I move the following motion which stands on the Order Paper in my name:
That in the opinion of the Seanad the position of the flour-milling industry is one calling for the immediate action of the Executive and that control of wheat and flour imports is an immediate necessity.
I am sorry the Minister for Industry and Commerce is not present, but I would ask that the Seanad would consider to-day the various arguments to be brought forward as regards the position of the flour-milling industry; to consider those arguments on their merits and, for the present, to keep their minds clear of any prejudice or prejudices with regard to tariffs arising out of the debate that took place in the Dáil within the last week or so. I suggest they should do that, not because we as a Party have in any sense weakened with regard to our protective policy, but because this issue is entirely different—in the ordinary way —from any question as to the merits or demerits of tariffs. When we in the Seanad debated this subject last April the Minister for Industry and Commerce said:
There should be some evidence of danger,
that is, of taking over mills to close them down:
there should be some nearer prospect of any danger than any evidence we have had so far before we are asked to take this step.
The step that was requested was a scheme of national control to provide adequate safeguards for the milling industry. The situation in April gave some of us reason to fear. Certain firms, largely representing the flour milling ring in England, had purchased certain mills in Ireland and we viewed the position with considerable alarm. We knew that a certain line of policy had been pursued in the rationalisation of the milling industry in England whereby certain firms, including one firm that came to Ireland, had purchased mills there and closed them down. We felt that such a position might well develop in Ireland whereby the same ring or members of it, would purchase mills in this country with a view to the elimination of competition and to the further dumping of flour here.
The Minister for Industry and Commerce, in the same debate, asked "Is it that there should be preserved in this country flour milling irrespective of what the product is going to cost?" That question was answered really more effectively by a member of the Minister's own Party than by any of the members of Fianna Fáil. Deputy McDonogh, of Galway, stressed the point that Messrs. Spillers and Bakers made a loss last year of £350,000. Obviously, this firm which sent large quantities of flour into the Free State were manufacturing flour "irrespective of what it cost." It has been admitted by the millers' technical papers that over five million pounds were lost in the flour-milling industry in England during the last four years, so that there is ample evidence that flour was being manufactured at a loss. When the ring in England attempted to organise the flour-milling industry there, to have flour produced and sold at an economic price, the only reasonable interpretation that we could at the time put on their activities in Ireland was that they wanted to secure a market in Ireland at an equal economic price, and to do that they must, first of all, purchase the bulk of the Irish flour mills and eliminate them as competitors. The Minister for Industry and Commerce stated further on the 10th April last—the reference will be found in the Official Debates of the Seanad, page 966, Vol. 34, No. 3—
If there is a crisis I want to have it pointed out where does it arise. Is it because Messrs. Rank have come into the country, and that there is a fear that their coming bodes no good for us, that they are going to close down the mills? If that is the case, I do not believe in that case and will not move on it... If it is because there is a scheme being promoted between the Irish millers in this country and the Millers' Mutual Association in England, then I am going to watch that carefully.
Now, I am not in a position to say whether there is any concerted scheme operating between Irish millers and the Millers' Mutual Association in England, but I wish to bring forward certain particulars of what is happening, and what has happened since April 10th last, as evidence that our worst fears were to some extent justified, or, at least, that there is sufficient evidence to justify us coming here to-day and asking the Minister if he is watching the position carefully; if that position has not crystallized to the point where his watching would suggest either direct interference or the taking of such steps as will protect our milling industry from further encroachment on the part of the British flour ring.
I went to the trouble of getting certain data from Limerick, one of the most important centres involved in the flour-milling trade. From that data, and other evidence that I have at my disposal, I am afraid that what is happening in Limerick is happening, and is going to happen, elsewhere, only in a more intensified way. I have not at the moment the actual figures for the other centres, and therefore I abstain from giving them, but the figures that I am going to give have been discussed at a public meeting to which the flour millers were invited, and have not been challenged or denied. Moreover, it is quite evident from our own official returns dealing with imports that the figures are obviously correct, and that the line of policy which we dreaded and warned the Minister about last April is in course of enactment at the present time. If it goes on at the same rate we will, undoubtedly, soon waken up to the fact that we will not have any flour-milling industry here at all. In Limerick normal employment was given in the flour mills to between 400 and 500 hands, while the annual wages bill amounted to about £75,000 a year. That was the normal thing before Messrs. Joseph Rank took a hand in the game.
The valuation of the mills in Limerick is as follows: Bannatyne's, £1,955; Russell's, £1,016—giving a total valuation of £2,971. That means that these mills contribute to the rates of Limerick £3,639 10s. 6d. for the current year. That is a factor that should not be lost sight of. It is a very substantial contribution to the rates of the city of Limerick. Moreover, the activities of these mills in the matter of the import of wheat were responsible for half the total revenue of the port of Limerick, and according to the figures which have been given and have not been contradicted, half the revenue of the port amounts to £24,000 per annum.
