FACIAL ECZEMA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 June 1938, Page 3

FACIAL ECZEMA

ASSISTANCE TO FARMERS. GOVERNMENT SCHEME. (By Telegraph —Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. Arrangements for granting financial assistance to farmers in difficulty as a result of the recent outbreak of facial eczema among livestock were announced yesterday by the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage. He said that where necessary special loans would be made available on easy terms. “Reports received by the Government indicate that in some cases losses of stock from facial eczema are so heavy as to cripple the farmers concerned financially,” said Mr Savage. “Accordingly, assistance will be given to those individuals who otherwise would be unable to carry on with their farming operations. The guiding factor is the man’s income and financial position generally. Where necessary, special loans on easy terms will be made available to finance farmers over their difficulties. “To enable the matter to be dealt with expeditiously, arrangements are being made for a supply of the appropriate application forms to be available in the district offices of the Department of Agriculture at Hamilton and at Wellington, and these may be obtained by farmers on request. The application form should be completed and sent direct to the Hamilton office of the Department of Agriculture, and upon receipt of the application there an inspector from that department will call to discuss the position with the applicant and make a report on the facts of his case in order that the Government may be able to determine without delay the measure of assistance necessary.

“A small committee, comprised of an officer of the Treasury Department, an officer of the Department of Agriculture and a farmers' representative, is being set up to consider these applications when they are received, together with the departmental reports, and the committee’s recommendation in each case will then be forwarded to the Government for consideration.

“In addition to the provision of financial assistance, the Government has already arranged for expert officers of the Scientific and Industrial Research and Agriculture Departments to make a thorough investigation in the districts affected in an effort to discover the cause of the outbreak and the steps necessary to prevent its recurrence. These investigations are still continuing and the departments concerned are closely co-operating with a view to bringing to bear on the problem the fullest strength of the Government’s scientific staffs.”