FARMERS’ UNION AIMS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXII, Issue 4347, 25 November 1921, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARMERS’ UNION AIMS.

COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW. (Continued.) The following is a continuation of a report of speeches made at Morrinsville by leaders of the .New Zealand Farmers’ Union. The first par ( t of the report, from the Morrinsville " Star,” has already appeared in the “'Gazette”,:— ..... THE C.I.F. SYSTEM. Dairy factories and freezing companies must be co-operative, said Me Polson,. That would end the rotten system now employed of selling their products c.i.f. The c.i.fL system was the bane of the producers’ existence in this country. It| meant handing over their goods to someone else to d.o what he liked with. It was the middleman’s system, and it should be abolished as far as was practical in favour of the consignment system. SHIPPING,. Coming to the question of shipping, Mr Polson said that while he was not sure that it was in the immediate realm of practical politics it w.as a question pf vital importance, p£ which they must not lose sight. The committee to advise .the Government about shipping and wool marketing had drafted a scheme, a report of which most of them had doubtless seen. They were going. to have a very great fight indeed. with vested interests in this country before any producers’ scheme at all was put' upon ' the statute Book. Yet the producers’ scheme went no further than that unanimously adopted by’ the freezing companies. The companies passed a resolution urging that the country should go in for .the charter, purchase, or construction of suitable ships. Yet when, the farmers proposed this the representatives pf the freez-ng companies went to the Government urging that! nothing of the kind should be done, because, it would be a dangerous thing for the Govern-: ment to go in for the charter, purchase. or construction of ships. All that the companies had previously . meant, they said, was that we should dp what had been done with the Tyser Company some-years ago. What had happened ? They came ana settled in this country and joined the shipping ring, and 7 to;May the shipping ring was immensely more powerful. Every attempt would be made tp disgust them with anything in the nature, of a producers’ shipping concern, and they must be prepared for that. Mr Hughes hadi stated tha.t his State line had saved Australia millions of pounds, although, it made a loss of £300,000 in ioiJL Part of Mr Hughes’ speech, in which he defended/the State shipping line, had been circulated by vested interests. No- . thing was said in the circular about the gains the State shipping line had made. . The speaker urged the producers, to keep a stiff upper lip. They should also see that members of Parliament kept a stiff upper lip on this question. The Union did , not propose to enter into the shipping business at 'once, but, it. wanted .to be placed in the position of being able to call upon the shipping tp reduce their charges to a reasonable basis. THE MARKETING PLANK. The .jiexjt and vit M plank of their platform was the marketing plank, continued Mr Polson. r He referred,, to his own, experience of the marketing of New Zealand produce on purely a consignment basis, ' The jconcern he referred to supplied a large number of retail shops in the South of England, and jt had proved that we ..could supply from British ports depots which would go directly •to the retailer apd cut out the middleman altogether. Mr Polson asked what Mr Massey proposed tp do with regard to the handling of produce. He had already set up two boards. The Agricultural Board was established for no other purpose than tp advise the Government on questions such as this. Mr Massey Had also set up a producers* committee, of which the speaker was a member. JThat committee did advise the Government, / but so far as the speaker knew the representations of the committee were pigeon-holed and forgotten. The Farmers’ Union proposed to set up a * board consisting pf two representatives of the dairy associations, two representatives of the freezing companies, twoi, representatives of the Wholesale Co-operative Federation, and two representatives of the Farmers’ Union. That board hoped to take

