The Times. Published on Tuesday and Friday at Noon. TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 1920. FARMERS AND TOWNSMEN.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 512, 9 March 1920, Page 2

The Times. Published on Tuesday and Friday at Noon.

TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 1920. FARMERS AND TOWNSMEN.

"We nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice."

In the clash of the myriad arguments anent the cost of living, we hear much about the elimination of the middlemen, but for the very good reason that they are Indispensable to modern life the middlemen continue to flourish, and also, as a matter of self-interest, they obstinately refuse to be eliminated. People mouth vague platitudes about bringing the producer and the consumer closer together, but they do not, as a' rule, explain precisely how this desirable end is to be achieved. The primary and principal producers are the farmers, from whom, directly or indirectly, the bulk of the people living in cities and towns, make their several livings. But supposing that all these merchants, manufacturers and industrialists went out of business to-morrow. What then would be the position of the farmers? They would still require means and conditions whereby the raw materials they produce could be made into digestible foodstuffs, clothing, etc. Machinery would have to be made if production was to be kept up, otherwise we would soon be back to the cave-dwellers' era. To make a long story short, let us state right now that, were the majority of middlemen dispensed with, the farmers would have to create substitutes in order to enjoy the foodstuffs, wear the clothing, use the machinery, and have the distribution services for marketing theii pioducts which they now enjoy. To do these things satisfactorily, and on a businesslike basis, centralisation would be found necessary, as is the case with the business houses and factories now owned by farmers. Cities and towns, therefore, could not be dispensed with, and neither could the people all be primary producers. When the pros and cons are all weighed, it is found that all sections of the community are interdependent, each being in some way complementary to all the others. It follows, therefore, that improvement in the conditions of life are to be gained, not by attempts to annihilate this or that section—attempts foredoomed to failure—but by co-opera-tion, a mutual giving and taking. This golden principle applies to individuals and societies, municipal governing bodies and county councils. In all our relationships an all-round fair deal should be aimed at, for this, in the long run, will pay handsomely, but sectional strife must inevitably drag all the participants down to disaster, while victory in the economic race will assuredly go to the countries where the maxim, "Unity is strength," is given the broadest application.