WANTED, A NATIONAL FOOD RESERVE.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 March 1920, Page 2

WANTED, A NATIONAL FOOD RESERVE.

To the Editor. Sr,—-The welfare of the subject being the first duty of Governments, I take It that a proposal, which would reduce the cost of living by one-half Is a proposal that is worthy of consideration by the powers that be. Professors of economics, Royal' Commlssons, Boards of Trade, etc., have all delivered ponderous reports on the cost of living. The sum total of their findings is that the purchasing power of the sovereign is not what it used to be. In this respect they resemble the gentleman who, after returning from the seaside, assured his friends In an awe-struel; whisper that "the sea was wet I" Now, Sir, man had an appetite and the means of gratifying it long before gold was thought of, and just why a food producing country possessing millions of acres of arable land should be troubled with a cost of living problem Is somewhat beyond me. Scattered throughout the various provinces of this country are millions of acres still owned by the State, which are either lying idle or leased a' nominal rental for a term of years. ..Wi, 0 » suggest is that, as these lands are non- ro .icioj they should, as opportunity offered, '- into cash and the money used c <- "urcnase land suitable for agriculture, - j 'i.l, and dairying throughout tho various >'i res, these lands so purchased to bo given to tenants rent free on condition that the?' sold their produoo to the Government at a price, say, 30 per cent, lower than the exporter was getting on the Home market. Ths scheme would ensure the contractors to the Government a fair return for his capital and labor, and would cost the State nothing.—l am, etc., FRANK BELL. Toko, I6th March.