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Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 164, 29 July 1937, Page 14

NEED FOR RESERVES

Our Own Corresnondent. )

Care of Expenditure in Boom Feriods FUTURE 0UTL00K

(Prnm

WELLINGTON, This Day. The need ior care in expenditure during boom perious, and ior corporate and mdividuai reserves to be set aside during periods oi prosperity so that siiould siump conditions have to- be met, industry generally may be eliabled to carry on business with tbe least possible disturbance, was urged upon tbe New Zealand bbeepowners' and Farmers' Federation by Mr H. D. Acland in his annual report to that body presented yesterday. Tbe total revenue from taxation -for tbe last hnancial year, £31,164,302, said Mr Acland, showed a striking increase over tbe previous year, the increase being over five and a balf miluons, as compared with 1936, while the taxation receipts per head of population had risen from £16 5/6 in 1936 to £19 14/10 per head for the year ended March 31 ,last- 'Fhese figures sbould give cause ior serious thougkt, by all sections of the eommunity. l'here was an increased receipt on a%count of land taxj as compared with iast year, of £589,000. "Eiforts at price fixing, efforts at wage bxing, and the substitution of Government edict for business judgment in the day to day conduct ot our economic and business life appear to be the order of the day. Can it last?" asked Mr Acland. "It is gratifying to note the substantial increase m this year's totai number of sheep, the returns showing over one million higher than last year. There are indications of a swing over towards sheep-farming on the part of dairy farmers, to a certain extent, the higher returns for wool and the stable prices received for lamb being no doubt responsible for this. "indications are that during tho commg season, we may expect marketing conditions and price levels to approximate to those' of the season just passed, provided the expenditure m Great Britain is maintained at somewhere near the existing level, and British trade continues fco improve. "Looking back over the slump period, with the average price for our wool clip for three years at less than 5$d. per lb., it must be a source of great pride to our industry to know that during that difficult period our industry stood up to the necessity of making tbe necessary adjustments in costs, and continued to produce under conditions which at times almost appeared to hold out no hope for the future. "This season, prices have advanced to a point where some of the obligations incurred during that period may be adjusted, and 1 can only express the hope that during the coming year, existing price levels may be retained, nofc only for wool and ineat, but for all classes of primary produce for export."