NOT ENOUGH?

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 145, 20 June 1940, Page 16

NOT ENOUGH?

N.Z.'S WAR EFFORT. PRIMARY PRODUCTION FALL "FARMERS DISHEARTENED." (By Telegrapli.—Prese Association.) TIMARU, this day.

The annual conference of the South Island Dairy Association, the first held outside Dunedin for over 20 opened in Timaru this morning, Mr. H. Meredith presiding. There was an attendance of 80 delegates, who were welcomed by the Mayor, Mr. W. G. Tweedy. The annual report disclosed a credit on the year's work of £1414. The directors recommended that £.522 be transferred to the capital fund and that a contribution of £100 be made to the fund for the relief of farmers who suffered loss in the recent flood on the Taieri Plains, that £100 be donated to the New Zealand Red Cross, and that the balance of £691 be carried forward, j Mr. Meredith, in his address, said the surplne was the best shown for 20 years; the result proving the value of cooperation. He expressed disappointment j at the drop in the dairy production of the Dominion, which could only be j expected in view of the conditions ti which the industry h«d been subjected. ' It was clear dairy farmers had become i disheartened at the disregard of their interests, which had been shown by the Government, and had been drifting into other occupations which offered a better standard of living. The action of the Minister of Marketing in refusing to accept the findings oi the Price Tribunal in 1938, and by so doing denying people engaged in the industry just treatment deserved, he said, the strongest condemnation.. It would be a most eerious matter for the country if the decline of primary production was allowed to continue. Mr. Meredith also criticised the Dominion's war effort, saying it was unworthy of a country which had enjoyed the protection of Britain for a century. He knew people engaged in the dairy industry were prepared to accept whatever sacrifice might be necessary on their part,, but at the same time they expected others to be called upon to bear an equal j share in the task which lay ahead. i