, you did try to get them as 

 straight as you could? That is so. Of course it is 

 most extraordinary difficult to get anything like an 

 accurate comparison of prices, especially when we had 

 -uch limited sources to draw from, as in the early years 

 of 1913-14. 



H-'Sti. You have been hindered to some extent owing 

 to the fact that prior to the war the Government had 

 not taken much interest in agricultural prices? That 



!'JI7. When you were compiling your table of prices 

 dealing with agricultural machinery did you consult 

 the Agricultural Machinery Department of the Minis- 

 try of .Munitions at all? I do not think the Agricul- 

 tural .Macliinery Department of the Ministry of Muni- 

 tions is actively at work at the present time. 



9248. No; but I was under the impression that their 

 Orders as regards the wholesale prices of manufac- 

 turer.; of agricultural implements and machinery were 

 still in force? As far as I know they were not con- 

 sulted. These prices were prepared by our own 

 Macliinery Department, which had a very great deal 

 lo do with costings and which also bought a very large 

 quantity of implements and so forth during the wnr. 

 I think, therefore, that these figures may be taken as 

 accurate. 



02)0. I think you said, in answer to Mr. Cautley, 

 that the control of prices of some of the feeding stuffs, 

 IM of the strong tendency for the actual market 

 prices to rise very fas-t. did not interfere with the 

 demand for them. Do you infer from that that the 

 farmers who were buying these feeding stuffs were 

 quite content to buy at high prices, knowing that they 

 would be able to recoup themselves in the use of the 

 feeding stuffs? Yes. I do not know whether farmers 

 were content, but at any rate they certainly did buy 

 at these prices; the demand ha,s been very keen 

 indeed. 



92">f>. They were not afraid of these prices so long as 

 they could get the material? That is my informa- 

 tion. There was never any hesitation on the part of 

 farmers about buying at these prices so long as any- 

 tbing could be got; I think that is correct. 



92") 1. You had a good deal to do with the fixing of 

 these controlled prices, especially us regards fertilisers. 

 Is it your impression that the present controlled prices 

 give the manufacturers a very fair profit? They give 

 n fair profit ; we do not consider that they give an un- 

 reasonable profit. We have always had to take into 

 account the necessity of giving the manufacturer ,c 

 lair reasonable remuneration. 



