NO SUBSIDY SOUGHT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 April 1939, Page 3

NO SUBSIDY SOUGHT

FARMERS’ UNION TALK WITH PREMIER. MR MULHOLLAND’S DENIAL. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, April 20. A denial that he had discussed a subsidy with the Prime Minister, Mr Savage, was made by Mr W. W. Mulholland, president of the New Zealand Farmers' Union, in a statement before the North' Canterbury executive of the union. Mr Mulholland said that a summary published with a report of his recent interview with Mr Savage had given the impression that he had asked for a subsidy of from £5,000,000 to £7,000,000. “I am afraid that people got the impression that I asked for a subsidy,” said Mr Mulholland. "Subsidies were never discussed. In the body of the report the position was stated correctly, but in a summary at the top of the report, which was sent throughout New Zealand by the Press Association, an unfortunate impression was given. "The figure of £5,000,000 to £7,000,000 was mentioned in an interview,” said Mr Mulholland, u “but it was merely by way of illustrating what a guaranteed price would mean. Mr Savage raised the question of a guaranteed price but officially, because he had no instructions to do so from the union, Mr Mulholland could not discuss it. He did discuss it informally and told the Prime Minister that the experience of dairy-farmers did not suggest that the solution of sheepfarmers’ difficulties lav in a guaranteed price. “I said that £5,000,000 to £7,000,000 would be necessary to finance a guaranteed price,” said Mr Mulholland, “and asked if the Government could find that amount. That was the only reference to money. I also asked Mr Savage to let me have a memorandum of what he thought could be done and how it could be done. The report itself makes that quite clear, but the summary was misleading. It is very unfortunate that all over the country' an entirely misleading summary of the interview has been published. I hope my explanation will be given as wide a publicity as the erroneous summary.”