N.Z. FARMERS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 433, 18 January 1933, Page 2

N.Z. FARMERS

THEIR TRUE POSITION OOUNTY CHAIRMAN DECLARES THEY ARE NOT UNDULY FAVOURED. VERY FEW CONCESSIONS. The chairman, Cr. S. H. MacDougal, presented the foll owing statement to' the last meeting of the Tauranga County Coundl, says the ! Bay of ijPlenty Times:— "At a meeting of manufacturers, a Mr. Salmond is reported to have said 'that the Governmeht unduly favoured the farmer, to the detriment of the rest of Ne\v Zealandd This, I do not think, is true. We have had aifew small favours, viz;, the transport of lime and fertiliser at cheap rates, a very moderate sub'sidy on superphosphate and a 121 per cent. rebate on rates. These are all the benehts T cari think of in re'cent years. Compare these with wh'a't the mariufacturing industry receives, and not sp'asmodically, like the farmer, but constantly. Take woollens as one instance and consider the advantages the New Zealand manufacturer enjoys over his only serious rival, the Englishman. The latter has to pay freight on 26,000 miles of transport and when the manufactured wood returns to New Zealand it faces a tariff wall of some 33 per cent. It is a high price to pay for an industry which brings in no export wealth to the country. Meat, wool and dairy produce mean New Zealand's income. Manufactures, until they can fend for themselves, are a luxury." Why Not All Values? "Mr. Salmond follows' in the wake of various Bank of Zealand chairmen, who, in portentous ' ianguage, hlave said land values must come down. Perhaps; but where is the justice of such a proposal unless all values come down in proportion, i.e., costs, manufactures, interest, advanees and wages. Do this and the farmer might agree, but he cannot he expected to acquiesce in a s'cheme which. would lose him everyfhing for the benefit of capitalistic and manufaeturing interests. "At the present moment grazing land is almost worthless and dairy land is fast going the same way. Unless prices ri'se, all other values must come down. The land is carrying a top-heavy load and some. means to lighten it must he' found; otherwise, there will he a smash. fTMr. Salmond seems to think the farmer a somewhat shiftless creature, but if he knew New Zealand as it was some forty years ago and rode through it now, he would see miles of poor country turned into highly nroduc-

tive farms; and this was not done by shiftless fools. Shrinking Margins. "Mr. Salmond hints that if the present breed of farmers do not amend their ways they may be superseded. A Stalin, with Russian peasants, might try this plan, hut there is a fundamental diff'erence between the Briton and the Slav, and I have serious doubts of the success of any such scheme even under the leadership of a Manufacturers' Association. "There is another point, gentlemen, I would like to make. It is somewhat away from my isubject, hut it is of very great personal interest to most farmets. When we pledged our land, /the margin of security was more than ample. To-day, through no fault of our own, the loans are in very many cases greater than the saleable value of our p'roperties, arid much greater than their productive value. Some few may be a.ble to pay interest in full; some can pay in part; others cannot pay at all. Interest, however, is regularly charged at 61, 7 and 8 per cent., and even, if in a few years, prices recover, the aeerued will be so great that the farmer 'will either go out broke, or remaiti as a hewer of wood and a drawer of water. A moratorium would, I think, be the simplest way out of the difficulty, hut I am afraid that this is not at present practical politics and the only thipg we can do is to press for a reduction in ihterest rates." Cr. Gan.e stressed th,e need for lowering the farmers' costs, and condemned the'wheat duties. He thought the council should make a protest against the high cost of interest and goods. He moyed: "That this council endorses the statement submitted hy the chairman." Cr. Sinclair seconded, Cr. Biaymires approved of the sentiments voiced by the chairman. Cr. Gane's motion was pnt and carried unanimously.