Some of us have already read the report of the Ports and Harbours Tribunal, and we all must realise what, in the economy of our harbours, the elimination of £24,000 per annum must mean to the Limerick harbour authorities. Since Messrs. Rank took over in Limerick forty men have been let go. I do not know whether that number has been increased since the date that I am dealing with, namely, the 4th November. We all know, taking flour-milling on a per capita production, that owing to the development of modern machinery forty men is a very substantial number of skilled operatives to be working in flour mills, and that their productive capacity is very high. We can get the productive capacity by taking the output of the mill for the period under review. Before Messrs. Rank took over control 12,160 bags of bakers' flour were milled per month; 53,312 bags of retail or household flour were milled per month. Since Messrs. Rank took over no bakers' flour has been manufactured. In other words, there has been the elimination of 12,160 bags of bakers' flour per month since Messrs. Rank took over, while, in addition, the 53,312 bags of retail or household flour have been reduced to 44,928 bags per month. That means a total reduction in bags of flour per month of 20,544. Now those of us who are in any way interested in home production, and particularly in the home production of such a necessity as bakers' and household flour, will realise what a dangerous position we are drifting into.
[The Cathaoirleach resumed the Chair.]
It has been argued by these foreign flour millers that there are two objections to the milling of bakers' flour in this country. The first objection was that we did not mill a satisfactory flour suitable for bakers, and the second was that there was considerable difficulty in disposing of the red offal, the residue from the milling of bakers' flour. As a matter of fact tests have been carried out as regards the very flour manufactured by the firm that has come into Limerick, namely, Messrs. Rank, and the bakers' flour produced by the Limerick millers. As a result of these tests it has been claimed— I cannot say as I have not the results of the examiner's test with me—and has not been disputed, that the Limerick flour was found to be superior to the imported flour manufactured by Messrs. Rank. Again it has been shown that there is no difficulty in disposing of the red offal, that this can be mixed with white offal and disposed of satisfactorily within the State itself. I think it is necessary to stress these technical points, mainly because we are so used to propaganda by foreign exploiters, and I regret to say occasionally by their defenders, the Government here.
There is another rather sinister thing that has crept into the business of flour milling in this country and it is nothing new. It is nothing new to those of us who have studied the evolution of Irish economic history during the last one hundred years. It is something we are told that does not and could not occur nowadays. We all remember in our young enthusiastic Sinn Féin days the late Mr. Arthur Griffith explaining the many and subtle methods whereby the industries of this country were injured and, in many cases, destroyed. We know that in many cases it was necessary to have the co-operation of certain interested or anti-Irish people to make the destruction of these industries complete. But here we have an example right up-to-date this year. It has happened since April last, and I at all events look upon it as a sinister and a subtle move in the direction I speak of.
We have this position. The firm of Messrs. Rank manufacture and sell in England a flour called "Millocrat." That is the brand under which it is sold. In Limerick we have two good brands of flour manufactured. They were popularly known amongst Irish buyers in the area as "Sunrise" and "Eclipse." They were sold for household use. We find that, though Messrs. Rank are manufacturing a household flour the same as it was being manufactured, that they are now selling under their own name of "Millocrat," products which were formerly sold as "Sunrise" and "Eclipse." We know from history what happens or what will happen as a result of that. We know that in another year, eighteen months or two years that, perhaps, Messrs. Rank will be defending their position as regards the position of Irish milling and will make the claim that there is now no demand for either "Sunrise" or "Eclipse" flour, and that the total demand is for their own "Millocrat," which they will argue is a product manufactured in their English or other mills.
Between the 4th April and the 18th October 96,000 bags of Limerick flour have been manufactured in Limerick and sold under the brand of "Millocrat." That is the subtle method that has been adopted of killing the popularity of the local brands. That method has succeeded in the case of other Irish industries to our cost, and it looks as if it is going to succeed again. I stated earlier in my speech that the general position with regard to imports goes to prove the arguments the people of Limerick are making with regard to the sinister methods that are going on in connection with the flour-milling trade. What do we find when we turn up the report dealing with imports for the nine months January to September? This report is available to all Senators. It has been posted to all members of the Oireachtas, and Senators can examine the figures for themselves. Over this nine months' period the flour imports in 1929 amounted to 2,263,608 cwts., and for 1930 to 2,433,761 cwts. That means that in that period the flour imports increased by 170,153 cwts., or by 8,507 tons. You have there an increase of nearly 1,000 tons per month. Something more significant, however, is to be gathered from a close study of the import list, especially if one turns to the figures dealing with the import of wheat. For the nine months January to September, in 1929 wheat imports were 4,474,225 cwts., while for the same period in 1930 the figure is 3,680,584 cwts., showing a reduction of 793,671 cwts. or, roughly, 40,000 tons of wheat. That is the decrease in these nine months.
