NEED FOR PRODUCTION FROM POORER CLASS LAND

Chronicle (Levin), 12 July 1947, Page 4

NEED FOR PRODUCTION FROM POORER CLASS LAND

— ♦ — To e'risure th# eobtm-uted' prosp'erity ' !of NCw ZeMdhdy f&orer land jdiust remain occupied and producing, jVfi. A. P. O'Shea submitted to the Court of Arbitratioh at the hearing of the appli1 eatioh for wage inereases. ? TherC: hhd been an enormous' incfease in production over the' past 25 : yeaf s, but it BScd eonie, fnainly, from the- more easily worked land, Mr. 0"Shea stated- It Wa's*: generally admitted that. the increase, had- maslced the deelined production from the much gfCa'tCf atea? o'f' ^'6'6'fCr J££l£. On land Where' eulfivatibif wa# nbt ^bksible, and where top-dressing must be done by haud- if it were to be carried out-, endbavpUrs to do this had been relatlvely small* in comparison with the acreage of country involved. • Ih. th'e- tifst case,. ..the eost was prohibitive; aud, se'eohdiy/ under a full . emplbym'e'nt poliCy it was beeoming more . and more difficult to get labour to undertake work on the poorer hill 'country, pa'rticularly in the North Islahd. * The Whole question was on!e of I costs' and* priee#. With the eonditions , off ering in towns, it was becohiing xnorC and- ibore difficult to induce' men to go out oit tlie Kiris- butting Serub, and' it Wa# beeoming. stiil- more .difficult >to obtain labour for hand top-dressing, . even if adequate supplies of superphosphate were available. , "Exceedingly Serious." "This position is ejcceedingly sCrious not only for the- .land1 coneerned,- but also for the Domlnioh as a whol'e, sinee it is the p'o'6r6r eou!ntry which i's" the breeding ground for the stock e&ried -on the better country, ' ' Mr. O 'Shea ■ cOntihued. "In particular, it provides the ewes for the niothers of the' fat : lambs, and it provides the steers Which Will latef be fatfened The serioiisness of tfiis position Wiri' be recognised when it is pereeived that the time must come Wheh the limit, of- production is reSched oh the lOjOOO'jOO'O' acres of better land. "If New Zealand then desires" an increased standard of living, this5 wiri be able to be gained only from the approximately 30,000,000 acTes of pborer land. "In point of faet, it is this land on whichr we rely to make the - differ ence bbtweeh a mediocre and high standard of living. "If present trends eontinue, aiM the riruch more advantageous conditions ruling in the towns eontinue to opb'rate, and the margin between them and what can be offered in the back country con4imie#, then it is going to be impo'ssible for this lhnd' t'o ebn'tinue in prodhetibn. "A small increase in such . a thing as transport eostsf' f-or ^ ' example> nlay ' seem of little momenf, but, to sheep farmers a lbftg Way ba'Ck ffonr the railhead, it is in the aggregate a matter o'f very gretff- impbfthnce,- and may deeide- whether or not these backblock land"# are retained in oeeupation."