Minutes of Evidence p.1401-1509 - Parliament of Victoria

.eonard Parsons,
st~o~i~';'l'~~a.
1
C. W. Derbn.m,
Sth 1\!ay 1883.
1472
49748. By Mr. Lobb.-With regard to oats, I understood you to say you had a very great difficulty
in getting the oats you require to produce oatmeal here ?-Sometimes we cannot get them. .
49749. What oats do you generally use ?-We generally use New Zealand, and pay the extra prlCe.
49750. What kind do you call them ?-Potato or milling oats we call them. .
49751. Do you use others ?-Sometimes we use Victorians when can get them clean, but we object
to them strongly.
49752. Do you ever use Tartarlan ?-No, there is too much bran about them.
49753. You use New Zealand oats, why?-Because they are such a superior article. .
49754. The oatmeal you sell to your customers-what do you make it from ?-New Zealand oats.
49755. You pay duty upon them?-Yes, and have been doing for the last three months. They
cannot grow them here.
49756. Could not they be grown here ?-They can be if the farmers are more careful, but I have.
never seen any Victorian oats equal to New Zealand.
49757. What price ttre they in the market ?-Three shillings and threepence and 3s. 4d. to-day.
49758. What are New Zealand oats worth to-day ?-I suppose about 3s. 6d. with the duty.
49759. That is a little more?-Yes.
49760. Are they both of the same quality ?-No, the New Zealand oats are heavier and better and
cleaner. There is no rubbish in them at all.
49761. You are not like some gentlemen who gave evidence to-day, who used colonial oats for
colonial consumption ?-Because they go in to save the price. We prefer the good quality, and let the
people have some good porridge. .
49762. By tlte Cltairman.-Have you anything further to add ?-No.
The witness withdrew.
Charles W alter Derham sworn and examined.
49763. By the Chai,rman ....-Are you a representative of the firm of Derham and Company ?-Yes.
49764. Where is your place of business ?-In Queen-street.
49765. How long have you been in business as a grain merchant ?-We have been in the present
business only five months, but our predecessors, my brother and :Mr. Swallow, were in business for many
years.
49766. Have you been in the business previously ?-Yes.
49767. Though not as the proprietor ?-Yes.
49768. How many years have you been engaged in the business yourself?-! have been seventeen
years altogether in the business ; that is, I was in the business seventeen years ago, and left it for a time, and
came back about six years ago.
49769. Do you confine your operations to any particular lines ?-We are flour and grain and sack
merchants.
49770. Under the heading of grain, what kinds of grain ?-All sorts of grain.
49771. What do you wish to say to the Commission in relation to the duty upon flour, which is the
first article-are you satisfied with the duty upon it ?-I do not think it would make much difference if it
were removed ; I do not think the duty affects the price of flour here now, because we are exporters of flour ;
but, of course, if there were a failure of crop, or something like that, it would affect the price ; only in that
case.
49772. Was not there a small import of flour or wheat just previous to the last harvest, through our
having over-exported in the earlier months of the year ?-No, we did not.
49773. Now come to the question of grain. Of course the same argument willl apply to wheat, will
it not, as applies to flour ?-Yes. ·
49774. Now, as to the question of oats, what have you say to the duty upon oats ?-I think it
should be removed. ·
49775. What effect would it have upon your business as a grain merchant if it were removed ?-It
would improve our business.
49776. Have you any business in colonial oats-is there any business for the importers or merchants
between the growers and those who manipulate it ?-We have agents in all parts of the colony to buy grain
for us, including oats, and likewise to consign to us on the part of the farmers for us to sell on commission
on his account.
49n7. Do you think you would do more business of that sort if oats were imported ?-I think so.
49778. More business with the people. in the country here ?-That would be a question; I do not
know about that. I believe our business would increase.
49779. You would do more import business, you believe, but it would interfere with your internal
business ?-No, it would not interfere with our internal business; the man who gives the highest price to
the farmer gets the goods, and we should be prepared to do that.
49780. Would there not be a chance of the farmer shortening his crop of oats through competition
with the imported ?-He might.
49781. Then your business with oat growers in this colony would be so much curtailed, would it not 1
-I do not think we grow sufficient oats for our own use here.
49782. We do not yet ?-No.
49783. And if you lose the duty, is there not a probability that we shall grow less ?-I think there
is ; but it would go into something else, such as barley or wheat, which would be more profitable.
49784. As to wheat, we a long time ago reached the limit of our own supply and are exporting.
The farmer wonlcl not get a better price for his wheat, however much he grew. It pays the farmer better to
grow oats now, which have not yet reached the exporting point, consequently the duty gives some advantage
till it does reach that price. Do you think that if you removed the dnty upon oats, the farmer would produce
wheat, which is already over-supplied ?-It is not over-supplied ; we supply more than our own want