LABOUR PLEDGES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 186, 7 August 1936, Page 9

LABOUR PLEDGES.

PROMISE TO FARMERS.

LIBERAL INTERPRETATION.

ADJUSTMENTS OF MORTGAGES,

(By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Thursday.

The Prime Minister, Mr. Savage, in replying, said that Mr. Coates had stated the Government was forcing a price on the dairy farmer. "For the last IS months or two years I have been going up and down the country talking about what, the Minister of Finance has brought into existence," said Mr. Savage.

"1 have been telling the farmers what they have to expect. I told them that they would get ncthing loss than the average over the last eight or ten years. The prices that have been fixed are a fairly libera] interpretation of my statement. Mr. Nash (Minister of Finance) has also told the farmers that if there is anything left in the funds to tho credit of the industry he will consult representatives of the dairy farmers and see whj.t will be the best thing to do' with it.

"We have definitely outlined a price. In addition, we told the dairy farmers that they will get anything that is left. On top of that, we say that mortgages are to be adjusted on the basis of the price outlined. What is there left? It seems to me there isn't anything left. We want to see the dairy farmer get the difference between the price overseas and what it takes to maintain a decent standard of life for him and his family. Pledges to Other Sections. "We have taken everything into consideration. The dairy farmer is entitled to an equal share in New Zealand's production. I have told them that in guaranteeing the price we had to lay a foundation. The guarantee to farmers could only bo sustained by a guarantee to other sections of the community I am not going back on it. I am going right on to carry out the pledges to the farmers and others. "There is no forcing about it. Mr. Coates and others have overlooked the fact that they are only discussing one side of the subject when talking about fixed prices. I think most dairy farmers have a mortgage, and we are not only fixing the price,, but also we are adjusting the mortgage on that basis." Mr.'EL G. Dickie (National, Patea): Please explain that. The Prime Minister: It would be impossible to explain it to the honourable member. Mr. Dickie: That is cheap, coming from the Prime Minister. Mr. Savage: The basis for readjustment is the price the farmer will get Tor his produce. Anyone who knows anything about land valuation must know what that means. Basis of Valuation.

"The basis of valuation is, generally speaking, the average of the prices of the last eight or; ten years. The objective is to get a basis that will enable a fanner to get a living, the average man working under average conditions. That is the basis of the Valuation Department's activities, and that is the basis of the Government's policy. Above all things, what is in the business goes to the dairy farmer or the particular industry . concerned. There may be a period when there is a slump in the primary industry and that might mean a drain on other industries. If' we want the primary industries to live, we want to because it is the only way I can see up to the present of meeting our obligations."

Mr. Savage then referred to equality of distribution. Any gfl'n by one section of the community must he'made at the expense of another. There were people who thought that all thev had to do was to get a printing machine and pump more money out of it «' given time. There were a certain amount of goods and services available, and if one man got more than a fair «hare his friend would have to suffer. It was a redistribution of incomes that, was needed.