Finding Finance for Farmers

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 73, 17 June 1927, Page 1

Finding Finance for Farmers

STATE AS GO-BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT’S IDEA (Special to THE SUN.J PALMERSTON NORTH, Thurs. An idea of what the Government proposed in respect to farmers' finance was given by Mr. Coates at the Agricultural and Pastoral Association’s dinner tonight, when he announced that it was intended to devise a scheme whereby some intermediary between mortgagee and mortgagor could be established for the settlement of difficulties. It would not be wise, he said, for the Government to say that it could find all the money necessary to pay mortgages in the country, for if this were so every penny borrowed would go on to the Public Debt and gradually would interfere with the operation of the State Advances Department. “We have to think of an alternative,” Mr. Coates went on. “We want to place money at the disposal of farmers at a reasonable rate of interest, but every scheme discussed must be on the basis of sufficient equity to meet the advances. Figures show that 85 per cent, of the accounts are in a normal position, but the remainder are in difficulties either through paying too much for land or too high production cost. It seems to me that there is far too much talk about farmers walking off the land—that they are going off in droves. This kind of talk is irresponsible. Some have had to go off, it is true, but there is room for the mortgagee to meet the mortgagor, and we are going to see if we can get a sort of go-between, so that they will work out their own difficulties. How we are going to do it I don't quite know, but that is the line on which we expect to work.”