control pf the business of marketing New Zealand produce, acting independently of the Government except for financial assistance, which the board would be entitled to receive from that spur.ee. With such a board the farmers would be in an infinitely better position than they were now. What was the position to-day ? There was no one to look after the produce when it left New Zealand and no one to look after it when it arrived in England. AGRARIAN BANKS. The fourth plank of their platform was tho question of finance. What they; were suggesting in farmers’ agricultural banks was nothing new at all, It was in successful operation in Denmark, and the Danish, system was. based on the German system, which, was the finest; agricultural banking system , in the world. This was a landsman’s bank, tp which 1,600,0pe farmers belonged out of a total farming population pf 6,000,000 ; it was managed by farmers for .farmers ; it advanced from 50 per cent. t« 60 per cent, on land values ; . these advances were, compulsory,; they actively assisted in the closer settlement of land, and lent sums of f>om £5. to £500,000. They did not aim at making any, profit. If they had a co-bperative banking institution they, would , have the finance to hold their wool. until they could realise better values for it. It was. the duty of the Government to assist the. producers in getting the co-operative handling and marketing system and if possible a shipping and financial institution attached. ,t|o it. Agricultural ( banks should be compelled to lend to all farmed s who. had the security, The. present banking system in New, Zeaand, he, contended, was inadequate. The proposed banking system would be principally financed by bonds. , MEAT AND BUTTER. Continuing, Mr'Poison asked them to consider what was happening in regard to meat. The ..present prices in England were £6 to £8 a. head for ew.es and £45 to £65 for,an ox. At the same time New Zealand ewe mutton was bringing 4%dper pound and wether mutton 8%, or an average of a little over 6d. The High Commis-. sioner’s cablegrams had been telling them for some time ha/he. rgtail price by the quarter had been Is 4d to Is 6d for forequarters and Is 6d to Is 8d for hindquarters. As a matter pf fact, their own inquiries shdwed that these prices were absoluely accurate, and hat in no case was frozen mutton being retailed at less than Is 6d per pound. The war had shown that the retailer could dp business profitably on a margin of 3d, and at the present time he was complaining of getting a profit ofi only 2d. The New Zealand farmers were selling at 6d, the retailers were getting Is 6d and were making a profit of 2d, and what they wanted to know was who was gettings the other lOd. The farmers knew who was getting the lOd, .and it was time they ‘had their own shipping, and marketing schemes, so that if here were any. tehpences going the New Zealand producers would get it instead of foreign corporations having their offices in Chicago and New York. , >, THE SUBJECT OF BUTTER. Touching oh’ the subject' of butter Mr Polson referred tp the very fine quality of the New Zealand product. What they wanted tp see was that the retailers got the butter under the New Zealand farmers’ own brand, and the article would then realise the highest price at home. Once the British producers tasted New Zealand butter they would have no other. The Farmers’ Union wanted New Zealand butter to be placed direct into the hands of the British retailers.. The butter producers had stepped from the frying pan into the fire by transferring their produce from the Tooley Street gang to the Wholesale Co-operative Society, .which made a point of dealing in the cheapest possible market and with the poorest class of people. THE POSITION OF WOOL. At the present time there was no one adequately looking after the interests pf our produce at the other end. Take the case of wool. Anything which was 50 per cent, below the cost of production, as wool now was, must rise in value till it reached the cost of production. It was already rising, and every bank and banker was howling at them to sell their wool while it was cheapj If tney had their own co-operative concern with

-J -u <*. finance, to place at their , disposal they. would have the means of holding their wool and getting the advantage of.a rise in the market. . THE FOUR PLANKS. These were the four planks upon which . they wpre insisting. How did they propose to carry; them into operation ? W e hadjn New Zealand a whoeisale ',cp7oper.ative federation which was Jinked up with Australia and with Sputh Africa and they must influence dairy factories and freezing companies gradually to join in anl enable them so, to develop the business that it would ultimately take the place of the present system of marketing. The Union's platform could be put into practice almost immediately, and when it was put into practice the platform would have a direct benefit to the producers. TAXATION. Speaking of taxation Mr Polson said '.he Union held that, the producers were'not in a position to pay the taxes that were being imposed. He pointed out that the public debt now amounted