GUARANTEED PRICE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 June 1938, Page 7

GUARANTEED PRICE

HON. P. FRASER ALLEGES MISREPRESENTATION

REPORT IN NEWSPAPER CHALLENGED.

NO REFERENCE TO FUTURE YEARS.

(By Telegraph—Press Association.) * GISBORNE. June 10.

A charge of deliberate misrepresentation in regard to the guaranteed price was made today by the Minister of Education, the Hon P. Fraser. He referred to a report published in a Wellington newspaper in connection with Mr Fraser’s statement at Ruatoria on the guaranteed price. “I have seen the message published in Wellington.” he said. “It is just another instance of deliberate misrepresentation by this newspaper. The intention to mislead is more pronounced in this case than in most others. It was done by introducing the following words that were never used in any way by me: ‘The distribution to the farmers of the surplus in the DairyIndustry Account is not part of the Government's policy, but is merely a special arrangement foi - the current year.’ Then by inferentially attributing their sentiments to me the impression was created that I was making reference to the future application of the Government’s policy.

“I did, not make any reference to future years or the future policy, for that had been made plain by the Prime Minister in his announcement at the Wellington provincial conference of the Farmer's Union. I did point out that the Labour Party had gone as far as it possibly could to ensure that the farmers were treated fairly and, although it had been the announced policy of the Labour Party prior to the last general elections that under the guaranteed price system the surplus of one year would be placed against possible losses in other years over a period, the Government had ■ decided to go much further than its announced policy by giving the producer the best possible return and was going to distribute the surplus among them, and that despite the fact that there had been a loss of £300,000 the previous year.” In the course of an address at Gisborne the Minister explained that what he said previously was that it would not be fair to debit the dairy account with last year's loss. This year there was likely to be a surplus of £500,000 and as prospects seemed quite good the Government would not put its policy into. - operation during the present year. He had said nothing about future years, but was dealing with the past, and present years. He did not indicate what would be done in future years. The Prime Minister would announce that in due course. POLICY SET ASIDE MR TREADWELL’S CRITICISM.

“FARMERS NOT SO SIMPLE.’

(By Telegraph—Press -Association.) MARTINBOROUGH. June 10.

The opinion that the farmers were not so simple as to be misled by the Government’s decision to pay out the surplus in the Dairy Industry Account was expressed by Mr C. A. L. Treadwell in a public address here tonight under the auspices of the Nations*! Party. The Minister of Finance had previously told the farmers, said Mr Treadwell, that they would not receive the surplus. But this was election year and that promise ox - threat had gone by the board. Today the Prime Minister and Mr Nash stated that this yeax - the surplus would be paid to the farmer. “The Government itself must be simple to imagine that this sort of buffoonery will be acceptable to the man who has produced the butter and milk and who needs to know something of the future policy and not live from hand to mouth or year to yeax - according to the vagaries of the political situation.”

Moreover, added Mr Treadwell, this change was also a striking condemnation of the guaranteed price scheme. It originally provided for the retention by the Government of any surplus. That was the scheme. Whether - it was agreeable to the farmer was not the question. What was now known was that it was not to be carried out thas year. The Government now realised that ill-conceived schemes, apparently prepared by non-experts and propounded as a part of a Socialistic plan, was not acceptable to the public of New Zealand and not practical to those concerned. They were trying to stop the landslide and were beginning to promise anything. It was a case of a drowning man clutching at a straw. The next promise no doubt would be to the civil servants that they will not come under the general superannuation or pension scheme.