BAZAAR.

Taihape Daily Times, 17 September 1919, Page 5

BAZAAR.

-1N AID OF THE FUNDS OF ST. MARGARET’S CHURCH, ’ ‘ TOWN HALL, OCTOBER Stfi. I’ The ‘usual stails with apposite 3.353..‘ tiong and changes? also———‘ ‘ - ANNUAL BULB SHOW. ‘ For‘ all information apfiiyl to whez Séerétary, P.O. Box 111. 1 . ,

Kt- ..Itinuud from page 3.)

.-Ne years we have -a record ‘Of: and death duties largely p‘«’~)'3blC by land accounted for £3,395,884: £o!‘ the Same period. Land has to keep up the roads, bridges, streets, contribute largely to harbours and hospitals. \Ve have seen thati by way of Land and ille'=ollle‘tax izwenty millions were handed over to the Government as revenue. A very considerable portion }of ‘the’ balance went to the workers, for the deposits in the Savings Bank have increased enormously, and despite the high cost of living one is glad to see that the ‘thrifty ones have been accumulating capital. CAPITAL AND LABOUR.

It is not in our province to discuss the general question of the relation of Capital and -Labour, although ‘in the end the farmer has to beer the cost of the disputes which occur from time to time; but I think were it not for the gl-iev~ ance-mcngers, the worker would admit that he has not. done so badly out of: the w-.1;-. The expenditure has been eniormous, and we 'h.a.ve been spending‘ our capital freely, and most of it ha§ circulated through the workers’ handé. All the securities we have in New Zealand have -beenpledged to pay ‘she debt incurred by ‘the war. It would ‘take. too long for me to go fully into the question of ' ‘A

VALUATION OF LAND. but I entirely dissent from the statement that the increase shown by tables has been ‘given the lend by the community. It. has ‘-a.lTll(_)St all be .‘.ll cre:a.“e~.i Thy the industry of the farmer, :r.i’]e.d by science and the withholclin,c_,r at “no iv:-111-(2 of improvement in‘ v:.lluil§ the land. ]':‘,very-o-nefivho has land knows 4that lEII arbitrary value absuvdjiy called the “-unim'pn'oved4” V 9.1-13 is ‘placed up in kind, with no relation to theretixrns whatever. To this the Valuer adds a sum for improven.-onts, and those are -gradually, at each viziatiu-n absorbed info the unimp:-ove!d valeu. In passing, I might add one we-:-‘l as to tnese paper values and returns. Fortunately in New ‘Ze 1!-a.‘n(1 a. g-‘eat majority of those fa-rming-=ls an cccu-,‘ pation have .a real love for the soil they ; worlr, they have no des'ire to be tr-mpt-J] ed by speculators———wllo willie ‘a living-', by buying and selling: l~i.lcl~~’o s:‘ll ovt. I On paper their land may -be valued highly, but" when they charge intai-uni on their capital invested, and a reason’able sum for their own labour‘ and management, andhthe labour, r'l"es and taxes, very few make any real profit such as a business man looks for. And: when it is said thnt. the farmer-’s land has increased ‘by so many millions, he does not make any more pr.'ofit_ Suppose the paper value says the Land has increased by $640,000,000; that‘, at five per cent, would mean the farmer should 11aVe.ian increased income of £2,000,000 per annum. "It is very doubtful if he does. I firmly believe -‘that _any increase is more than swallowed up in expenses. In wages alone for workers on the l.a.n‘d there has been an ‘increase of :1 very large sum.‘ According to the statistics of New Zed‘. Hand there are 94,805 males and ‘2.-‘3.313« females under‘ the heading of" em-' ployees.. Even calculating that the-‘ 94,000 males have had 3. rise o'i:"i10/ per week, this alone would amount to over two millions sterling per annum. The fact is that ill-digested figures are

most mislcadillg. OTHER PROBLEMS.

. There are m{a.ny grave problems "to be tackled, which have been rendered more acute owing to the war. There is the serious one of exchange, which has been entirely ‘changed by the war and the disturbance of trade; so that?" one nation’s debts couldncither be paid in goods nor in gold, and this »a.fl"ects production. ‘There is the question} of transport, and how we are to meet our engagements, and how taxation »-is to be levied in ‘do so; how we are. to increase the prcdutztivityof the zlancl. All these questions -affect the farmer, some more so than others, and all alike affect. the cost of living, which is one of the most serious -of all, and in"thc attempt to make a reduction has come out of the farmers’ pocket, often not to the benefit of the consumer In matters of exczliaiige there is certainly one which affects us materially. The more so 'bec'a'.nsc the Imperial Government pays ‘for all our produce in the Dominion, enabling the banks to do 3. very profitable business and have control of exchange. If it were optional whether the payment‘ for our 'lJro-duce was inmle in London or New Zealand, much relief could be given. The out put of gold is decreasing. The 'ex‘port of which has been in the past a factor in exchange. 'l‘o-clay the production of gold is only about half Of what it was ten years ago. If any furtlier contractg are made with the Imllerial Government t~llel'e _cel't.ainly sE°“ld bf‘ on varr:lng'ement by which IJB.yment ‘could be ‘lll-D.(l0 either in Lon'd°“. 101‘ in the Dominion. Exchange _."79-t‘?-‘S are increasing costs in almoSt "’V<‘T)' Case. and even ' our ‘sacks and A woolpa-“ks ‘MO thus l.:l.fi"ect'er.l. The '{fA._m°"i“.a“S'-al'e alarmed l)(‘C‘al1S0 they :§:0:11::ei‘f the cost.‘ of their manufac- . " ' "Wed by the high cost of

Yl‘i_io q:l_e+=t.ionM of twl'an:n-)3--f is also one ofivifal importance. \‘s'l:il(_-"-\'vé must

expect to‘pa.y for the transport of our produce to the world’s nr.:lrket, we must see that an undue amount does. ‘not go tto swell the enormous profits lof the ‘wealthy shipping companies. 1 It would be useless to increase prdduc ‘tien if the value of the increase were to go to otlrer countries by way of expenses, Future freight contracts, if ’_they tare necessary, nTust, in the in~ terests of the State 3H(1illdiVl(]l1{11, be subjected to close scrutiny and only completed after all those imex-vstetl have been in. consultation. 2 Cheaper 'lub.lul:'es must be~pl'O\‘i(lo<l. for mcuh of the and in New Zeal-arrd is dependent upon a plentiful supply I of phosphates. Nauru Islarid, which _is now 2. Britislfpossessiou amt "fortuneattely our repl"esent'a‘tives were able to secure to the Dominion aw. .s'11I11'(‘ in the deposits.‘ If satisfactory arrangements can be made w‘ith -the c.omp.n.ny working trhe ‘islaml, we sliolud have an "almost inexhaustible islipply o‘.’- raw phosphate is to -be converter] -into m:m~ rrres for our purpose‘. ‘Well directed. work is the only remedy. I can

._.______..__.—_—————————.—-—————————- -suggest for ‘all to buckle to, and I feel sure :hat if reasonable treatment is meted out to farmers By the powers th=a.t be, farmers will be able to restore financial stability to‘ the State, and lpoacc and pomsperify to all.-