I pointed out previously that unless these Orders were modified or revoked it would entail very grave hardships and loss on pork butchers. I stated that pork butchers were not so concerned with the reduction of the quota as the interference with the trade which they were carrying on for 100 years. It was pointed out then that there are several portions of the pig which are not sold fresh by the pork butchers, including the belly, and the practice was that these were sold as pickled pork. The Minister on that occasion promised to consider granting some concessions to the pork butcher, but nothing has been done since. My principal concern in seeking to have these Orders modified is in the interests of the producers and not solely in the interests of pork butchers, but I feel any curtailment of supplies to pork butchers or any loss which they sustain in their trade will eventually affect producers. The Minister promised concessions, but nothing has been done, and the only conclusion I can come to is that the Pigs and Bacon Commission would not agree to them. The Minister pointed out that they were a statutory body and quite independent. I suppose he made representations to them and they did not agree to them. The Minister says he wants bacon for the rural population, and that pork is only used by residents of cities and towns. If that is so, why is there such a difference in the prices of lean and heavy pigs? The Minister says he wants to have bacon for the rural population, but everybody knows that it is the heavy fat bacon that is required there, while the towns require thin, light pigs, which at the present time are making 15/- per cwt. more than heavy pigs. They are used for rashers, which are required principally in towns and cities.
I am afraid that the bacon merchants have always influenced, and continue to influence, to their own advantage, the Pigs and Bacon Commission. I believe that the present Orders have been made, to some extent, at the dictates of the bacon merchants, who want to cut out the pork butchers and get more of the pigs for themselves. Before the Pigs and Bacon Commission was set up, we were always able to export between £3,000,000 worth and £4,000,000 worth of pigs and bacon each year, while still retaining plenty of bacon for ourselves. Since the Pigs and Bacon Commission was set up, the pig trade has been steadily diminishing. It was declining even before the economic war, when we had plenty of Indian meal for feeding. We had, according to the Minister, a surplus of our own grain but still our exports were declining until they were down to £400,000 in 1938—before the emergency. Now, we are not producing sufficient for ourselves.
Looking at the results of the work of the Pigs and Bacon Commission, the only sensible conclusion anybody can come to is that it is time to scrap a body which had had results so disastrous for the country. I ask the Minister to consider the advisability of scrapping the Pigs and Bacon Commission. He could control the price of bacon and pork and let the trade take its natural course. We cannot be in any worse position than we are, with a decline from £4,000,000 to £400,000 in the value of our exports even before the emergency. The Minister says that the whole cause of the scarcity of bacon is the want of feeding stuffs. There was no want of feeding stuffs in 1938, when our exports went down in value to £400,000 from £4,000,000. If the price were economic, we would still have plenty of feeding stuffs in the country for the production of bacon. But farmers are not going to work for nothing. They will not produce pigs at an uneconomic price. Unless the Minister is prepared to recommend the Pigs and Bacon Commission to raise the price of pigs, the pig trade will vanish.
