THE D.F.U. PROPOSALS.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 304, 22 December 1921, Page 7

THE D.F.U. PROPOSALS.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —In reply to your leader of the 15th inst., I may say that to arbitrarily confiscate tiho property of any mortgagee is not the suggestion of the D.F.U., nor does the union advocate the protection of land gamblers. But as readjustment of mortgages is imperative aliko in the interests of mortgagee, mortgagor and public it does propose a practical, reasonable and conciliatory method of readjustment. The method is practical, because of the need to get down to a workable ibasis, i.e., Dhc removal of that portion of a mortgage which is glaringly fictitious, and which renders maximum production impossible without readjustment by the genuine farmer. It is reasonable because of the importance of the farming class, whose interests and utility are ibeing unmistakably halmpered by unavoidably clashing with the interests of a less important class, who in the interests of society in general I must yield; and conciliatory, as the l>arI ties concerned, recognising the preeariI ousness of their respective positions, will come together prepared to compromise, realising the dangerous nature of drifting events and the futility of attempting reconstruction without readjustment. Your contention as to the holder of the land being the only one relieved by the union proposals is nearsighted; the readjustment process would continue down througb all existing mortgages until ft standard of fair value was reached. The assessors of this standard would be the parties concerned in the property, and as each additional transfer made the late mortgagor a new mortgagee, hence relief would automatically follow until the fair value standard was reached. You say the nominal cost of the land bears no relationship to the occupier's loss. Would not the reduction of the nominal cost of the land by, say, 25 per cent., and the consequent reduction of interest relatively lessen the possibility of the occupier's loss or increase the possibility of bis success during a period of depression? I am surprised at your argument of the justice of extending the principle of tilie union's proposals to commodities. Whereas the commodities mentioned are sold subject to public competition, the vast majority of land sales were (during the boom) conducted by private treaty. Whoever heard of a custom of selling a 25/ pig for 40/ on a 2/6 deposit? Or a seedsman approaching a farmer with a proposal to raise the price of ihia oats 50 per cent, accept a 15 per cent deposit and take a mortgage to cover the balance. As to Sovietism, we have no less an authority than the great Lincoln, that where the interest.; of farming are in inevitable conflict with any other interests the other interests must always yield. While the union officials resent destructive criticism we are grateful to you, sir, for your constructive criticism. Our desire is to produce a preventive cure of the financial disease, the crisis of which, we believe, is approaching, and to prevent by legislation a return of the malady, so enabling our primary producers to increase their numbers, to improve the quality of tbeir produce, to produce more, "and to do so cheaply, justifying our stewardship of the greatest food producing country in the world.—l am, etc., ' T. C. GRACE, Pirongia Vice-president D.F.T7.