THE FARMER'S PLIGHT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 290, 8 December 1932, Page 6

THE FARMER'S PLIGHT.

The case cited the other day of a North Island dairy farmer who was making a loss on land for which he had paid £70 an acre has been promptly described by correspondents as fundamentally uneconomic. Not only was the land cost high, but the carrying capacity and the yield per cow were low. These are factors that must be taken into account in considering the plight of the farmer. The correspondent who criticised this balance-sheet yesterday remarked that "the efficient dairy farmer until lately has done very well, and even with butter at ninepence can carry on and be in a better position than most people in New Zealand at the present time." Assuming that the farmer is not overburdened with land costs, this is a fair statement of the position. Indeed,;, it would not be too much to say that a fanner so situated is as well <off as - any farmer in any country, and better off than most. The public is being asked to sympathise with the farmer, and no one questions that he deserves sympathy. The Government has adjourned Parliament mainly in order that the best method of helping him may be determined. It should be pointed out, however, that other classes in the community are suffering as well. Many a townsman has lost all, and has no farm produce to help to keep himself and his family. The number of unemployed approaches the number of farms in the Dominion. The farmer is well off in these rcspects, that ho has a home to live in and food to eat, Avith the prospect of better things if prices rise. He has, in : short; a job, and is not exposed to the corroding influence of long-continued idleness.. In the readjustment of his position a great deal of money has been lost, and will be lost; but to suggest that his position was hopeless is an unwarranted and dangerous exaggeration.