POLITICAL TALKS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 643, 20 April 1929, Page 16

POLITICAL TALKS

THE BRITISH ELECTIONS CRITICS OF ENGLISH FARMING (Written for THE SUN by David Jones, M.P. ) XI. The forthcoming general election in Britain is a matter of considerable interest and importance to the people of New Zealand. Commercially, it is in Great Britain that “we live and move and have our being. ’* Wool, frozen meat, and dairy produce are our principal exports. The demand for wools is widespread, but Britain is our chief purchaser, while for meat and dairy produce no other dependable market exists. When in Britain a few years ago, business men with whom I came in contact frequently expressed surprise at the intimate knowledge we had of Britain, her political life, financial position, and general trend of thought. They do not realise to the same extent that we do how our interests are bound up in theirs. The British farmer is interested in what we grow, because we are serious competitors. At the Royal Show in Leicester in 1924, the English Farmers’ Union had a large tent on the ground. I went in and made myself known to the president, but felt that his reception was a bit chilly. Questioning him about the extent and character of the work, he informed me, among other things, that they were in a strong position with their milk supply, and had a considerable influence in fixing the price. He continued: "We could do the same with our meat if it was not for you fellows from overseas.' That was where the shoe pinched. It w'as not difficult to appreciate his point of view. He could see the meat and dairy produce from many parts of the world pouring into Great Britain and flooding the markets that his union had a strong claim upon. The average New Zealander who goes to Britain seems to think that it is the correct thing to condemn the farmer and his methods. IMPRESSIONS ON THE WING I went to Britain rather distrustful of the criticism I had grown familiar with. I had met so many sound agricultural farmers in the Dominion who had been well grounded in British farming before coming to make their home in New Zealand. I saw that British stock of all descriptions had a world-wide reputation, and remembered that when we wanted to improve ours we imported from Britain, and I wondered how these things could be if the British farmer and farm worker were so indolent and out-of-date in their farming methods as critics alleged. Ido not suggest that, as a result of the few months I spent there, that I am competent to express an authoritative opinion on British farming, and I feel sure that the average tourist who goes to see the sights and gathers his impressions of farming mainly on the wing is in a similar position. The critics usually compare British methods with our methods, and because they are so unlike they are very disparaging in their remarks.

The single-furrow plough is always an object of scorn. Indeed, my experience is that many critics’ sole basis of criticism is that they saw men ploughing with single-furrow ploughs as they glided past in a char-a-banc. On our large farms and big paddocks, the single furrow would be impossible, but the British farmer, on his small farm, does not spend a great deal of his time ploughing, and it is sandwiched in between a lot of other work that requires a man and two horses. Capable farmers say that it suits them best to do it that way. Of course, on many larger places, the double furrow is quite common. On very heavy, wet land, experience has taught them to drive all the three horses in the furrow, and draw only a single-furrow plough. I have not spent a winter in Britain, but when I saw the amount of hay that was being harvested under exceedingly trying circumstances, the area in roots, and the huge barns where the stock have to be fed during the winter, I realised the amount of labour of a permanent character that has to be employed, and felt very happy to think I was a New Zealand farmer. It is difficult to estimate the value of our climate. It makes up for much more than the cost of our sea carriage on wool, meat, and butter, and I think the value of the land, with

all charges, is about the same in both countries.

I can sympathise with the British farmer in wanting some protection, i but he has practically no chance of! getting it. The mass of the people j demand cheap food, and the farmers' j vote is becoming less and less a factor in British politics. We are apt to criticise the British Government because, while we give them a substantial preference, we are given no preference in return. There are, different kinds of preference, however, and the Conservative Government has rendered the Dominion invaluable assistance by its advertising systems. A GREAT INSTITUTION Tlie Empire Marketing Board set up by the Government, and given an income of £1,000,000 per annum, is a great institution. New Zealand has a representative on it in the person of R. S. Forsyth, London manager of the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board. This board some months ago posted letters to over 90,000 shopkeepers in Britain asking them to give preference in their shops to Empire goods, and inviting replies, so .that the fullest information could be supplied where these goods could be obtained. I have before me now a large pamphlet issued prior to last Christmas, entitled “Christmas Fare From the Empire.” Its foreword says: “This book of Empire Christmas fare is designed to show how the needs of every Christmas table, from cottage to palace, can be supplied from the Empire at home or overseas. It is dedicated to all those who understand how much depends upon their choice in buying.” It continues: “These are the things upon which the prosperity of your country depends. Make this an Empire Christmas.” Then the whole range of Christmas foods are set out, and the British Dominions that supply them. The preference wo obtain through the cultivated goodwill of over 40,000,000 people is invaluable to us. THE NEW PROTECTION One of the outstanding issues of the election is whether the safeguarding of industries, as outlined by the Government, shall be continued and extended. Safeguarding of industries is really another word lor protection. When an industry established to the satisfaction of the board and the Government that a duty is in the interests of the industry and the country. such duty is then fixed. The issue really is whether Britain is to modify its traditional policy of free trade (which policy is supported by the Liberals), or whether a general protection policy should be made effective. The policy of the Labour Party is somewhat obscure. Ramsay MacDonald, when Prime Minister, abolished the McKenna duties. This materially increased unemployment, and there now appears to be a considerable conflict of opinion in the ranks of the party, and to a more pronounced extent in some of their constituencies. One of the most important planks of the Liberals’ policy is a big public works scheme, with a huge borrowing policy to take up the unemployed. The Sydney “Bulletin,” commenting on this, says that if the Mother Country is to copy the Dominions’ wasteful policy in this respect, it will take up the money that was previously availabe for us, and that we would have to be satisfied with the scraps that fall from the masters’ table. So, in many ways, our interests bound up with Britain, and, thoi/gh so far away, her general election ; ,s of vital interest to us.