FARMERS' PART.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 228, 27 September 1938, Page 12

FARMERS' PART.

IN N.Z. PROSPERITY.

MINISTER'S OUTLINE.

MB. NASH AT WHANGABEi (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) WHAXGAREI, this day. The theme of an address delivered by the Hon. W. Nash, Minister of Finance and Marketing, to a crowded audience in the Whangarei Town Hall last night was that the prosperity of New Zealand was dependent to a very large extent on the production and welfare of the farming community.

Upon the arrival of Mr. Nash, and at the close of his address there were scenes of sustained enthusiasm, culminating in three cheers for the speaker and a stage hand-shake between the proposer of a vote of thanks and confidence and the Minister. Apart from applause, there was no interruption from the body of the hall.

The Mayor. Mr. W. Jones, presided. At the opening of his speech Mr. Nash dealt with what he termed the cowardly conditions prevailing in primary production during the depression when, he said, half the dairy farmers were not aide to meet rheir liabilities because thev were producing too much butterfat.' Vagaries of Markets. When so much depended on the farmers it was not right that they should be subjected to. the vagaries of overseas markets over which they had no control. Proper utilisation of the soil merited a proper return for services. Mr. Nash dealt with the fulfilment of the Prime Minister's promise of setting a price based on the average obtained over the previous eight to ten years, and also with the processes subsequently adopted ill varying and increasing the payout to the farmer until, for the past season, an average of 14.83 d per lb butter-fat had been distributed to butter factory suppliers. This year a committee had been set up to investigate the price for the present season with consideration to three ma in factors. The first of these was the price received in previous years. The second the cost per lb of fat. and the ' ird the basis of a reasonable return to enable the farmer to enjoy a standard of living equal to that of other sections of the community. Social Security. Mr. Nash elaborated the various aspects of the social security proposals, the estimated cost of which would be tI.I.IMMUHMI per annum. Of this /CK..->0(I.-000 would be found through the extra 4d in the £ tax, and of the remainder .£.">,11i.->.00() was already being paid from the Consolidated Fund for existing services. This left a balance of only £l,:i«ia.000 which, he anticipated, would come in automatically without raising taxation, if his estimate of revenue were filled.

"I was astounded at the figures placed liefore me by the Government statistician just before I left Wellington,"' lie said. "Income tax returns showed that in the rear 1937-38 assessable income of over £210 amounted to over £9r>,000,000, or half as much again as in the last year before Labour came into power. More taxation is being collected because the ]>eople are receiving more," he added. An additional £4,000.000 in income tax alone had been collected because of buoyant private earnings.

OFFICIAL OPENING. HIGHWAY DEVIATION. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) WHAXGAREI, this day. Costing £80.000, and providing employment for approximately 1">0 men for two years, the Brynderwyn deviation of the northern State highway was officially opened by the Hon. W. Xash, Minister of Finance and Marketing, yesterday afternoon. Mr. Xash remarked that one of the outstanding features that he had noticed during his tour was the great development that' was proceeding in the farm lands of the north. He had realised from the production figures of the area that this development was proceeding, but he had no idea until he came through the area that it was proceeding at such a pace. A feature that had surprised him when studying dairy company accounts was that transport costs had been reduced during the past 10 years, and he attributed this tt> the improvement in the roading system of the country. Mr. Xash cut the ribbon that had been stretched across the Piroa stream bridge at the boundary of the Otamatea and Whanparei counties, and in doing so declared the road open for traffic.