HARD FACTS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 22 January 1931, Page 7

HARD FACTS

MUST BE FACED STATEMENT BY OPPOSITION LEADER ' hard facts must be faced (By Telegraph—Press Association) WELLINGTON. This Day. Declaring that the failure of the farming industries in New Zealand would be an even greater national disaster than the failure of a bank, the Rt. Hon. J.. C. Coates, in a statement issued yesterday urges the people to recognise the strong measures necessary to deal with the situation. Any further drifting, he says, will have disastrous results. There seem to be many people who do not even yet realise how grave and critical the position to-day of many thousands and probably tens of thousands of our farmers.

Mr Coates added: “I am neither an alarmist nor a pessimist, but I am convinced our duty is to faco and recognise the hard facts. I believe if we do that and take the necessary strong measures to deal with the situation, we can emerge from the present crisis successfully.’ 1 Dealing with the decline in price levels, Mr Coates says the income of the community had decreased approximately 20 per cent., but the costs of production had not been reduced correspondingly, and it was obviously impossible for industry and business to be carried on. In tens of thousands of cases to-day farming was being carried on at a loss, and unless some readjustment was made many thousands of farmers will be unable to continue producing at all. He urges the keeping up of the volume of production of primary products and asks the Government to consider the possibility of permitting local bodies in certain cases to remit the 10 per cent, penalty on overdue rates. The Government must balance its Budget by decreasing expenditure, and should review the whole railway position; also it should abandon the principle of paying full standard wages to single men on relief work.