OTAGO A. AND P. SOCIETY

Otago Witness, Issue 4030, 9 June 1931, Page 15

OTAGO A. AND P. SOCIETY

ANNUAL MEETING. The annual general meeting of members jf the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Society was held in the Dunedin Jockey Club’s board room on Tuesday evening. The president (Mr James Begg) occupied the chair, being supported by Sir John Koberta (honorary life governor of the society). There was a good attendance of members. The meeting accorded a warm welcome to Sir John Roberts, and sang “ For He's a Jolly Good Fellow,” and Sir John thanked the gathering for its reception to him. ANNUAL REPORT. In moving the adoption of the report and balance sheet, the president said he regretted that the last Summer Show suffered so much by bad weather. .The finances of the society, however, were by no means in an unhealthy state. The negotiations they had been carrying on with the Manufacturers’ Association had stopped somewhat abruptly, because m the present depression it was not possible for either of the bodies to raise money for new buildings, for which reason the matter was left in abeyance. He had no doubt the project would be revived, possibly with advantage to bdth the Manufacturers’ Association and the society. Speaking of the farming industry, .Mr Begg eaid that the depression >f the industry, and consequently of the whole country, was the absorbing topic of the day. Everybody felt it. The •aimers felt it especially, though they '•ere by no means the only sufferers, nor mild they be the heaviest if the period I . low prices continued for any length ’■ time The.fait in the value of the primary products had be n phenomenal.

Prices had not only reverted to pre-war prices, but in some cases had gone below pre-war prices. This meant that if the same prices continued the costs would have to come down to pre-war costs, or even below them. He admitted that costs'were coming down slightly, and in time it might be they would meet prices New Zealand had to export its products, and if it did not pay to produce then the export would stop. That was an unthinkable position. If the price of products did not rise the costs must come down, so that present prices would enable farming to be carried on at a fair profit Taking a long view, it seemed to him that farming must again be a paying business in New Zealand.— (Applause.) At the -present time it would take a 20 per cent, rise in products to put the Dominion on a pre-war basis of receipts, while expenses were a long way above what they were in those dayg. Nobody could guarantee that prices would be better in five years than they were to-dav. There were great world movements on foot, and New Zealand could do nothing to affect them in any way. If the loss in prices were to continue it would mean an enormous capital loss in the country. Exports were down about £20,000.000 —it seemed to him the Arbitration Court figure of £18,000,000 was below the mark —and there were other losses as well, such as the loss on products sold locally, but taking a conservative estimate as £25,000,000, and capitalising it at 5 per cent., it meant that the capita] loss to New Zealand would run into the enormous amount of nearly £500,000,000. It meant to the country that a large portion of the capital once considered good would have to be written off, and this would affect every section of the community. Of course, they were all hoping that nothing like this would require to be done, and that a rise in the price of products would take place to avert it. He thought there were some grounds for looking for such a rise. It must be remembered that our products were not particularly low compared with other products throughout the world. They certainly had not suffered so much as rubber, silver, and other pro ducts. While the trouble of depression was upon us we required to have careful government both by the Legislature and by local bodies. They all knew that expenses were being reduced by the Government, but it was undeniable that further and drastic reductions would have to be brought about unless there was a rapid recovery in the prices of products. The 10 per cent, cut was serious to mapy people, but a 10 per cent, cut would not put the main industries on their feet again. At the present range of prices it would require a further reduction in order to bring the figures down so as to allow the farmers a reasonable return for their efforts He trusted that the Dominion would have a Government strong enough to guide its destinies aright in'the next two years, so that the main industries would survive and help to bring prosperity to our people when, and if, the tide turned again —(Applause.) He hoped the farmers as a body would express their opinion strongly that overseas borrowing should cease altogether. Borrowinc affected the farmer particularly, because the means to pay interest on loans came principally from the farmer, for the reason that he was the only man who produced anything to bring that en 1 about. The miner certainly produced a certain amount of wealth, but the bulk ot the burden, was on the farmer, particularly the exporting farmer. The farmers therefore should agitate stronHv against overseas borrowing. Two "enera tions of the people of New Zealand had been born, suckled, and brought up on borrowed money, and they did not know what it was to do without it.—(“Hear hear. ) Before closing his remarks. Mt Begg thanked the committee for the sup poi t it had given him during the year and he mentioned particularly the untiring efforts of the secretary Mr Duthie.(Applause.)

I T ? rn /' r seconded the motion Mcf P c llltC( t 0 fact that although the last Summer Show was held in bad weather thus affecting the finances the society had moved ahead a little. The thanks of members were due to the committee, who had carefully watched over all the society s affairs.