tp 197% millions. Last year the expenditure exceeded the previous year’s. expenditure by £4,340,000, while the estimated expenditure for the current year was more than £l,000,000. in Excess of that of last year. The Prime Minister promised to reduce expenditure by four millions, but that saving was not nearly sufficient. DEPARTMENTAL INCREASES. Mr Polson quoted the following increases in Government Departments : Treasury, 12. per cent, .increase in staff 94'per cent., increase in expenditure ; Land, and Incomp Tax, 5 per cent, increase in staff, 56 per cent, increase ,in expenditure; Pensions, .27 per cent, increase .in staff, 48 per cent, increase, in expenditure; .Industries and Commerce,., 69 .per cent, increase in staff, 182 per cent, increase exp expenditure ; Native Affairs, .6 per cent, increase in staff, 83 per cent, increase in .expenditure ; Post and .Telegraph, 4 per pent, increase in, staff, 62 per pent, increase in expenditure. It was clear from these figures that the' Government did. not mean to retrench. • ...... POSITION IN THE SOUTH. Mr Polson said his criticism was made, on behalf of producers of the Dominion. 'The people who were living in dairying districts were in a comparatively fortunate position, but if they knew the position of the beef and wool men they would realise how serious the situation in New Zealand was. ■ These' men were not paying interest, wh.ich was being capitalised. They were .not able to pay. taxation, and the Government had to make up its mind whether it was, going to forego the taxation or . confiscate the properties of these men. In these circumstances the question arose as to whether the Government was not playing with the matter of finance. Concluding, Mr Polson said in these times of stress the farmers found in cooperation a wfeapon already forged for their hands and, the opportunity was now offered to .the farmers to rally around their Union and help their leaders to carry put the programme the Dominion conference had set, before, it. The Prime Minister had stated that unless taxation was reduced the country was faced wita. "blue ruin.” The Union was out to help the country and the producers, but to make any headway it wanted the support pf the farmers as a whole.' (Applause.) \THE LABOUR QUESTION. Captain Colbeck, dealing with the labour question and answering the criticism that had been offered in connection w r ith his remarks at the recent smoke concert in Morrinsville, said that whether the Morrinsville : branch agreed with him or not his utterances were those approved of by the New Zealand Farmers’ Union. The Arbitration Court said that no employee should receive less than so much an hour, and whether the employee was willing to agree or not the employer was not allowed by law to give him less wages. The absurd position arose that when a firm was compelled tp reduce expenditure or go bankrupt, it could not: ask its men to take less wages. It had to "sack” some of them. The producers’ employer was in London, and |that employer said the. producer must receive a drop of from 2s 6d to Is per pound for his wool. But labour: —he meant world-wide labour—would no’ accept the altered position. It still

wanted its high wages. The • producers’ produce was his wages, and the producer asked the community to share in the general sacrifice. He described the Arbitration Court system in New Zealand as “rotten,” because it fixed artificial wages.: Captain. Colbeck .contended. that labour was, worse off now than when it received., less money. LABOUR THE GOVERNING FACTOR. There , were <■ three, .factors rim the cost, of an article, the raw .materia 1 , labour, and profit. Raw material was down in cost as low . as. it. could get. Profits had ..been, eliminated,, as every businessman knew. Most things were selling at a, 1055... Labour was the governing factor in},the price of an. article. Labour was, living on its ’own blood, ,Until the cqst of labour .was reduced, the cost, of, .living would not come down. The cost pf labour would come down or starvation would face flip,, people, said Captain ; Colbeck. Could the butter men pay the .wages they vpre .paying, a year ago. ? Could the,wool men do it? Captain Colbeck said he,. had given .utterance, to his honest convictions. ’He did not wish to do .the workers ; harm. . He believed he was helping them.,He had given the matter very earnest, consideration, and although hecould not.afford it, he -was carrying out this , campaign in the hope good jwould follow. ; LACK OF EFFICIENCY. Catpain Colbeck accused labour of, being less efficient than it was some years ago, and said that great loss was caused on this account. He quoted figures in support of his contention. On the Wellington waterfront in 1914 the men moved. 