THE WOOL PURCHASE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 261, 23 July 1918, Page 8

THE WOOL PURCHASE

\, .DISPOSAL-OF SURPLUS PROFITS ! PATRIOTIC PROPOSAL BY MR. I. E. NEWMAN '( TO BENEFIT DEPENDANTS OF BRITISH V SAILORS Mr. Edward. Newman, M.P., speaking ;' at a, meeting of tho Farmers' Union at Marton. on Saturday, said he desired to : refer to the Imperial commandeer of ; New Zealand wool now under negotiation. [ Tho terms were that until one year after '..- the conclusion of the war wool-groweis ~ would obtain the samo prices as lasi , . year, and the Imperial Government would i, have tho right to fell what wool is not I. required for war purposes, when New ;... Zealand growers will receive half of tho [. profits on the salo of such surplus wool. '.. Tho .proposal which ho had to make was '.. that the New Zealand wool-growers' por- :'.. tion of such surplus profits should be „' devoted to a fund for the benefit of tho ; „ dependants of the sailors of tho Royal. ;. Navy and mercantile marine, who had • . been -wounded or had lost their lives at !... sea. in defence of the Empire. A few ; persona in New Zealand had objected to tho terms upon which the Government \ .. had sold the wool, but he shared the '■. . opinion lately expressed by the Hon. Mr. ).. Mac Donald, Minister of Agriculture, '■ that in view of what the Mother Coun- '. try had done for this Dominion, both previous to and during the war, that no .... 'haggling" over the prices of produ:e i. shonld take place with England. The . - Mother Country had treated the Doniiii- ;.. ion very liberally since the war, both in I ■ regard to prices and' in providing slup- ;• Ping-. I- In all probability for several yeai'3 after tho war alt Europe would be suffer- '- ing through want of the primary iipom-' pities of life, and if Ihe Mother Country • -in the interest of the people of England •■ - desired to .purchase our wool and food : products for n term of years, then lie considered that objection shonld not be raised, provided sufficient was left for tho use of our own population. But '; this was not the subject on which lie ' wished to address the farmers that day. i ■Ho wanted thoso present and all' tho ; ' farmers of New Zealand to consider what we owe to the British Navy, and the auxiliary services; to reflect on what would haye been our position at the present time were it not for the protection afforded lis by (he Navy. We are a comparatively small community, living 13,000 miles from the heart of the Em- ; pirn; 13,000 miles from the market for ■practically all our products. In those ' four years, while the whole world has I been engaged in the greatest war ever known, we have ei\joyed ' peace and security and prosperity. But , at what cost and at whoso cost?

E. NEWMAN

SAILORS

For our peace and our security and our wealth we have to thank God and our sailors of tho British Navy and the mercantile marine.

It will bo remembered lh.it when just before the war broke out our fleet was i mobilised for manoeuvres in (he English Channel the fleet suddenly disappeared ] from view and people cried, "What lias become of our Navy?'' it was' not yet : known where the fleet went, but wherever , it went ft drove the German High Sea ; Fleet in front of it, and effectively boxed i it up, apparently for the period of the war. Thus was control of the high seas ' pained at the very beginning, with iin- ■ told advantage to the Allies. ITe desired to recall some of I lie ! Achievements of our sailors during the I war. The sinking of Hie German fleet at : Falkland Islands freed I lie Pacific of | Germans. We must see that it remained I free of Germans, for Ihe future. The '~ Jutland light was a record of bravery aud- dash with the real Nelson touch i about it, and but for a fog which un- ! fortunatelycnnie down the German Fleet would have been destroyed. .Many dar- ' lug adventures had taken place in front of Heligoland trying to induce, the enemy '■ to come out, but he knew too much to :,. respond. The suppression of German ;•-■ naval raids on the Englisli coast was a < ■ work of stupendous value, and rendered possible the conveyance of some 15,000,000 ■ soldiers aiift boundless stores and am- ■ munition across the sea safely, all owing" ' to the protection afforded by our Navy. : To us in these southern seas, resting

