FARMERS’ PROBLEMS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5156, 25 July 1927, Page 4

FARMERS’ PROBLEMS.

LAND SETTLEMENT. THE DRIFT TO THE TOWNS. One of the- greatest drawbacks:, it is contended by many, to the welfare of New Zealand, is caused by the drift to the towns and the comparative neglect of rural industries. It is generally admitted that for many years to come the Dominion’s prosperity must depend principally on the primary producers:, and emphasis is frequently laid on the statement that the welfare of the country is bound up in production and more production, but the question is, how can such a desirable result be attained ? Much has been done in recent yea.rs to make the lives of the farmers' and farm workers more pleasant than they were previously, but there- is still a lot to be done if the drift to the towns is to be stopped. The handicaps on those living far away from the centres of the world’s: markets are very considerable, and one of the problems of the future is to find a way to reduce them. In almost every country the farmer, seems to be, “up against it,” notwithstanding the fact that, generally speaking, he is a slave to work, and knows little of the amenities of life. The summing up of an American paper, which stated recently that agriculture was povertystricken amidst prodigious commercial prosperity, serves to illustrate the. position of the man on the land.