775,106 tons of goods at a cost of £54,000., In 1919 they handled 777,560 tons, or practically the same quantity at a cost of £99,000, an increase pf some £45,000. In 1914 it used to take four men from !%• to 1% hours tp load a lighter. It now took six men 6% hours to do the same work. As long as that sort of thing went on, said .th.e speaker, the country could not expect a return to normal. The producers had to give 16oz to the pound, while labour gave only 12oz. If labour was to get high wages, the producers should see it earned them. The loss on a Home ship through delays caused by labour difficulties at wayside ports had been estimated at £90,000. The loss on 20 ships doing the New Zealand trade was no less than £3,600,000 a year, owing to labour' difficulties and inefficiency on the New Zealand coasts. THE BUTTER COMMANDEER. Referring to the ‘ Criticism ofl Mr Sinclair’s remarks at the Farmers’ Union smoke concert, in which the farmers had been described as greedy and selfish when Mr Goodfellow demanded 2s 6d for New Zealand butter from the Imperial Government, Captain Colbeck said.that at that time Danish butter was realising 4s 6d and Irish butter 3s 6d on the English market. .Experts had regarded New Zealand butter as .worth 3s 6d. The producers’ representatives demanded an increase. The sum asked, 2s 6d? was a fair and just one; INCREASED TAXATION. Captain < Uplbeck went, on to deal with the question of taxation and the

financial, outlook -generally. —Taxation per head of the population of the Dominion had, he said, risen from £5 10s Id in 1914 to £l9 17s 3d in 1921. Taking five as an average family, it woujdw be seen that the taxation per family had reached the.. astounding sum of £99 5s lOd. The total taxation »n 1913-14 was £5,918,000, whereas last year i.t was- As to income tax, this, had risen during the same period from £554,000 to £B,24’8,945. In, proceeding .to refer .to, the effect of thi s , excessive . taxation,. Captain Colbeck. pointed .out ( that, unlike the farmers,, companies were ,in a position to, pass it F on tp thcJ r public. The companies had been lending their surplus cash tp faijmers. on mortgage. Matters had to f ,such a ( .. gass, however, that if a company wanted a net return pf, 6 % ..per. ,cent, it; could not Ip nd: money to farmers on mortgage under ( at least. .12% ppr cent. When the moratorium expired,..where we£e the farmers .going,, to., get, the necessary money tp renew their, mortgages? It was not .possible .to expect that the farming industry would be able to pay 12% per cent, jntetest. The situation was plainly seripus,, RETRENCHMENT NEEDED. If the Unioii was satisfied Mr Massey was truly retrenching, Its., representatives WQpld. not ( , now. be. touring country. . But they were foo late. Mr Polson,aid.the speaker. W®SC not at 'fault, because they, set put on the campaign, . immediately . elected to r^spectiye.,,positions. Mr Massey .had given Farmers’ Union,, representatives a hostile,, reception, when .th,ejr rf asked him .to . reduce expenditure, apd . told tham n OjOt,, to “croak.and,.whine,” but., to .go .home and produce.more. .. Captain ..ppibeck. said that meat and wpp| were, v beiag produced, a.t a. loss,, so , that. Mr , Massey’s advice w.a? valueless. Within a month of .Mr ..Massey speaking to the deputation, in. that strain,(he told. the people, that, unless taxation, ( was. re-, duced. thp .country was faced/.with "blile ruip.’’. , ... Captain Colbeck said that Mr Massey had the , .idea.;that he had .the farmers jn his pocket.. It,was time • they got. outs of,,.his, pocket. .If the z farmers,.would give, the. Union their support by membership ,iii. the, Union, the Union , wpuld,,fie. ( able, (p ; .cpmpel the, Government to he.ed, its representations.,. .Captain, . i pqibeck,.,.spi4 ; ?.:the Union could effect rpfgrrns,,to-morrow. . if the farmers would oniy o . support their organisation.. Jt, was,, a breaking process trying to M l ® farmers, up. to a.,realisation ,of ,facts as they concerned,him,,, .... , SAVING THE COUNTRY. Concluding, Captain Colbeck said the Union leaders were not, going to cease, their foy reform ..until they saw definite £ signs ..of retrenchment. He hoped the time would cpme when it would he said they .werp making fijstory.., Sir Harry Atkinson was a very, unpopular .statesman, yet he was credited with having saved the country, at, a. time pf crisis-.■ It;;was only a question pf votes. Every man's hand was against the; farmer at.tne present; time,, and, it. wsa time the farmer, realised his. position.. Captain Colbeck said he was, going on. with the campaign so long. as people did not throw rotten eggs at. him; (Applause.) . . ~