CO-OPERATION OF FARMERS

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21726, 7 March 1936, Page 18

CO-OPERATION OF FARMERS

rfr“* ; ,/ / GOVERNMENT TO RECEIVE PULt SUPPORT

SOLVING PROBLEM OF COSTS

(PRESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM-)

WELLINGTON. March 6. A promise that the New Zealand! Farmers’ Union would co-operate with. ■ the Government and assist it whereever possible was made by the president (Mr W. J. Poison, MJP.) when i addressing a meeting organised by the, Makara-Hutt Valley branch of the union at the Wallaceville Laboratory to-day. ' Mr Poison said that during the last few months there had been-a sort of social revolution, in the Dominion.. There was a complete change ot Government. and a new tormute was to be applied.by a party which had given a great deal of time and thought to whet it proposed doing. The .Farmers’ Union was going to be as helpful as possible and would give what advice it was capable of giving to a Government, whichever it was. “We are adopting that plan w|tb the Government in power to-day,” he said. The Farmers’ union was tied to, no party, out was out to do tho bast tor the farmers, “We do not agree, possibly, that the plan the Government i$ putting into effect is the beet plan,” he continued. He believed in the costs of production being kept down as low asposeible, and in not being allowed to rise. The union had always tried to maintain the position and prevent undue Increases in costs, which the farmer could- not pass on, as ‘ other sections of the community could. The (government of the day said if that could not be escaped from, then it must give the farmer some compensation, namely, guaranteed prices. That raised all sorts of problems in economics and many claimed the scheme was not workable, “But.” said Mr Folson, “here is a Government returned by a huge majority; so we are determined to give them all the support .we can, so that no one can say we put a sprag in the wheel." Mr Poison said that all the farmers were anxious to pay their workers the best wages they could, and they were not proud of the fact that they paid the lowest wages of any of the primary producers. The dairy farmer, his wife, and children had to work long hours, seven?days a week, and how they were going to combine increased wages and lower hours was not yet clear to him. However, those were matters in which the dairy industry itself had a. voice.

The union was consulting farming interests and in a week or 10 days’ time, it was hoped to give the Government consolidated advice from all sections of the industry.