The Wheat Question.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16165, 20 March 1918, Page 6

The Wheat Question.

If one were to add together all the time and thought that the Government have devoted to the wheat question during tho past two years, tho total would no doubt bo quite a large one; and yet tho problem has not been solved, for it has not been thoroughly considered as the problem that it is. Government interference originated in a desire to prevent the rising of prices in an intolerable measure, or the limitation of the profits the growers might make, wo have never been quite sure which. But it soon became apparent that if the forces that induced the Government to interfere were to dominate the situation, tho growers might easily suffer from "plough-fright," as Mr Lloyd George called it, to such a degree that the supply of wheat would be insufficient. Tho confusion <chat ensued was tho result of the Government's neglect to consider and decide what was really the thing to be aimed at—cheap wheat, or an assured supply of wheat. For a timo it appeared that the Government had the idea that both these ends could be securcd at once, and that State action could ensure a very abundant supply at prices much less than those now recognised as affording a reasonable profit to the average grower.. The Government have still abstained from facing the real position, and they cling to their first faulty method of dealing with the matter —a lot of running about and consultation, and an ultimate fixing each year of guaranteed'' prices for the ensuing season. In Great Britain tho Government have seen their problem, and faced it by guaranteeing such priccs for several years ahead as will ensure the attainment of the desired end, which i3_. a very great increase in wheat production. It is a great pity that instead of dealing with the question in a hand-to-mouth fashion, our Government did not decidc upon a clear wheat 1 policy and have done with it. The

prices fixed for the nest season's crop range up to 6s Id a bushel, and if the yield is a good one, the growers will make a reasonable profit. Already, however, complaints are being made that tho prices offered are inadequate, and will not induce production. These complaints arise, perhaps, in some measure from a fear lest tho return per aero may bo as disappointing as it has been for the 1917-18 harvest, which has not paid, taken all round, even at os lCld, as the Minister admitted Tast week at Ashburton. But these complaints,were to be expected, and we think it possible that they will not be justified by an insufficient acreage for reaping next autumn. The policy of price fixing is, of course, quite unsatisfactory, and in the present instance it will probably havo done more harm than good in the long run. "We are not persuaded that it might not have been best to leave the wheat question to settle itself without interference at all.