FARMERS' DIFFICULTIES

Northern Advocate, 25 January 1922, Page 4

FARMERS' DIFFICULTIES

| Tt is n very interesting question that | was mentioned in Parliament last night i.y Mr Poland. A deputation from the Waikato Dairy Farmers' Union recent'ly suggested to Mr Mnssey that. the j Government should pass legislation ] under which sums 'of money rowing on anortgnge could be reduced. Mr Massey'.s reply was that he could not consent to such a measure of confiscation, I,lit wou ld send the Valuer-Geaieral to the Waikato .to tllC " osi " tiom cf holder:! of mortgaged farms. As the result of Mr Poland's question we now know that the Valuer-G-eaieiial ha.s made inquiries, and dt i? gratifying to learn ithat the number of eases of hardship in that district is not so large as was suggested. The Valuer-General interviewed a number of people whose land was heavily mortgaged and who were finding it difficult .to make ends meet, but we gather from Mr Massey's i remarks that he .was not gravely alarmed by the conditions the fouiul. He seems to have done valuable work/in

bringing mortgagors and mortgagees together and inducing the latter in some easels to reduce the rate of. interest they are charging. That certainly scorns to be .the reasonable way of meeting present difficulties. A great mary farmers are in iin uncomfortable position .because (the produce of their farms i ; not returning sufficient income to enable them to meet (their current obligations, but tihafc does not mean that they ifnust repudiate their debt*. If their expenses, including thv interest bill, can be reduced they will be 'able to keep themselves afloat until t'hc tide of prosperity begins to llow again. A certain number of would-be farmers who have bought land at booan prices and a number of speculators wih;o have been left with land on tbeir hands must come to grief. They will have to seek refuge in bankruptcy a.nid leave their holdings to the mortgagees. But the gref.t majority of <<he piople who hold farm lands, perhaps three-qua liters or even four-fifths of them, though itJiey may be temporarily embarraissed, are not in a hopeless position. They 'are endeavouring to meet the present conditions by reducing their expenses, and as market prices improve and cost of production decreases they will gradually overcome their -difficulties. They will have to be content with comparatively small incomes, and they .must realise that their land at present is not worth the .high prices they ihave had in their minds; but they will not find it knpos- ! sible to carry 'On. Where interest on mortgage.* is pressing unduly the policy adopted by the Valuer-General is .obviously the right one; the interest bill shovld be reduced, the mortgagoee sharing with the mortgagor the entailed by present-day oircumistanccs. Confiscation of part iof the .money lent oai property, «s Mr Massev puts it, would be as unwise as it would .be unrighteous, for it would destroy the whole system of finance upon which progressive enterprise is based. The result would be something dike national bank ruptcy, <and with .the prospects of improvement in the overseas markets any notion that would tend to dislocate the productive activity of the Dominion would be suicidal. The times call for the exercise of forbearance and the display of' courage in order that wha.t aro only trajisient difficulties may be overcome.