THE GOVERNMENT'S POLICY

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21534, 25 July 1935, Page 10

THE GOVERNMENT'S POLICY

j ADDRESS BY MR T. D. ! BURNETT i . ' I At the invitation of the Teniuka branch of the New Zealand Farmers' Union, Mr T. D. Burnett, M.P.. gave an address to farmers in the Fire Brigade Hall *on various aspects of recent legislation. Mr J. Macaulay presided. As - member of the stock and agricultural committee of the House, Mr Burnett said that the Scientific and Industrial Research Amendment Bill, which provided an imposition of a levy of 4d a bale on wool had caused some comment, on how tne money raised should be spent. In M ™ c course of investigations, Mr W. Mul holland had shown that an average of 20,000,000 sheep a year were lost in the Dominion. Although toe were large, when cnecked up the esti mate was proved to be. reliably correct How to restore this was one ol the first questions confronting the agricultural committee. The North Island members wanted the money to be spent on wool improvement, and the South Island mer?hers desired research and investigation into diseases of stock Although the bill was not passed, he believed it would be brought down later in a more acceptable form for wool improvement and research. . On the ques t'ion of lifting the embargo on imported stock he stood alone in the House being the only one averse to the lifting of it. The whole question was eventually referred to the s.ock raisers of the Dominion, and it was gratifying to hirn that they had been almost unanimous in their desire to have the embargo retained. Mr Burnet traced the circumstances of the primary producers from the p ,k vear of 1928, at which time there were *3 900 registered unemployed, and till a vear after, for every eight jons offering only five men were available. In that period people 'lost all sense_ of land values; young men were buying land at four or live times is real value. The "shock-absorbing" legislation ol the National Government somewhat eased the position, but the collapse of the world's markets made the position more serious for the primary producers Mr Burnett said that the lending departments of the Government had now been brought under one head and money would be loaned up to twothirds of the value of the security, the interest rate being 4 per cent., with an additional 12 per cent, for sinking fund. , , ~ Most of the discontent about the Rural Mortgagors Final. Adjustment Act was between the mercantile firms and their clients. In the ease of the corporation, there was an inducement to include persons outside the Government to invest caoital, which would counter-balance any move towards State sock. 1 ism. Mr Burnett maintained that, the present basis of land values was entirely out of step with the prices of produce. The solution of the position was the successful occupying of land in the Dominion. Five years ago the Government had been faced with two alternatives —the wholesale writing, down of everything or the "shock-1 absorbing" tactics which had been employed. On ;< vote being taken, tne meeting | agreed that the embargo op livestock should be retained. j