Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1939. GUARANTEED PRICE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 60, Issue 45, 2 December 1939, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1939. GUARANTEED PRICE.

The discussion at the Dominion Conference of the Dairy Board both before and after the receipt of his reply to the three questions put to him ought to convince Mr Nash that the complaints made by various sections of the farming community are not to be removed simply by appeals to the producers for co-operation with the Government in meeting the extraordinary demands caused by war conditions. Everywhere there has been evident eagerness to assist in rendering ail possible support to Britain in the struggle for international freedom, but if that spirit is to be availed of it is essential that the Government should not neglect any means of remedying conditions that hinder the full development of the farming industry. When the guaranteed price for dairy produce was introduced there were many farmers who believed that their trials and difficulties would be overcome, but they have since realised that something cannot be got for- nothing. The difference between the price received from the British importers and the actual return to the farmer had to be met by the general community so that any advantage was offset by increasing costs of production. When he received the questions at the conference Mr Nash resorted to the stock argument of the Government; that a threat had been held up to it.' Presumably this was in reference to the remark by the chairman that unless the Government was prepared to review, in the light of recent costs, the prices announced for the current season the conference must indicate to the Government its inability to accept responsibility for what might happen within the industry itself. Wherein lies the threat? Apparently in the withholding of an assurance that whatever the weakness of the Government's proposal, the conference would support it to the full. The fact of the matter is that the present dissatisfaction may be traced back to the 1938-39 season, when the Minister of Marketing on his own responsibility reduced the price from the figure recommended by an advisory committee appointed by the Government. The producers naturally demand that the price under the guaranteed system shall be sufficient to cover the cost of production and enable them to enjoy a standard of living comparable with other sections of the community, promise of which led many dairy farmers to accept with joy a method of finance that a little reflection would have shown was a delusion. In the meantime the dairy account is imposing such a burden on consumers of butter m the Dominion that when the- people realise the impost on each pound they eat Mr Nash will find his difficulties greatly increased.