WHEAT INQUIRY STARTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 747, 21 August 1929, Page 11

WHEAT INQUIRY STARTS

SELECT COMMITTEE’S HEARING NEEDS OF FARMING Press Association WELLINGTON, Today. The first public meeting of the special Select Committee of the House of Representatives, set up to consider wheat duties, was held in Parliament Buildings today. Evidence was tendered by representatives of the Customs Department, Department of Agriculture and Department of Industries and Commerce. The Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. G. W. Forbes, said that the committee had an important duty to perform, as all sections of the community were vitally affected, and he thought the information submitted to the committee would be of immense benefit. It was desired all sides of the case should be heard. The Controller-General of Customs said that for the purpose of fixing the duty on wheat the current domestic value was taken iqto consideration, and 5s 6d a bushel was taken as the base. If the value was 5s 6d a bushel the duty was Is 3d a bushel, and it rose or fell by a halfpenny a bushel for every halfpenny by which the value rose or fell. The current domestic value also governed the duty on flour. The base was £l3 10s a ton and the duty £3 10s a ton, rising and falling oy a shilling a ton for every shilling by which the value rose or fell. In 1928 the average duty was £2 10s a ton and for the first six months this year £2 19s 7d.

Mr. J. W. Collins, secretary of the Department of Industry and Commerce, submitted figures covering the position with regard to imports and exports of wheat, flour, etc., and the value of the milling industry to the country in capital, labour, etc. The committee adjourned till Tuesday. The duty on wheat in 1928 was Is 3d and for the first six months of this year Is s*d. Mr. D. Cockayne, assistant-director of agriculture, gave as one reason why wheat-growing had become unpopular the fact that the farmer found other forms of farming pursuits more profitable. Owing to the peculiar conditions obtaining in Canterbury it was essential that the Canterbury farmer should grow wheat, irrespective of any other considerations, fiscal or otherwise. To Mr. J. McCombs: If the price of wheat were exceedingly low it would still be necessary for the Canterbury farmer to grow a certain quantity of wheat. One would not view the wheat position with so much apprehension were it not for the fact that the oat crop of Canterbury was definitely on the decline, he continued. He agreed that wheatgrowing dovetailed in with stock raising. There was a general tendency for the average yields to increase. The weather conditions of the past few years had been a factor. Other factors have been the increased use of manures and phosphate. Replying to Mr. D. Jones, who asked what effect a stabilised, or reasonable price, would have upon the production of wheat, Mr. Cockayne said: “I don’t know whether that is a policy point or not, but I would say this, that if the farmer was not terribly scared of low prices he would be more inclined to grow wheat.’’