The Gisborne Herald. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED “THE TIMES.” FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1939. INCREASED PRODUCTION

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20132, 29 December 1939, Page 6

The Gisborne Herald. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED “THE TIMES.” FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1939. INCREASED PRODUCTION

Ever since the outbreak of war it has been insisted that the best contribution which New Zealand can make towards the Empire effort is to increase her production of essential foodstuffs and raw materials. Even before the war it was rightly insisted by various Ministers that the standard of living in the Dominion could only be maintained by a larger output of consumer goods. The task before the country, therefore, war or no war, is to expand its production and common sense dictates that the expansion should take place primarily in the farming industries for which the Dominion is so well suited. The only difference that the war has made is that more immediate results are required than might otherwise have been the case. In these circumstances it is to be regretted that the responsible Ministers still fail to realise the steps that are most urgently necessary to secure the desired end. Unfortunately, they seem to be content to concentrate on what is somewhat euphemistically referred to as land development and to disregard the far more important question of the productivity of the land. They appear to be working on the theory that production is hindered by the absence of sufficient land, but the fact is that there is more land already available than can be used efficiently and the imperative need at the moment is to recognise this problem and to remedy it.

The Minister of Labour has stated repeatedly that it is his intention to transfer as many as 10,000 men from unproductive work to work on the land. In addition, powerful machines are to be transferred from public works to land clearing and Mr. Webb has expressed his belief that “ this technique will revolutionise the bringing into production of thousands of acres of useless country.” These powerful machines are to be used, also, for the clearing of virgin bush and for removing big stumps and logs. These plans have a good deal to commend them, perhaps, or would do so were it possible to utilise these newlydeveloped lands within the present national economy; but it is doubtful whether they will make any immediate contribution to the real task of increasing production. At the present time there is no shortage of developed land. On the contrary, for (he past three or four years land has been steadily going out of production. There has been a progressive decline in the area' under pasture, in the

acreage of crops, and in the numbers of cows and pigs, and this year there lias been a falling ofl in the number of sheep. These things are not due to an absence of suitable land, but to conditions which make it impossible to secure sufficient labour for land already in occupation and to the difficulty of farming on a profitable basis. The position to-day is that land already developed is losing its productive value for want of labour, for want of maintenance, and foi want of a profit margin to go back into the soil and feed it. If more land is developed, as the Qjovernment proposes, it will ultimately deteriorate into the same position unless steps are taken to remedy the root causes of declining production. “ The bringing into production of thousands of acres of useless country ” by the use of “powerful machines” will not provide

the farmers for the new blocks or train farm workers for the old ones. It will not increase production so long ns tire conditions remain which result in existing farms being unproductive or producing much below their maximum capacity. On the other hand, if the present disabilities are removed then there will be scope for an unlimited increase in production without the necessity for the costly development of new areas which, in the very nature ol’ things, must be amongst the poorest land in the Dominion. As it is, these so-called land development. schemes are merely another type of public works—an over-the-fence scheme designed to meet the public outcry against continued uneconomic expenditure. This work, however, far from increasing the national production, threatens to be merely another charge on existing production. There are numerous things which can be done in New Zealand to increase production—better farming methods generally, better feeding, a better selection of stock, and more intensive cultivation. There is not the

slightest question that infinitely greater immediate results—and the problem of increased war-time pinduction is an immediate one—could be achieved by attention to these details than by any grandiose and costly scheme of preparing more land for settlement. Most of these details, if not all of them, are related to the questions of farming returns and the availability of labour, and Mr. Webb knows full well just how pressing these two problems are, because it is under his instructions that labour is being drafted into the country and that the Government is paying 75 per cent of the labour cost. If farmers could afford to pay the necessary labour and if it were available there would be no need for action on the part of the State, and until these conditions exist it is worse than futile to develop more land. This is the root of the problem which must be tackled. For various reasons connected with Government policy, farming costs are out of proportion to the returns and sufficient competent labour is not available. The result is a decline in production at a time when an increase was never more necessary and the trend will .not be reversed until the basic problems are faced and remedied.