We in Fianna Fáil hope for a reduction in wheat imports, but we hope for that when we have carried out our policy in regard to wheat production. We do not want to see a reduction in wheat substituted by an increase in the import of flour, and that precisely is what is happening here. Not only that, but this increase in the importation of flour amounting to 8,507 tons does not adequately represent the decrease that is contemplated in milling because the reduction in wheat is utterly disproportionate to the increase in flour. In other words, there is contemplated definitely and undoubtedly by the figures dealing with the imports of wheat a greater reduction in milling in this country than has yet taken place. That is the most significant figure as regards the import list. Now I do not know whether it is the opinion of the Minister for Industry and Commerce that these points were not worth listening to by him. That is entirely a matter for his judgment, but I do suggest that if the Seanad has any justification for its existence—and some people question that very, much—it is up to the members of this House to decide whether they are going to take any active interest in the contemplated destruction of this industry.
I purpose to-day to ask the Minister very simply and very directly a number of questions. The first is if his attitude in the debate that took place here in April was justified and whether he feels that the evidence I have brought forward to-day justifies him in investigating the matter further. Does he feel that the position has now crystallised so that the Government ought to take action, and failing that, at what period of imports and of a reduction in milling will the Minister by his grace take a hand in the game? The Minister for Finance, speaking in this House on the 20th March in regard to the issue of foreign control of industry, a question which I raised in a debate last session, said:
The disadvantage of foreign control is not such a disastrous thing in the case of an individual industry. The disadvantage arises in the case of industries doing an export trade and that are under foreign control.
I disagreed with that statement at the time and I disagree with it now. I want to say quite bluntly and frankly that for a responsible Minister like the Minister for Finance to make such a fatuous statement to a group of supposedly intelligent people is an insult. The Minister stated further:
I am satisfied that there is not the slightest danger, when there is a Government here, of any foreign combine pursuing a campaign of buying up factories here for the purpose of closing them down.
I hold that is the position to-day. Both the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Industry and Commerce took up the attitude that no concern in a big way of business, no ring would as an economic business proposition purchase a big factory and then close it down. Mark you, this is the year 1930, a year of intensive rationalisation, a year in which there has been a buying up of every sort of factory and closing down. Yet we have these statements made in all seriousness by responsible Ministers. Were our fears justified and, if so, what is going to be done about it? We all know what is the purpose of these big controlling groups.
I want to know why the imports of wheat are shrinking. I certainly would be glad to see our imports of wheat shrinking, but only because of our own production of wheat at home. Our fear is that there is only one reason for the reduction in wheat imports that has been revealed in the figures that I have given, and it is this: That there is a gradual process of undermining the home industry going on. The facts and figures that I have given fully justify all the arguments that we put up in the debate in April and justify the people of Limerick in becoming alarmed with regard to the position which the flour-milling industry in that city has reached. They justify the people in Limerick, and in other parts of the country, in fearing that the flour-milling industry in this country is going to be crushed.
There is one other aspect of the question with which I would like to deal. I do not want to labour this, but taking the long view, and the ordinary sane view, of the protection of our citizens, we have no guarantee that in any crisis that arises—I am not speaking now of a world crisis or a war— but supposing there was a big strike in England lasting for two or three months, we have to ask ourselves what are we going to do about it if our mills get into the position of being owned, body and soul, by an English controlling ring. Does any sane man believe that, in such a situation, we would be fed first, or even on a par basis with the people of England? We know quite well that we would not, and it is a most dangerous thing to have to take a chance such as that when dealing with such a fundamental commodity as the food of the people. I have given enough evidence, I think, to justify the Seanad in expressing its opinion on this matter. If any more evidence is wanted it is available. Spillers have absorbed and closed a number of mills in England already. They have absorbed Leetham's of York, which, I believe, used to employ something like 2,000 people. That action of theirs has been a disaster for York. They have absorbed Shackleton's of Leeds, and the C. D. Mills of York. I suppose, fundamentally, it does not matter to the British Government where flour is milled so long as it is milled in England.
We ought to insist that our mills are not crushed out of existence, and I suggest, too, that we ought not to allow imported flour into this country. Messrs. Rank have also absorbed and closed the Cleveland Flour Mills, Stoke-on-Trent; Appleton's Mill, Hull; Elland Flour Mills, Elland, and Metcalf's, Malton. It is argued that we are undue alarmists in raising this question, the question that they contemplate closing any mills in Ireland. The evidence that I have given shows, I suggest, that the trend is that way, and that already a very big step has been taken in the cutting out of the manufacture of bakers' flour, in increasing flour imports, and in reducing the imports of wheat. If the people of this country are not awake, and if the Government are not awake, then I fear they will waken up —it may take, perhaps, another few months or years; that will all depend on the attitude that is evident here— and find that we have no flour-milling industry in the country. I have put the facts before you and, as I said earlier, I regret that the Minister for Industry and Commerce is not here. Evidently he thinks that the flour-milling industry is of no importance compared to other things. I suggest to Senators that they ought to adopt this motion if they are really and genuinely interested at all in the food of the people and in the flour-milling industry of this country.
