millers on the shipment of Australian wheat. The report says-

    At the conference of the Incorporated National Association of British and Irish millers at Norwich last month when the general meeting was held the president, Mr. R.J. Read, was in the chair.  A letter was read from the secretary of the Incorporated National Association of British and Irish millers enclosing the following resolution, which was unanimously carried at a meeting of the association on May 25th, and which, it was asked, should be submitted to the Norwich convention, " The London Flour Millers' Association, having carefully considered the proposals put forward by the Commonwealth Government for an alteration in the present method of handling Australian wheat, desires to place on record its unanimous opposition to the shipping of Australian wheat in bulk:"

I might explain that I am now voicing my own views, and not those of the firm with which I am connected, because I am not authorised to do that. The following were the reasons given:-

       1. Wheat in bulk or in silos is, in our opinion more liable to damage by weevils than when stored in bags. 2. In our opinion wheat in bulk   would be more liable to deteriorate on passage than if packed in bags.  3.  If wheat arrives in bags receivers are able to effect a saving of over 1s. per ton through having the same weighed at their own mills, and this would be lost if the wheat were in bulk.  4.  The view has been put forward by the Australian farmer that a wastage occurs in the cost of bags amounting to, say, 8d. each (this was in 1913), and at first sight it appears to be reasonable, but if looked into carefully, disappears.  The British receiver was at that time able to realise nearly 6d. for the empty bag, and was naturally willing to pay more for the wheat than its milling value.  Part of the cost of 8d. per bag is recovered by the Australian farmer by his including the weight of the bags of wheat and which are paid for as wheat.  He would in any case have to provide sacks to convey his wheat to the railway or elevator.  The excessive price of 8d. each for bags in 1913 was due to the abnormal price of jute during the year.

Our firm are large importers of jute sacks, and the price which has been ruling over the last couple of years may not be taken as a fair criterion or an average over an extended period. I have seen sacks down to 4s. 6d. a dozen. When farmers are being paid at the rate of the price of 2¼lbs. of wheat for their bags, which are costing them, say, 5s. or 6s., it will be seen that they are getting a fairly substantial return for something which they must have in order that the wheat may be conveyed from place to place. He would ,in any case, have to provide the sacks to convey his wheat to the railway or elevator. The excessive price of 8d. each for bags in 1913 was due to the abnormal price of jute during the year. The cost of bags to the Australian farmer might be lessened by assistance from the Commonwealth Government by aiding in the purchasing of bags in large quantities, and by a reduction in the transit rates for bags to the country districts. With regard to the last part of the paragraph, I do not agree with the writer because I do not think the Government can buy sacks any cheaper than private firms. Our firm imports sacks in large quantities and they watch the market closely and are able to come in on the market at the most opportune time. The Government could not do more than that. I have a personal knowledge of the jute trade in Calcutta because I was there during one season buying sacks. You cannot buy jutes direct from the mills, with one or two exceptions, and those are where the manufacturers are also shipping agents. Where they are not shipping agents , they will not sell to outsiders, but it all has to be done through the medium of shipping agents. A discussion followed the reading of the reasons which I have quoted, and a resolution was carried declaring that it was desirable to maintain the existing system of handling wheat in bags. That resolution was carried by 21 votes to 10. There is another phase that is often lost sight of and it is that wheat, in its manufactured or unmanufactured state, must be conveyed in bags to consumers at some stage of the process of distribution, and if we send all our wheat to European millers in bulk, they will have to get bags in which to put the manufactured produce, and the cost of the bags in some way or other has to fall back on the primary producer. The resolution which I have just read was sent to the Incorporated National Association of British and Irish Millers at Norwich. It had previously been submitted and carried by the London Flour Millers' Association. I have other records of a similar nature. In the Adelaide Chronicle of the 1st August, 1914, there appears a report by the Chamber of Commerce on the subject of bulk handling, paragraph 5 of which states:-

     Wheat in bulk is less valuable to English buyers than that conveyed in sacks, and thus the farmer would have to take a lower price for his wheat than if it were shipped in bags.  In support of the opinion of the corn trade section, several speakers pointed out that from a miller's point of view it would be a good thing if bulk handling came into operation.  But from the aspect of the South Australian farmer the new and admittedly more scientific system would be practically prohibited.

Another important phase of the bulk handling scheme is involved in the fact that in the importing countries of Europe the appliances for dealing with bulk cargoes are limited. A big percentage of our grain is shipped between December and March and if the bulk of the wheat had to be sent to comparatively few ports - those ports which had the bulk handling facilities - it would not take very much to cause a glut. If you pour wheat freely into any place you produce glutted conditions and the bottom of the market drops right out.

8960. I understand that the science of wheat selling is to be able to sell the cargoes during the voyage to the countries that need those cargoes most?- That is right, and to get the best results you must be unfettered. I have sold a lot of wheat in Africa and I know from experience what the results are if you happen to strike a market that is glutted. With bulk handling that is one of the dangers which must be kept in view.

8961. By Mr. PAYNTER : Would not bulk handling eliminate the difficulty of handling?- Un-