The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE. MONDAY, JULY 12, 1920. A BOGUS WOOL COMMANDEER.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3525, 12 July 1920, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE.

MONDAY, JULY 12, 1920. A BOGUS WOOL COMMANDEER.

With which is incorporated “The Taihape Post‘ and Waimarino News.” .

The present. :=esSioll of Parliamentlhas already established itself upon a lplane of notabfiiti" by the sensational ; disclosures it has brought about. Wliat ‘will be uneonceivable to most people l with a moral sense, is that the leaders l of the British Empire in London and lthe leaders of this Dominion should l have conspired to bring about such :1 l transaction with New Zealand wool as that brought to light by the question- , ing of Mr Edie, 1\1.1’., :ffew days ago. The whole of the people of this Do.minion were led to believe the, Imperial Governmeht liad comnrandeered, requisitioned the New Zealand output of wool, and now it is disclosed that there was in reality no commandeer, no ‘requisition. The British Government agreed to take the wool of those farmers who were patriotic enough to let it go at fifteenpence a pound, but those who did not agree to sell to the Imperial uutliorities cT)‘uld market their own wool and get from five shillings to eight shillings a pound for it. Nobody could complain about this arrangement if all parties had beerfcognisant of the facts when they agreed to a commandeer that was not a coinmandeer at ,all. Suspicious were raised about the bogus arrangernent. when Mr W~. D 1 Lysn-ar, of Gisboane, refused to sell his wool to the Goverrfifient. and late:-*it leaked out that a few Targe station owners and others had not atlowed their wool to ’go“’to the iirififarial Government, but had sold it privately: on an open market. Questioned aboutl the Lysnar case, Mr Massey said the‘ Government could not compel him to sell to the Imperial authorities but; they could prevent him selling it else-‘ where. There were very few indeedg who were misled by this statement; Mr Lysnar is free. to-day to'sell just where he pleases and there is none to prevent him doing so. Mr Lysnar is now a M.embe‘r of Parliament, and :1 supporter of the same Mr Massey who proclaimed abroad that he would prevent Mr Lysnar from selling his wool otherwise than under‘ the bogus commandeer. Farmers are now disila» lusioned about the ‘eommandeer of their wool; they know, through the persist once of Mr Edie, 1\1.P., that they have been hoodwinked into selling their wool for fiftecnpencc while big sheep~ fariners have been allowed to disregard thobogus commandeer and sell at the current market value. It is past umlerstariding that Reform Members of the House and Government did not fully disclose what was being done by large wool—growers when they start» ed an agitation to induce farmers to forage the half-profit. on that wool gold which was not required for wrmy purposes. Why were smaller farmers ask- l ed to forego the last.penny coming to them over the fifteenpenee when it] was fully known that some large woolgrowers were not selling their wooll at all under the supposed requisition,‘ and. could not be compelled to accept! the requisition price‘! Moreover, whyl were farmers refused the Value put! upon. their wool by the Valuers appoint-_ ed under the bogus requisition to value for the Imperial Government‘! Wool valued at eighteenpence and ni.nC‘reml- - zonly ‘brought ‘its owners fihe lmgus requisition price—~fifteenpence. Tlm sensational disclosure made by Mr litlie should compel a clean brensring of the whole wool situation by the Gov- l ermnenr and the names of_alltllose who wplielizlterl zrml re.~'l's‘led the ('()IlIlll:ln(l(.‘¢_‘I‘ .»-lmuld be ;-ul‘»li.~'llr»*d. The trend of the wo."l«l‘s will is theft there sliall be no‘ .‘%(‘l‘l'f‘l’ treaties between nations. ::-.>

