The Wool Levy

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21245, 17 August 1934, Page 12

The Wool Levy

The Canterbury Sheep Owners' j Union, at the annual meeting on I Wednesday night, adopted a resolu- j tion. dissenting from the Govern- j merit's prop' :-al " for a ievv to im- ■ " prove wool," and recorded its j opinion that " it should be left in the hands of the breeders, who, " are the only persons competent to "effect an. improvement." This is a misfortune, not because the bill introduced by the Prime Minister is perfect or because the breeders' claim to knowledge beyond the reach or need of scientific assistance is so timid; it is a misfortune because the union appears not to have taken the trouble to find out what is in the bill, what is intended by it, or how it will be worked: appears not to 'nave thought about trying to better the bill; appear-:, indeed, not to want any sort or" bill. We very much hupe to bo pro-ed wrong; but the form of the motto.-., perhaps carelessly woi-dt-a. suggftsv. that the union thinks that the objec*. of the levy is wool improvement, pure and simple. But it is now clear that the bill is designed to provide for every kind of investigation by which sheep owners will profit, and which they should be eager to encourage. A statement issued by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, for instance, mentions nutrition, parasites, disease, and management, tests of cheaper branding fluids, dips, etc., and new uses of wjoi among the subjects of research The Lincoln College ■veterinarian. Mr A. Leslie, speaking at Oxford at the of the month, ob -cted to the bill because it did not, as he said, make ! money available to study the feed- [ itig and diseases of sheep. ''Make i" that alteration," he said, "and it "will prove very .satisfactory, and '"everyone on whom the levy will " fall will be satisfied." Bet the bill does make money aval; >b!e for these studies and r>. r • hes, yet the union was not '• satisfied."

Whether it was aware of the comprehensive provisions of the bill or not, its attitude was strange, j Aware of them, it might have been expected to approve, with whatever reservations. Xjnaware, it might have been expected to press for the sort of bill it would support. But no advance was made beyond this negative resolution except by the president, Mr E. Hay, who wanted to be sure that, if wool growers had to pay, meat raisers would pay. too, and argued that, if the draft on wool were abolished, woo! growers could afford a levy j of Is. yielding £30,000 a year. The first point is sound enough, as we have said before; and it is to be hoped that the Government will only begin, and not end, with wool. But the common sense view is that it is bettor for one industry to lead the \vav than for all to hang back suspicious!v t«pother and wait for : , n agreement v. Inch would be long in coming. A-> tor the draft, it is an undoubtedly good grievance; but n co-operation in the Empire',; wool industry is desired and aimed at. it is not wise to urge proposals which mean, m effort. that British huvers are ' < pay Isew Zealand's levy. It more prudent and more j politic to gain the major end tirst, ] imd work to remove tJio grievance j '-and gam I per cent.) afterwards.! | The defect ot 'he bill, of course, is , : that a levy of 4a is reahy too .-truill : , . t ; K , range and importance of the . jv, to be done. Its merit is that! It .1 t'.<c whole soundly con-j structe . in principle and sets up j : what so. ntkl be—.given a wise choice i of men- -a workable in r rhmcry. It | ! i> a merit which entitles it to such j 1 support as it received from the j I Farmers' Union in North C'anter-! ' burv, a few days ago. and h,i.>. ! received clsew hero, but the suppot' {it has received can do much less, j good than the sheep owners' cold j ' rejection may do harm.