DOMINION TOPICS

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 34, 3 November 1934, Page 20

DOMINION TOPICS

Relief for Farmers. The farmer receives about 2d per pound on butterfat owing to the high exchange; this is provided by the whole population. Interest rates have been compulsorily lowered to assist primary producers, and farmers’ rates are now ■to be cut by 121 per cent, at the cost of the taxpayer. Other doles and loans are to be provided, but dairy farmers cannot be treated as a class that must be supported by the rest of the community, even if money were available, which it is not. If farmers' are not satisfied with the assistance already given and promised, the discontented ones must .turn their attention to other pursuits, where their talents will meet with a fitting recompense. The vast majority of dairy farmers are not in this class. — “Taranaki Herald.”

Southland Cheese. If, as a result of the Dairy-Commis-sion’s report, there is a more liberal treatment of the marketing of New Zealand products, it is possible that those who are in control of the Government will see that Southland, by virtue .of its excellence in cheese manufacture, by virtue of the establishment of its brand and a goodwill under it, can lead the rest of New Zealand to the attainment of a higher level in cheese manufacture. The idea has been that cheese should be sold as a New Zealand article, and this has resulted in a general levelling down of a system by which any district or province can demonstrate that high quality and ensure higher prices will, undoubtedly lead other districts to copy the methods of the successful area.—“ Southland Times.”

Community Life. There is a good deal of truth in the opinion expressed by the Mayor of Hawera, Mr J. E. Campbell, at the banquet of the Hawera Literary and Debating Society. A district, he said, “was known by its social clubs,” and the number and vitality of such organisations throughout Taranaki is proof that the truth of Mr Campbell’s observation is generally recognised. Nor is that recognition confined to the towns. Such organisations as the Women’s Division of the Farmers’ Union, Women’s Institutes, Horticultural Societies, and A. and P. Societies, to say nothing of the numerous organisations for sport and pastimes, all emphasise the social side of their particular functions. It is good for the community that this should be so, especially in times when specialised social work is confronted with unusual economic difficulties. —“Taranaki Daily News.”

What is Desperation? Where is desperation point? The phrase is greatly overworked. Mr Polson speaks of the “desperate condition” of the New Zealand industry, but the Dairy Commission has not dwelt on this point and, in fact, it says that if “fanners were enabled to refinance on more’favourable terms and at lower rates of interest a 'large number- of those now in financial difficulties” (and this number is estimated at no more than 50 per cent) “would be re-estab-lished on a more secure basis”; but that “in still other cases the finances are so unsound at any level of interest rates that it is unwise to allow the present position to continue.” The Commission s recommendation at least had the merit of helping those who needed it, but Mr Polson’s proposal, like high exchange, would greatly assist those who stood in no need of assistance.”—Christchurch “Star.” Gur Butter and Tooley St.

The consumption of butter has developed enormously in the United Kingdom, which imported double the butter in 1933 it bought in 1924. But despite the efforts of the Dairy Board, New Zealand’s sales in England have no more than kept pace proportionately with f'he increasing consumption. There is such a thing as Empire sentiment, and New Zealand should have made greater progress in the British butter market than it has; but when it meets well-inbrenched private enterprise and individual initiative with a combination, it faces inherent disadvantages that outweigh the gains of its marketing system. If the attitude of Tooley street interests had been different, the taste of the British public for our brt-.-ter would have been cultivated and developed far more than it. is at present, and the industry would not be in its languishing state.-Chnstcburch “Sun.”

Loans for Public Works. The discussion on the Government’s loan proposals was uninspiring. Ministers spoke without enthusiasni od critical members without conviction. The Prime Minister declared that “the time for public works was in a time of depression when men had difficulty in. finding work elseyhere,” but it has taken him three years to discover this fact, and in the meantime a large proportion of the workers have been maintained in simple comforts out of compulsory contributions from the remainder. The Government’s first reaction to the depression was to shut dewn extensive public works and to place the rest under relief conditions. On the lowest computation during the past four years x an ayerage of £6,000,000 has been spent annually on relief measures, and if we add to national and local schemes the financial assistance given by public-spirited citizens. The expenditure of these millions leaves us worse off than we were at the beginning, so that there must be something radically wrong with the treatment.—“ Southland Daily News.”. The Police Reserve.

