DOMINION HILL COUNTRY DETERIORATING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 44, 22 February 1939, Page 8

DOMINION HILL COUNTRY DETERIORATING

ALARM EXPRESSED BY FARMERS CAUSE SAID TO BE ECONOMIC AND NOT DUE TO BAD METHODS HEAVY BURDEN OF RISING COSTS PEOPLE IN CITIES AND TOWNS UNAWARE OF THE DANGER

Th? farming community of the whole of thp North Island of New Zealand, with the exception of the east coast, was represented at at rally at Makirikiri last night, at which alarm was expressed al the rapid rate at which the hili country of the Dominion is deteriorating and at the ever growing burden of costs on the farmer Speakers, which included the Dominion president of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union, Mr. W. W. Mulholland, of Canterbury, said that the people in the cities and towns did not appreciate the position and looked upon the farmer as wanting something for himself. It was the opinion of tne meeting that unless the Government did something to ease the economic burden on the farmer the standard of living in New Zealand would fall. ••The hill country farmer will go first,” one speaker said. "He is go- , ing rapidly now, but unless the drift is stopped the whole of the Dominion will go with him." The meeting, which was attended by 150 farmers, was organised by the Makirikiri branch of the union, it aoopted the following resolutions: M <a) That as a short-term policy Io give immediate relief tnat land taxation, including hospital and county rating, he abolished. -(b) That as a long-term policy, internal costs be based on farming income.” "That the Government be requested to undertake a comprehensive survey of the boken hill country and classify it, according to its quality, into: (11 Land that can be permanently held in production. (2) Marginal land that can be held with some measure of assist- < ance. (3) Areas that have gone, or will eventually go, out of production. “That with respect to class three, a policy of gradual abandonment of the areas should he. adopted and the land either planted with exotic trees or allowed to revert to native forest." Government Has Failed. "The Government came into office pledged to put the farmers position right,” said Mr. Mulholland. ‘The Farmers’ Union claims that the Government has failed to carry out that pledge. Not only has it failed in that, but it is untrue to its own policy and is neglecting the farming industry, shall I say deliberately. 1 almoa«. feel that that word is justified.” The speaker said that some time ago representatives of the union met the Prime Minister and other Ministers of the Crown to see if some remedy for the farmers' plight could be found. The Prime Minister had given a sympathetic hearing. but others had spoken in a way not ~o satisfying. The Minister of Lands, for instance. had suggested something of a departmental enquiry into technical details. "The solution of those technical details can be founu by the farmers themselves if their economic position is found, Mr. Mulholland stated. "The return from land to-day, especially the land held by the sheep farmer, is not sufficient to meet expenses. There is not sufficient income to allow him to meet his expenses and allow sufficient expenditure on the maintenance of his farm so that it will produce to tne maximum of its capacity. There is <« big section of the community, of the Government's policy, which io being forced into organisations. That section is said to total 250,000. who. through force of necessity, aiv organised. Unless the farmers art organised more and more of then <r£ins Will be taken to support tnat portion of the population which doe> not add to the sum of production. It those people are to get more from tac total pool of production we will gel lass.” Costs at Too High a Level. Mr. Mulholland said that the belief had grown up that the farmer was getting everything for himself and that wrong view had to be corrected. ‘What is the cause of the present position of the farmer, he

1 asked. “Are prices so bad as lc create a crisis? Over a standard measured by the years you have to admit that they are not. By a criterion of years our prices are not at such a low ebb as to be critical. Il is on the other side of the ledgei that the trouble lies. Costs are at such a level that we cannot meet them. What are costs? They can be divided into three main items: (1) The things the farmer has to buy outside nis farm: (2) lhe direct wages he has to pay; (3) his payments to the Government. Somebody will say that I have left out interest and rent. It is the fourth dimension in costs to-day, but there are so many farms that cannot afford to pay one penny of rent or interest. •’There is the eriect of Government policy on lhe things a farmer has lo buy outside his farm, and there is an ' effect too on the wages he pays, but of all these increasing costs it is what the Government is taking from j us that is the greatest burden and i trial to the farmer. Consider the position as you see it individually, what you pay in direct taxation- ' rates, land tax, income tax —and you (will find that it will pay a consider- ' able portion of your w ages bill. 1 : would not be surprised it it exceeded 50 per cent, of the wages you pay. if you were relieved of Government dcjrnands to-day you could pay fifty per | cent, of the wages, and 1 think I 4m understating the case. Some of the ! charges the Government makes, of ' course, are justifiable, but there are quite a a number which are crippling lhe farmer and crippling New Zealand. “The position is so serious that these costs must he removed. This is not the only district to feel the strain and stress of the position. 1 have been sitting on the lid in ' some places to keep the steam from bubbling out, including your own district, and I am glad that you held your hand long enough to give the Government a chance to examine the, position. Now you have held your hand long enough and you must demand ' that thp Government get going. Platitudes of No Use. , “Il will not be sufficient if lhe (Government is going to continue to find something that is just a platiGude,” Mr. Holland said. “We must have real action. We must make the Government realise that these are not just words, but that the position is serious for New Zealand. Ihe whole : community must be made to realise that also. We as farmers seem to ue standing alone, the rest of the community looking at us it not in a hostile manner at least with indifference. Why? It is partly our own fault. When the depression came certain things had to be done to keep the farmer on the land. The rest of the communitv looked on what was done as gifts to the farmer. .. . . The mortgage adjustment commissions were still referred to as farmers adjustment commissions. As a matter of fact they are commissions for adjusting the mortgages of the whole country. The guaranteed price is I looked upon as a gift to the farmers. So far it has not been a gift, and does | not look like being one. "The rest of the community feels that it is being looted by th” farmers. I do not think that is too strong a term to use. We must so plan our actions and our words that we do not perpetuate the idea, to show that when we are asking for these things we I are thinking of the welfare of the I whole Dominion, not one, section ' of it. If the farmer cannot produce at the high standard of the past the standard of living in this country is going to fall, and the public itself will lose.” Other speakers were Mr. \\. Horobin, of Waikanae, Dominion treasurer, Mr. Hugh Morrison (Wairarapa), Mr. R. O. Montgomerie < Makirikiri), Mr. I Lloyd Hammond (Wellington Cen- . trail Mr. H. A. Hunt (North Taranaki) Mr. Briscoe-Moore (North Auckland' Mr. Keith Mason (King Country). Mr. A. S. Ashmore (Ractihi, Mr. H. W. Littlewood (Raetihi), Mr W Morrison (Counties’ Association', and Mr. O. Hawken (Wanganui).