MINISTER AND SUBSIDY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 168, 18 July 1942, Page 6

MINISTER AND SUBSIDY

FARMERS' UNION REPLIES (P.A.) WELLINGTON, this day. "It is obvious that the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Barclay, does not appreciate the meaning "of the word 'subsidise," says the official statement of the New Zealand Farmers' Union, answering the Minister's statement made on Thursday night. "It is an entirely novel idea that to ask for the full price of an article is asking for a subsidy. "To make a correct use of English terms, Mr. Barclay is asking the farmers of New Zealand to subsidise consumers of woollen goods," continues the statement. "That is, he is asking a section of the people to bear a subsidy to the public as a whole. "Mr. Barclay says that he regrets that conference has again adopted a course of criticising the Government without, in any degree, making the criticism constructive. If he will read the newspaper reports, he will see some very constructive criticism. "The Minister's statement that his relations with the Meat and Dairy Boards are most happy might lead people to believe that the Meat Board is in favour of farmers standing the cost of the subsidy proposed by the Minister. The Farmers' Union has yet to learn that this is the case.