The Labour Opposition in Parliament would have been very neglectful of a chance if. in considering the Police Estimates, it had failed to protest its indignation against the formation of a police reserve. It was natural that some sinister significance should be found in the commonplace proposal to give partial training to 350 men, divided between the four cities, who would be able to assist the police in an emergency and at the same time provide a reservoir for the recruiting of the force. The mildest objections to the plan were that there was no need for it, that the existence of such auxiliaries would lead to dissatisfaction in the regular police, that it would make promotions for some men and close them to others, and that it would probably cost more than was provided for it. All those were reasonable points for debate and explanation, and the explanations given were reassuring. As such points were not, however. very effective ones for displaypurposes, suggestions were added that the proposal was the beginning of a “spy system.” an “insult to law-abiding people"” In all this the Opposition did protest too much.—Dunedin “Star,”

New Zealand Airmen. The chief value of the flight of these two pilots (McGregor and Walker) lies in the vindication they have provided of the merits of the small machine. Compared with the De Haviland Comet and the Dutch cruiser, the Miles Hawk monoplane is a mere midget, but it stands as a fair representative of the average machine in civil use in New Zealand and ether countries where aviation has not reached the high degree of develonment shown in Britain, America and Holland. The race for the New Zealanders has been a gruelling experience, calling for high qualities of endurance. That endurance, however, has been shown by men and machine alike. —'“Waikato Times.” “Fair Trading.”

Arbitrary Legislation. Part IV. of the Bill says literally that the Governor-General may by Or-der-in-Council make ail such regulations as he may consider necessary for the economic welfare of New Zealand. These regulations must, be laid before Parliament, and if they are not validated by legislation they will expire on the last day of the session; but there is nothing to prevent them from being gazetted again the day after Parliament rises, and they will then continue in operation until the last day of the succeeding session, so that a Government with a complacent majority in the House —and all majorities are complacent in these days—could simply govern and control all the phases of primary production. and export without bothering its collective head about Parliament or the public.—“ Christchurch Times.”

Cheap Money. Lenders are competing with one another for safe channels of investment, and the Government and all sound local authorities are in a position to take full advantage of this state of affairs. Never before have they been offered funds on such favourable terms; never before has the country known such an accumulation of investible funds. Had it been possible to undertake the large construction schemes of the last decade under such easy money conditions, the resultant saving would have amounted to a substantial sum. Estimates are always liable to be exceeded when costs and prices are rising, labour is scarce and money is dear, and the reverse should be equally true. The mistake made by governments in the past has been to force the pace when everyone else is forcing it, and this leads to a reaction which in recent years has been particularly severe.—“ Auckland Star.”

A Right to Protest. As a junior partner in the Empire, the destinies of which have not yet been placed in the hands of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Board of Trade, New Zealand is bound to protest against both quota restrictions and a levy. There is plenty of room in the market for both the British and the Dominions’ farmer, provided foreign supplies are controlled. The Britisu farmer first and the Dominions' farmer second was the principle of Ottawa, and Mr. Elliot and Mr. Runciman have no sanction for changing it. Their policies have led to a perplexing situation of the kind with which planners are becoming somewhat familiar .in various countries. But if planning there must be, surely the first effort should be in the direction of Empire planning. 'The common, interests of the countries of' the Commonwealth, demand it. —“New Zealand Herald.” New Zealand Fisheries.

No doubt, like many other industries during the ptist few years, sea fishing has not been over-lucrative, or perhaps, even remunerative;.but that aspect must be regarded as a passing phase. It would seem that the future offers a great opportunity for the development of the-fish canning and freezing industry. Assuredly, it could not be said that the State has neglected the development of fisheries, because it has taken various steps to preserve and stimulate the industry. In 1919, for instance, with the object of affording some financial relief to the industry, the Fishing Industry Promotion Act was passed. However, it is interesting to notice that very few applications for loans under this heading have been received. There should be, however, enough initiative amongst the people connected with the fishing industry, to render general State control unnecessary.—“Timaru Herald.”

New Zealanders may feel aggrieved when Canadians discover that they do not require as much New Zealand blitter as thev have been taking in the past; but they will find it very hard to show that it is "unfair” of Canadians to reach such a decision. Last year New Zealand bought substantial quantities of cigars from Cuba; but the Cubans omitted to return the compliment, by importing some commodity from New Zealand. Is this "unfair” and should New Zealanders give up smoking cigars until the Cubans .consent to eat New Zealand butter? The idea of fair trade would, if rigidly applied, reduce international trade to international barter; and that, from any point of view, would be a retrograde step. It should be added that for New Zealand retaliation as an instrument of trade policy is particularly dangerous. Her purchasing power is so small and her need for markets so great that in any trade war she must be a heavy loser. —“The Press,” Christchurch. Farm Legislation.

It is undesirable, and iti should be recognised as undesirable, that legislation bestowing extraordinary powers on a new department of State should be passed if, as might be inferred from what the Minister of Agriculture said, Mie real object is to reconstitute the Dairy Board since the industry has lost confidence in the existing body. After all, the Bill that is .before Parliament does not grant the industry the financial relief for which, with a confused voice, it is crying. The Leader of the Opposition adroitly seized upon this point when, in a speech which was a patent bid for farmers’ support for his party, he proposed the rejection of the measure. The guarantees which Mr. Savage would offer the dairymen would transfer to the rest of the community the whole of the losses that are made on the production of butterfat at existing prices and would create an economic structure that would inevitably break down under its own weight.—“Otago Daily Times.”