secure under the old Hag, had been given

' that nil our produce had been free lo :• find its market, and, in addition, man); , ships,carrying our brave boys (109,000 of them) to the front, coavoyed in safety by the Navy. | Not one ship with' reinforcements had failed to reach it's desthiaI tion. Could we ever repay the Navy lor i that 6ei:vice'alone? Last, but far from : least, think of T the Oste.id-Zeebrugge ; 'laid! The sinking of the. old warship : : .Vindictive, fully laden with cement, '/Tight in the enemy, submarine track, •was an. achievement to make any Britisher's blood thrill. There could be little doubt also that tho gradual snp- ■ : pression of the diabolical submarine was ' :now being surely and certainly accomplished. Ho mentioned these facts in 1 order to remind the meeting of some ot the glorious deeds the Navy had iichiev- • ;•«£ in its effort* to secure our safety unit. ' 'to win'tho'war., .. 1 , But there was another side if the flues- '■ 'tion. He had (referred to what the Navy • had done for us. What had we in New ' , Zealand done lor the Navy? J hat was ; ' the question we must answer if we wonU ' .do our duty. In his opinion it. would ; '• be a disgrace to this country booming ,' with prosperity, duo to the protection ol ' the Kavy, if it did nothing more than : it had done in acknowledgment ot the ' debt we owe to our seamen of the Kwal '■■ : Nary and tho mercantile marine, ma : Suggestion .now before the farmers was l.that the surplus profits on vool to l>« : sold in England should be devoted lo a .' fund for the benefit of these, gallant <■ men The wool-growers of New Zea- ' land were now obtaining an average ot •Sperbalo net cash within a few days of delivery. J'n addition to <" h-.t we were getting record ! l,ee S for mutton and jwef, .and ' all the by-products of the stock-raising '.industry. He felt certain that no man "ionld truthfully .assert that the woul- {° vers could not afford to Bjve the sur- ' iilus profits of the commandeered clips i to the widow and fatherless children ot ! "ur brave sailors. But lobe eftect u , Mich a scheme as this must be practically unanimous. He had received many, i tolwrams and letters approving o tho • proposal, and ho had written lnlly to i the chairman of the Woolgrowers Committee asking him, *s representative ol ; the industry, to give this .scheme las : support, « n(l endeavour to secure the sup--1 port of those "behind him. He was glad to observe that the Hon. Air. Mac Don' aid said on Friday, at tho Agricultural : Council meeting: "It appears to me to ; be a very good thing lor the people ol ' this country (the commandeer of our wool bv Imperial authorities) even it ■ they diil not get any of the surplus profits over and above what they are get- ; ting to-day." This was not a matter for the ho\crnmont in the first instance. It must ho a spontaneous gift from the wpol- . growers of the Dominion to the bereaved ■ ones of our brave seamen, and made through tho New Zealand, not through : the imperial, authorities. The services rendered to New Zealand by the Navy , and the mercantile marine were unique, and our method of acknowledgment should be free and generous and given with grateful hearts and open hands, , remembering that no money payment could repay what we owe to tho indoiniti able braverv, endurance, and selt-saen- , fice of "Jack" and his mates. It hail ■ been said that other sections of tho community should help in this matter as ' well as the wool-growers. That might bo true, but wool-growing was our principal industry, and he said the farmers lead; others will follow." When ho rfcpcived a reply from the i chairman of the .Wool-growers' Com mi ti tee he wofjd make it public, and trusted I that it would bo. favourable and show : that, we were not without appreciation of the cervices of these'men to whom we owo so much-tho men, who, under cir-

cumstauces arduous and dangerous beyond conception, had kept tho British flag flying over our heads. Ho earnestly hoped that the farmers of Now Zealand would riso to the occasion and not be too critical about details, but eet an example which might perhaps be followed by Australia and other Dominions, so that after the war was over and victory won we should not have it upon our conscience that the widows and mothers and children of our brave defenders were in want or distress through neglect on our part, but that so fnr as money conl'J relieve them, we had done our duty.

The following motion was curried unanimously: "That lliis branch heartily approves of tho terms upon which the Prime Minister has arranged for the sale of Xcw Zealand wool to the Imperial Government nnlil one year after tho Conclusion of the war. Tt also desires to support the proposal made by Mr. Edward Newman, M.P., to the effect (hat if the wool-growers receive last year's rates for their wool if would be a square deal if all the profits from the sale of the surplus wool in England should be devoted to a fund for the dependants of the bravo sailors of the Royal Navy and the mercantile marine, but for whose, vigilant protection during the last four years I his Dominion would probably have been under a foreign (lag instead' of in enjoyment of unprecedented prosperity. That this resolution be forwarded direct to the Dominion president (Sir .Tames Wilson), with a request that he will t.-ke what steps he thinks necessary to secure the support of the whole union to (ho proposal contained therein."