FARMERS’ BURDEN

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 200, 21 May 1931, Page 10

FARMERS’ BURDEN

Five Main Instances

POSITION OUTLINED

London Market Prices

Dominion Special Service.

Palmerston North, May 20.

“I could not do better than place before the delegates to this conference some of the obstacles which are making members of the farming community baulk and others come to grief,” said Mr. T. Currie, president of the M’anganui executive, addressing the annual interprovincial conference of the New Zealand Farmers' Union this morning. “The principal obstacles that I wish to comment upon are: Low cost of produce on London markets, high cost of living, high cost of production, taxation, rural finance. There is no need for me to quote prices that have been received during the past year for our primary produce; everyone in the room knows them to their sorrow. “Export Prices at 1914 Level.” “Export prices are now round about 1914 level, in fact the tendency for 1931 prices is to be lower than those of 1914. Where the shoe pinches the farmer most is the fact that although these prices have come down to pre-war level, yet costs of production and costs of living have not been reduced in the same proportion, and taxation has been materially increased. ‘‘Generally speaking the low prices ruling on the London markets for our primary produce are due to a decrease in demand for our goods. As the population in Great Britain is steadily rising,_ there cannot be a marked diminution in the amount of butter, cheese and meat consumed, and I am of the firm opinion that much of the demand for these household commodities has been transferred to the produce from the Continent and South America. “According to the ‘Daily Mail,’ 10.000 barrels of Soviet butter were expected to depress the prices of Australian and New Zealand produce still further. The price obtained for this Soviet butter is much less than the cost of production throughout the Empire, and unless steps are taken by the Imperial authorities to prohibit or reduce the importations from Russia, it is certain that prices for Empire produce will never improve. “The Soviet authorities by their ‘Five Year Plan’ have determined to oust the Dominions from the London primary produce markets. As 80 per cent, of the huge population of Russia of over 154 millions are employed on the land, it is readily seen that the dumping of surplus wool, dairy produce and meat on the British markets is going to have a very serious effect on the prices received by the Dominions.

Cost of Living.

“The second in my list of obstacles encountered by the farming community is the cost of living. Although much has been said and written about the cost of living having been reduced, it is found in actual business that the reduction is very small. These costs are maintained at. a high artificial level through awards of the Arbitration Court, and through Customs duties.

“If costs of production are to he affected, it is only reasonable to ask that Customs duties on articles used in production and on articles which are regarded as necessaries of life, should be reduced and ultimately eliminated. Big reductions in t.he prices of fertilisers, fencing wire, wool packs and sacks, must be made, as too big a percentage of the production of the average farmer is eaten up in procuring these essentials to farming. “As the total national income is assessed at about £135,000,000 annually, our taxation bill amounts to about 20 per cent, of our income, or. in other words, about 4/- on every £1 of income goes in taxation to pay the cost of State and local body government. Local Body Taxation. “There is one phase of local body taxation in particular that I think weighs heavily on rural ratepayers, and that is hospital and charitable aid rates. It seems to me that something must be done in the immediate future to assess the rural share of these rates more equitably than is the case at present. “According to the latest figures available about 4S per cent, of the population lives in the country, yet rural ratepayers pay about 58 per cent, of hospital rates. High Rate of Interest. “One of the most serious obstacles confronting the fanning community ,at the present time is the high rate of interest charged by banks and mercantile firms for overdrafts, and by mortgagees on loans. The Government Statistician analysed the expenditure of the farming community very minutely a short time ago, and lie found that the payment of interest. by the farmer was by far the heaviest item of expenditure, representing onethird of his income.

“In conclusion, I do not want to pose as a croaking pessimist, as I firmly believe that with an increase in the quantity and quality of onr produce, and with a reduction in the costs of government, production and living, the whole of the farming community will again emerge frqm the gloom into sunshine. That is, there is little need for pessimism regarding the financial state of the Dominion.”