FARMERS & THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2638, 8 December 1915, Page 8

FARMERS & THE WAR

PRICES AND PROFITS

TAXATION NOT OBJECTED TO

The annual.luncheon of the New Zealand Farmers' Co-operative Distributing Co., Ltd., 'was held in Godber's, Courtenay Place, yesterday. The president (Sir Jas. G. Wilson) occupied the chair, and about fifty shareholders were present, including Dr. Newman, M.P. Sir James Wilson, in the course of a short address at the conclusion'of-the -luncheon, made some reference to the war, a.nd said that they all felt'extreme- : ly proud of the work being done by our ,-boys in Gallipoli, and those others who had preferred to go. Home to join the forces. He made special reference to General Russell, , who had ' been honoured Jjy.tho King, and said that he had taken _a great doal of interest■ in cooperative' matters in New Zealand. Sir. C. J. Johnston's son was another New Zealander who was doing good -work. Although the 1 war was'a fas-; cinating subject to deal withj he ed to say something of its effect on the farmers. There was no doubt that their prices and exports had risen, as shown by the banking returns. : The 'Government Savings Bank'showed an. increase of, deposits over withdrawals of £2,000,000 for the year, so that it was quite evident that the workers were benefiting by the high prices.' They heard cries tliat the farmers should give of their wealth, and ho pointed out that the farmers had no desire to escape, taxation. They were'anxious to. pay tax<;s, knowing the great benefit ;^ the British. Navy was. to them. ..At ' the same, time there was a "fly in the many ambers." They had to femein- . her that the cost of placing their produce in London had greatly increased;, us much as 20 per cent, in some'cases. The grain-growers had fared well in some portions of the. Dominion, but not so well in othors:' -Speaking! particu-. larly of oats, which were grown on th© iWost Coast, he said that there was 110 doubt' some farmers gained by the high, prices for chaff, .but the crops were reduced by. the drought of last r yeßr.., . ..

s The Embargo on Wheat. He did not complain about the prices nf wheat, very little of which was grown in the North Island. In the South, merchants had lost considerably by the embargo'placed on the cereal, and that certainly affected the fanner/in the. future.'' There was also some blame attachable. to. somebody , about .the wheat, statistics..- He did not blame tho Gov-

orrimeni Statistician (Mr.; Malcplm. , .iFraser), for lie suspected that the farmers:were to blame themselves. The. . JaTge excess over the returns sent in , , liad something .to do with fhe fall in ; the prices. All his information went- • to snow that there -was still a 'considerable drought in Canterbury, and the crops were likely to be light. Dealing with meat, he said lie did not believe'_that' ; there was meat''- specula-' tion going on in J London... A very wise thing had been done by the. Government in commandeering the meat. If that had not- been _done Very much ' higher prices would have -had to be paid \. by the consumer in London. ' Dairy Farmers' Struggles. There was no doubt that the butter, and cheese prices had risen very much. They had been getting abnormal prices, ; but the cost of placing butter had risen considerably, ; aWit: 3d. .per, lb.; The' farmer who turned out butter was usually a very struggling man,'paying a little off liis farm year after year. They were' 1 not in, a position of giving much.-They . were.. mating money, but it 'was ' not going;into .their own pockets; /It was unjust for the public to think'the dairy, farmers were coining money, for the majority of; them were notthe,; owners

of their farms yet. The cheeso producers had done a generous thing in having their .cheese commandeered. They could havo got greater prices from the companies, so they were really'.-making a present of the difference to' the consumer. -•

Taking wool,:lie said that it was there that the greatest profits had come, and wool-growers -were'the men best able to give. They had'given, too, generously, and in many cases lavishly. They did not desire to evade any further taxation, and it was a misnomer to talk about "blood money." He had not the slightest hesitation in saying .that not one farmer objected to the taxation in connection with the ivar. But there had been objection about the papers sent out to get the farmers' incomes. The additional profits were sought to be taxed, and the difficulty was that no farmers kept books. A farm was not,like a trading company,:.and' a fanner, had very much to estimate. Increased Production Wanted. Sir James Wilson said that he did not intend to say anything about the future this year. Nobody know what the future held for them; it was entirely in the hands of Go 4 d. He did think that every encouragement should be given to farmers to keep on producing to the utmost, for by production they were -going to pay their debts. There was 110 doubt that whatever taxation was placed on the country the farmers were going to pull them through. Some of the letters written by the townspeople were quite unjust, for /the farmers had many difficulties to contend with, and on all occasions had a strong fight against nature. _ Mr. E. W- Relph, manager of the New -Zealand Farmers' Co-operative Association, of Canterbury, gave eomo interesting figures on the growth of co-operative enterprise. Last year,'the thirty-fifth of his work, their operations came to close on three millions and. a half. -They had a capital of ono million and a quarter. There had been a - steady growth in earning. In ten years their reserve fund had increased from £31,000 to £131,000. He emphasised the fact that capital was necessary to develop the co-operative farmers' concerns, and said that it .'was-a good- investment to branch out in wide fields'.-, ,-To do this much capital was necessary. Ho said that-alone the New Zealand Farmers' Co-operative Association was not able to make much change on existing conditions, but joined up with- other concerns throughout the world there was hardly anything that they, could not do to carry: the tnic principle of co-operative enterprise into «ffect. Profits and tho War. - Dr. Newman said that whatever jv.ight b? said about farmers making money, those who' had sons at the front would rather not make any money- tiiis year, and have their sons back. Dealing with farming matters, he said that union was strength, and he ' saw no reason why their, company should not - grow very much more.

Annual Meeting. At . the conclusion of the speeches, tl."b annual meeting of shareholders; was held, when the balance-sjieet and iewere adopted. The report provided for a dividend of 7J per cent, on the capital of the company, a 15 per'cent, rebate of commissions to shareholders, 5 per cent, rebate to non-shareholders, 'and a four per cent, bonus on purchases to .shareholders. _ Directors to fill three vacancies were elected as follow Messrs. J.' Balsillio (re-elected), Alex Strachan (re-elected), and G. E. Yule. Tlie usual bonus to tho staff 'was agreed on, and v6tes of thanks to the directors and staff concluded the meeting. ; ' . ■