INTERESTING ADDRESS TO ROTORUA FARMERS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 14, 8 September 1931, Page 4

INTERESTING ADDRESS TO ROTORUA FARMERS

At a meeting of Rotorua farmers held yesterday, it was unanimously decided to revive the Rotorua branch of the New Zealand Farmers' Union, and a meeting is to be held in a fortnight's time to eleet ofhcers. During ths course yf the meeting, there was some straight talk by Mr D. B. Higgins, president of the Matamata branch of the Union, who stressed the absolute necessity of farmers banding together in their own interests. Following the decision to revive the branch, the following resolution was carried unanimously and is to be telegraphed to the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forhes. "That this meeting of Rotorua farmers urges the Prime Minister to call evidence from the Farmers,5 Union for the purposes of the inter-party ec >nomy committee." In bringing forward this resolution, Mr D. B. Higgins, president of the Matamata branch of the Union pointed out that the most important section of the producing community — the primary producers — had bcan omitted „ altogether from inclusion in the de- [ liberations of the committee, Evid- ! ence had been called from bankexs, labour unions, and economists, but the ! Farmers5 Union had not even been aslced to give evidence. The tariffs question as it affected the farming community also came in for a share of attention and uncompromising referenee was made by Mr. Higgins to the necessity for a drastic revision of the existing protection, and removal of, dutieg which he contended were imposing a hardship upon the primary producers of the emntry. Tariffs Question Otber farmers present supported Mr Higgins in his views, and' the following resollution -was carried and will he forwarded to the Prime Minister. "In view of the deploi'able state of primary industry, which has been brought about by protection whereby production costs have become impossible, this meeting of Rotorua farmers urges the Prime Minister immediately to redUce Customs tariffs on the necessaries of life and tools of production, so that production costs may be reduced to a minimum and enable the New Zealand primary producer to j compete on the world5s markets." j Mortgage Readjustmerat Outlining some of the more import- j ant matters which were under consid- " eration by the union, Mr Higgins stat- j ed that the question of mortgage re- j adjustment was receiving close attention. Some people were inclined to attribute the present position solely to high land values, but while he did S not eonsider that a defmite assertion in this direction was entirely justified, he tliought that a great deal of good could be done by effecting a readjustment in mortgage values and relieving farmers from a portion of the burden which was at present handicappng them. The de-rating of rural lands for roading purposes was also another important matter which was receiving the attention of the Union. In England, South Africa, and other countries, farmers had already been relieved frim the burden of rates on account of roads, and New Zealand producers were competing against these people who had this advantage in their favour. Personally, he did not mind paying for his own use of the road, -but he objected to paying rates to maintain the roads for pqople who perhaps came from the other end of New Zealand. TariSF Duties One of the root causes of the present trouble, he considered, were the present tariff duties which were extending protection to secondary industries and forcing farmers to pay for that protection. New Zealand only absorbed 12 per cent of her own primary produce, yet New Zealand secondary industries were being pro- . tected at the expense of the Home market which absorbed a much greater proportion of the New Zealand farmers5 produce. Removal of protection would also put an end to Arbitration Court awards, as under the existing order of things, these would not stand in the f ace of overseas competition. RedUicing Costs Farmers must reconcile themselves to the fact that they could not expect a much higher priee than 1/- to 1/1 a Ih for their butter and should concentrate upon reducing costs of production so that they could put their produce on the Home market at a low price. They should remember that in England, there was a limit in price beyond which many buyers would not go. Faced with the absolute necessity of keeping down living expenses if butter went beyond a certain level they would use margarine rather than pay extra. The aim of the New Zealand producer, therefore, should be to keep butter at a figure which would not force buyers at Home to purchase a lower priced article. The consumption of butter in England was 13 lbs per head per annum while in New Zealand, it was 35 lbs per annum. These figures in themselves showed the possibilities for extending the Home market. Farmers must recognise the necessity for keeping costs down and to that end# the Union was taking steps to control production and prevent overlapping. Reduce Expenditure Another matter in which farmers were interested was in effecting a reduction in both Government and local body expenditure. New Zealand had a tremendous burden of local body debt and in the past, these local bodies had imposed rates without taking into account the ability of the farmers to pay them. There was altogether too much overlapping among local bodies and some scheme of amalgamation which would cut down the present expenditure was urgently needed. The extension of credit to farmers for the purchase of f ertilisers was receiving attention while the provision of cheaper electric power in^ rural areas was also being dealt with by the Union. At present power was much cheaper in the cities where housewives could use it fonr conveniences like vacuum cleaners and washing machines while in the country, they had to do the work by hand. This was a position which must be-

changed ; there should not he one price for the city and another for the country, and it was the Union5s aim to secure a uniform peak charge throughout the North Island. National Debt. "New Zealand to-day has the heaviest national debt of any country in the world,55 said Mr Higgins. "Our debt here is £178 per head while in. Australia, which is considered to be in such a bad way, it is £173. You can see that we have something to do to bring things to rights in view of the fact that in 10 prosperous years., we aecumulated a debt of £69,000,000." In conclusion, Mr Higgins again stressed the advantages of farmers banding together in their own interests. He felt that New Zealand hacl a better ehance if pulling- through these diffieult times than any other country, but before she could do so, her producers must organise and cooperate. A vote of thanks was accorded Mr Higgins for his address and following some preliminary discussion, it was formally resolved to revive the Rotorua branch of the Farmers5 Union.