The Press THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1948. Wheat Campaign

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25428, 26 February 1948, Page 6

The Press THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1948. Wheat Campaign

As recent correspondence in “ The •• Press ” has suggested, Mr W. H. Gillespie, M.P., would not have to look far for evidence to support his criticism yesterday of the Government’s Aid-to-Britain broadcasts on wheatgrowing. Mr Gillespie criticised them on the ground that they “ contained so much nonsense ” that their only effect was to upset farmers and tend to make them “ indifferent to the campaign for “ more wheat The criticism went to the mark, though Mr Gillespie could have added with equal justification that the Government’s appeals, sandwiched into the radio programmes day and night, irritate

listeners in the towns and cities no less than those on the farms. The truth is that the broadcasting side of the Government’s wheat campaign has been ill-considered. What the campaign should aim at is to bring to the farmers first a practical explanation of the issues involved and, second, opportunities to discuss and work out the problems they raise. It should . take the whole plan to the growers, and the plan, of course, should have the answers to the growers* questions. It should be able to show them how they will get the fertilisers they need, the labour and the plant, and where and how the price will work against their difficulties. Clearly, the field for radio is limited. If there is a field at all, it is not in making emotional appeals but in broadcasting, when the need demands it, facts and figures which bear directly on the farmers’ problems. If the campaign is to achieve its objectives, the best chance, obviously, lies in close and sustained personal contact between its organisers and leaders, particularly its local leaders, and the farmers themselves. That its success may be threatened without that is perhaps suggested by the new tendency to reject the basic price of 8s which the Government announced in November. All sections of the wheat industry agreed then that the price was satisfactory. It “ closely agreed ”, according to a statement by Federated Farmers, with the price the growers had asked. As nothing has occurred since November to invalidate opinions expressed then, it should be explained to growers that demands for higher prices, based on Australian and world prices, can only work to upset the whole price structure in New Zealand.