Whole Country Must Get Behind Farmers

Chronicle (Levin), 29 September 1949, Page 3

Whole Country Must Get Behind Farmers

♦ CHRISTCHURCH, Sept. 28. "Mr. Walsh. has resorted to his old trick of half quotations. Not one of the porsons he quotes talked about a 25 per cent ijacrease in production, ' ' said the imxnediate past president of the North Canterbury provineial executive of Federated Farmers (Mr. J. W. Earl) in a statenient at a meeting today of the executive. -He was replying to a letter he received from the chairxnan of the Aid for Britain national council (Mr. F. P. Walsh), in whieh Mr. Walsh said that the promise of increased production was not made by him but $y New Zealand farmers' representativee more than 12 months, ago. Mr. Walsh also said that Mr. Earl's remarks at the last meeting of the executive . had obviously been misreported by a cub reporter. On that occasion Mr. Earl said Mr. Walsh should not have promised a 25 per cent increase in production without consulting the f.armers. " "They did mention 20 per cent but in every case except one they said that this increase was the target to be aimed at and not the fixed and irrevocable clause .in our contract, ' ' said Mr. Earl. "No prudent marksman, however good, would give a guarantee to hit the target to order. In his quotation of Mr. Grigg, chairman of the Meat Bord, Mr. Walsh eondemns himself. He admits that Mr. Grigg last ; July paid that the meat industry had undertaken to make an endeavpur to increase exports by 50,000 tons-. That is a different thing from guaranteeing that quantit.v. The exception was Mr. Mclntvre, of Southland, who said he was eonfident that the increase of meat would be achieved. "As to Mr. Walsh 'b own interpretation of the main quotations, it is simply the old method of trying to rara something down our throats. Not one of u's in the farming industry has ever believed that any more was promised than an endoavour to produce more. Our representatives certainly had no mandate from us to commit us to a 25 per cent increase in five years. "Mr. Walsh 's reference to a cub reporter is unfair and unjust and I am certainly not going to be a paTty to those tactics. I was not misreported and I do not need an excuse for saying what I did," said Mr. Earl. "Farm production in this country can be expanded only if the whole community gets behind the faymer and by the whole I mean the whole. "Farming has got to be made No. 1 priority for assistance with labour and materials," said Mr. Earl. "It is useless to talk to farmers in terms of so many millions of this and so many millions of that. The individual farmer has to be told what is expec£ed of him as an indiyidual and he does not want the sort of charitable relief that everyone seems prepared to accept these days. " Mr. I. L. M. Coop said that the Government had made an agreement to

increase production." "Something has got to be done or we will break our word," he added. A voice: More tractors. "It is news to us that the New Zealand Government has agreed to the matter, ' ' said the president, Mr. L.. C. Gardiner.