i st-mwl, :m':lng'exllml’rs in politivs. in l)usim-.<'§. in finance, and jwt in t'Olli]>.'(7‘f(' nnderstzmding about 4 Thia Dnminion’s wool-mal'k(‘fing r:::\nlmt 11w 4h'zx_3;,r,;‘(*(| out of eiflwa‘ 'Bl"ll'ish or H'l)onl'uli<:m" Governnmnt. Mr "Lloyd '(’:om'g(-. w:ls l'zl]l{ing :x ’r'o\\’ days ‘ago lnhcmt’ “t’.u_>. zmblu pln‘po:so of human I rJxi:-;lmmr-\.” \\"hu(' is that purpose ho, ; flosignatos yiobk-‘.2 Prolonged and pm‘E.~'i.~'tmlt a,g'it:xl'ion has boon kupt up in ; .\'<-w Zvnland I'o ixl<]xlce Hm :mthm-ities tn stzm: whni‘ the 11:11?-p1'nfif.~' oi: their wool amount, to. In rr'pl}' M Mr Feilfl, in Hl(,'_ House, the ’Prr-mior said he hm] horn inf’m'm(.'«] o{‘fi<=i:lll_\' Hlsll‘ Hm .T’ln-1: pm-ia] Govnrnrnmm ‘;w:ls pr«»p:1-:’9<] mi ham} over .»\ustrnli:l’s and '.\'mv Zen-} l:m«].’s share up to tho. om‘: of M:u'ch,J ]:>..<t year, if g::'m~.'9:'s wmfld :1(-o.ep’c as final Hm Statement of British :Indit‘or:<. In other words the Bv:itish‘Govel'nment states, through Mr Massey. that wool-grmvcrs must acéept what they ‘.ike to offer ’ch9m.’Br' no payment at all is available. What arrangement has been‘ entered into for woolgrowcrs that w:n'r:mts Such an audaciolls proposal? If this is not the very essence of pro-fifct.-ring quile it is in<lev=d difficuli of a‘.nssi.fication.' Mr Edie was dumb-I fmlm‘]m]- hg ggmrj <ga;.'g9'|v i:l",v..<:t his

senses; he admitted that he had been “donc"’ very badly; but why is this whole wool business not Washed up‘? No one knows what» woolprol'Ltslllc»British Caiovernmcnt holds belonging to New Zealand growers; one computation puts it at less than two millions, while others go 45 high as five 01- six inillions_. with further large sums not Yet Wulhutcd. The latter is_. of course, ne.alrer the aetiial amount due, but what is the object or aim of Governments in withholding the truth from those most entitled to know‘! Why do the British mithorities ,tlntougll the New Zcaland Prinie Minister, try to 011170109 3» degrading‘hoiiditioii of paymellt U-POll their legitimate creditorsAccept what we like to give you or you get nothing? The exact mordas used by the Premier in the" House are: "The Imperial Governnient was willing to hand Over to -the Australian Governlncnt the Australian woolgrowers’ share up to March 31; 1919, and, that they were willing to place New Zealfilld gl‘oVV'C‘rs in a similar position, subject. to the statement. of the British -.lu«_litol‘.s being accepted.” It ‘has been Seefed, as with White hot steel, upon the New Zealaud »p.'vosl,'nee_r_'-s’ 121.1301"standing that ships are i.nstl‘unlents in the hands of a tyrannous combine, but is it any less tyrannous to tell woolgrowersb that they will not be paid :-"or their wool unless they are prepared toaccept, without right of question, what the purchaser is disposed to give them? If woolgrowers have been hoodwinkccl into believing that 511 wool was comzqpndeered, that is no reason why they should be dragooned into mecepting any less sum than -they are entitled to under the bogus commandeer. In any case, it is hoped that Purliament will insist upon a clear statement of the wool" position being inado. The Prime l\:[in‘ister ‘mentions that money is available for wool-growers; he does not specifically state those growers who believed their wool had been commandeered under War Legislation,‘ and it does notlseem quite honest that those wool growers who disregarded the so-called commandecr should participate in whatever dividend there may -yet-come to hand. - The cliaractter of ‘political engineering‘ (liselosed seems to run in trust and com,bine ru-ts; it destroys Wllill-CV81" faith there. is left in politicals; it is revoling to the human mind; Lloyd George-’s noble purpose of mankind is more humbug in the face of facts, but behind all there is the disturbing‘ something that must and will eventually‘ control all. that the indestructible human mind and moral sympathies. It is as Pearson s-tate(l: “The will of the collective race is. after all, that which determines its fate. and the (§3§'{pP.l'i,ollC(} of past times shows that the race wills to be free rather than bond.” VVe yet hope to see the wool debt paid to farmers, who"patriotically’submitted to the cornmandeer, ‘in an uneqifivocal, honourable and entirely sntisf’actory manner,