The Chronicle PUBLISHED DAILY.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 17 September 1915, Page 2

The Chronicle PUBLISHED DAILY.

levi::. LIUDAY.. SEI'T. 17, l'Jl-3. WilivU fIJUr.S y.\l) Af'iLK.M A TILS. jii \\ issue we referred lo Hi. , disturbing ellcct upon fanners prespucia Unit assurcly musi result lrom the failure of this year's speculation* i>l wheat on the part ol .southern merchants and others. '/Tie consuming power of the small stock farmers has been liiiiterially diminished through their necessity to reduce to a minimum ihe live stuck they Kept; a necessity arising solely from the fact that oats, wheat, barley, pollard and bran cost so much that no margin of profit re niuined for tho.se farmers who were ■ neither dairymen nor agriculturists. Tin- House of Representatives was discmssiug an aspect of tliis question on Tuesday night, and meniuers laid a portion of the blame lor uie state of aifairs tha\ existed this year upon the iiirsuffic- . ieucy of the Government statistics. Hie discussion is wortny of note by Idiu community in general, though members' suggestions offer no practical guide to any effective way of coping .with the diflicititicis that arose this j year. To our mind the only effective way to do this is for the Government lu lix a maximum boiling price (one that in fairness to tho grower would be above the fair value of cereals in normal seasons), and ior the Govern-' men*- to stand to its regulations, undeterred by threat or cajolery. When a Premier and an Administration do ark? -who will do tihis. there will be better times in prospect ior the co'nummity as distinguished from tfie exploiter; and the producer will be likely to find reliable markets, free ironi excessive fluctuations and maintaining steady demands. Reverting to the subject of the clJrs- j ciission on agricultural statistics in tlie { House of Representatives, we republisli here, for our readers' benefit, the remarks of Messrs Alistey, Anderson, McCombe and the Hon t>. l>. 8. MacDonald. After Mi* Anderson had complained that the Government agricultural statistics had been uneless In-st year. Mr Anstey continued the discussion and asked if the Government -would . secure bouio practical assistance in connection 'with the agricultural statistics. The figures were unreliable, and -were collected too late, while when obtained they were not distributed promptly. The results oi the cen.su.s of foodstuffs taken on June 30th had not yet reached the House. IMr Anstey mentioned various discrepancies in uio statistics, and stated that the sheep etatifctics were never reliable, as they M'ero ta-kcji while tho sheep wore travtlling and after many lambs have leie tlio country. The errors amounted to about two millions. The Minister ior Agriculture replied that he would bo glad to discuss tho matter with the fanning members of the House 'with a view to improving the system of collecting statistics. The conditions in tho past year had been abnormal, and tne Government had not spent the usual amount of money on the 'work. Mr McCombs said the Government had saved about £1000 on the statistical department, and had failed in consequence to inform t'iie public that there •was not a shortage of wheat. Tho ■price had risen by about 2s a bushel, and tTie cost to the public had been be> tm-ecn £(500,000 and £1,000.000. At this stage the discussion dropped,