. <l. Sutherland Ross, on behalf ot the Manufacturers’ Association, congratulated the society on its magnificent show. — (Applause.) Owing to the financial stringency it had not been possible for the manufacturers to proceed any further in the matter of securing the buildings at one time proposed which would be more suitable for the exhibits that botn bodies were capable of making for the public edification The society’s Winter fehow was one of the finest he had ever had the privilege of seeing. He wished to call special attention to one sectiontile home industries.— (Applause.) It was a section that might be exploited more than it was at present. When he looked round at the bottled fruits, the lams, and the exhibition of posters, it seemed to him there was a decided source of revenue there to many people if they cared to follow it. Many of the posters, tor instance, had a commercial value, and if the work were taken up in a businessI'ke way. be had no doubt many firms would be prepared to pay for such productions. He thought it was a sideline which might be profitable to" many a family on a farm if they had the artistic instinct. Mr Ross added a hope that the future years would be more prosperous for the primary and secondary industries, and assured the society of the good wishes and the friendly feeling of the Manufacturers’ Association.— (Applause.) Sir John Roberts spoke briefly on present economic conditions He referred to Mr Justice Frazer’s latest utterance as a very exhaustive statement of the industrial condition of the country. One item had struck him as particularly interesting—that in 1929 the exports exceeded the imports by £12.000.009: in the year the imports and exports balanced, and in the present year the excess beyond imports was only £1.200,000. This was al] very satisfactory, but before the Dominion was on a thoroughly sound basis factory that in the last few months th? price of lamb had risen from 6Jd to 7Jd or 3s per lamb. Unfortunately, the cost of manufacture in the country was such that the export of manufactured goods was impossible. He would. like to see the costs reduced. It was net a good

practice to reduce wages, because wages were to a large extent the income of the country, lhe tendency, however, was in the direction of a reduction in wages. This, he took it, was practically a command to the manufacturing concerns to reduce their costs, following the decrease in the cost of labour. Manufacturers would probably pass on the reduction, and when they did so the community at large it must have a considerable increase in exports beyond the imports. He expressed the hope that before long our products would yield larger returns. Cheese and butter were fetching mil lions less than they did a couple of years ago, and frozen meat and lamb were selling at much lower rates. It was satiswould reap a benefit.--(Applause.) The motion for the adoption of the report and balance sheet was agreed to ELECTION OF OFFICERS, ETC.

The following officers were elected fiw Hie ensuing year:—President, Mr H. turner; vice-president, Mr S. Bowman; treasurer, Mr G. Black.

Election of lion. Life Members.—The president reported that the committee had recommended that Mr David Andrew (i'iroiti), and Mr Fred Freeman (Minaret Station, Pembroke) be elected hon. life members, and he had much pleasure in proposing that Messrs Andrew and treeman be duly elected. —Agreed to. Members of Committee.—The chairman reported that the following members had been duly nominated their respective districts, and as the number nominated did not exceed the number required, he had much pleasure in declaring these members duly’ elected on the General Committee: —

Dunedin. —James Begg, W. O. M’Kellar, H. C. Campbell, A. Mac Kay. Bruce and Clutha.—H. M. Driver, Walter Murray, W. S. Thomson, and Joseph Mosley. Taieri.—T. J. Gawn. -• Central Otago.—Robert Jopp. Honorary Officials.—C. V. Dayus (district superintendent), C. Weighton, W. D Snowball (hon. veterinary surgeon), R. B. Tcnnent (fields instructor, Agricultural Department), D. Cunningham (dairy instructor), G. 11. MTndoe (orchard instructor), W. R. L. Williams (orchard instructor), S. C. Rhodes (apiary instructor), J. E. Davies (agricultural instructor). Appointment of Auditors.—Messrs Barr, Burgess, and Stewart were appointed auditors. SUMMER SHOW. A discussion took place respecting the Summer Show, on the question whether it should be held in November or in the autumn (February), and it was resolved to continue to hold it in November. Mr J. Mosley expressed the opinion that the stud breeders of Otago were not doing their duty to the society when they did not exhibit their stock in large numbers at the Summer Show. Mr E. C. Hazlett said it would help the Otago show if the Clutha Society went back to its ordinary date and did not take up the dates of the Otago Society, as it had done in the last few years VOTES OF THANKS. Votes of thanks were accorded the ladies and gentlemen who had acted as judges and class stewards for their valuable assistance and the press for its extensive reports of the society’s various operations.

A vote of thanks was also passed to the retiring president.