OUR BASIS OF PROSPERITY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 18, 31 May 1939, Page 2

OUR BASIS OF PROSPERITY

CAN IT STAND THE STRAIN ?

A MORTGAGE FOR POSTERITY

"Upon Its frail strength the destiny of a people numbering one and a hai: millions lies in the balance —unknown, unguessed. Will it, can its simple symmetry stand up to the seemingly unequal strain and build for New Zealand a future such as oui leaders envisage.—A SINGLE OF GRASS." ,{f The wealth of the Dominion is i^ : grass. On it depends our primaij industry, and on it hangs Nesv Zealand's prosperity or poverty, accoi fling to the manner in which the is mortgaged or loaded to bolster 'up the secondary industries which can. not live with the same comfort ar.d security without borrowing from the wealth created by "grass. " Nowhere in the world can dairying be carried on as cheaply or made to produce as much as in our own favoured New Zealand. Nowhere else in the world has dairying reached such a h'gh standard of efficiency and science. And the basic necessity for dairying is "grass.'' Measured in gold, the cheese and butter we produce brings to us amazing prosperity, which has given birth to a standard of living unequalled elsewhere in the world. Whether it be by subsidy or tariff protection, all other industries shelter behind the primary one conducted by the farmer, who to-day is looking askance at the rest of the Dominion which depends on his wellbeing so utterly. A RAPID DfeCXINE "Take away the farmer's power to create," said the late Mr W. F. Mas. sey "and you will see this Dominion decline with a rapidity that will astonish you." Is there a danger of that to-day ! Upon this single blade of grass, which i-, is the farmers' trust to cultivate, has been foisted the heavy liabilities of the Government's future plans. It must carry the huge and unwieldy framework of the Social Security Act, it must bear the shortened hours and decreased production following the curtailment of the working week. The mass expenditure on railways, public works, State houses and a hundred more —all are based on its ability to carry New Zealand forward to a future of unbounded prosperity, CHEAPNESS OF PRODUCTION Striking nearer home, the cheap, ness of the process of growing grass has been curtailed to a marked extent by the increased farm costs which the average farmer has now to meet. Without gt>in£ into figures-, can the Minister of Finance with safety base his stupendous Social Security Scheme on the "growing prosperity" of an industry which is already feeling the pinch of economic pressure from without, and whose very substance is being sapped by more and still more demands upon its powers of production. The average New Zealand farmer is no longer the clodhopper the balance of his countrymen were apt to depict him a decade or two ago. Today he is an alert and ready thinker, quick and eager to grasp and try out every progressive method in . farm management. Above all else he is the most independent individual in the Dominion. These traits have continued to give the farming community a name for its inability to combine forces or to work along one set line of achievement. The farmer is primarily an individualist in his every day life and not being "in business't does no' hesitate to give free and full expressions, to his opinion. The recent elections, however, have served to break down the barriers oi smaller differences and thrown the farmers together as never before. WHO IS THE FARMER? Who is the farmer? To all intents and purposes he is the country's basic the man who by scratching the land makes the earth bring forth her increase. To be a succcssful farmer he in his turn is dependent on his ability to produce more or maybe less than the other fellow. But the whole of the farming community is definitely and wholly dependent on the kindly endowments of nature, and the splendid "growing" climate with which these islands are blessed. DEBT TO CLIMATE Nothing pleases the average farmer more than to be termed "the

backbone of the country." Taken jroadly, however, he is not. As far as our dairy industry i s conccrncd, t is our munificent climatc that derives the title. The farmer is merely 'she medium whereby the full beneits of our splendid New Zealand clinaLe are brought to fruition. Inc."dentallj', it is his privilege to i iroduce and provided rcaonable care is exercised Nature does die rest. This does not deny the far. mer any credit for what he has done or is doing, nor does it in any way dispute that — From a primary production point of view he is the most important per son in the community, but it does serve to illustrate that New Zealand's prosperity in being able to produce butter and cheese cheaper than any other country in the world is due to the rich endowments Of nature rather than to anything man has achieved. WHAT OF THE GRASS And what of the grass. New Zea_ land's climate is still peculiar to her well favoured situation. The grass still remains ready to give quick response to the slightest human encouragement. But the farmer, who is j the only one who understands the j "grass " must be given a, free hand in its management to get the best out of it. He must not be allowed to become so embittered that he will vol untarily belie tihe traditions of his forebears and sit back in the traces. •His independence must be preserved. The elemental feature of New Zealand's prosperity i s that which by providence she is able to produce at the slightest cost, it must therefore be safeguarded to the utmost, for the future of God's own country rests "On a blade of grass!"