DAIRY INDUSTRY

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 34, 3 November 1934, Page 8

DAIRY INDUSTRY

Boards of No Benefit to Farmer

RATES AND INTEREST “Get on Side With Tooley Street” The opinion that relief from the payment of rates and interest would be of more assistance to the dairy-farmer than the establishment of boards to exercise control over his activities was expressed by Mr. H. M. Campbell (Govt., Hawke’s Bay), when discussing the Agriculture (Emergency Powers) Bill in the House of Representatives late on Thursday night. He also considered the restoration of friendly relations with Tooley Street would do more to recapture the market than boards, in which he had ho faith whatever.

Mr. Campbell said he supported the Bill, not because he had any particular love for it, but because he promised to support the Government in carrying through any reconstruction schemes embarked upon. It seemed to him that when bad times came along they ran to cover and established boards, irrespective of whether they had done good in the past or whether they were likely to do good in the future. There were half-a-dozen boards, and the Bill propo Id to set up a kind of super board. He supposed when the next slump descended upon them they would constitute another board to overrule this super board. Pioneers of Indurtriea

The pepple who had made the primary industries were the old inhabitants who had brought to bear patience,, determination, and business ability. Take, for instance, the frozen meat industry. It was started by the late Mr. Brydone and Nelson brothers about 1880, when the first shipment of frozen meat was made from New Zealand. It was not, a huge success, but the pioneers hung on and it did not take them long to make it a success. Since then they had progressed, solely by'private enterprise, from the days of the consolidated rate of 3}d. per pound to cover all charges from freezing works to London until to-day the consolidated rate for the same service was 1.65 d. per pound. That had been achieved without the help of any board—it had been achieved by businesslike methods by the people at this end working in conjunction with the distributors at the other end. The Meat Producers’ Board had been probably the most successful board New Zealand had, or was likely to have, for the simple reason it had done practically nothing—it allowed the industry to carry on in the channels mapped out for it by capable men. Although there had been many ups and downs in the industry, it had on the whole held its own very well. It was about the only paying proposition in New Zealand to-day. Wool Payable Shortly. Wool, he believed, would be payable shortly, without the help of any board. It had had its ups and downs just as all primary products would, board or no board. The first big crash that he remembered occurred soon after the Franco-Prussian war, the next about 1890, then there was one in 1900. and that of a year or so ago. Such things would probably always occur—no board could avoid them. Mr. P. Fraser (Lab., Wellington Central): What causes them? Mr. Campbell:'Depression after wars mostly. That of 1890 I cannot explain, but those after wars have affected trade all over the world. They will come back again, but from the present one we are beginning to recover. The enormous upset of the Great War and its general burst-up has made it a great deal longer than others, but I feel confident that the world will recover, and is recovering now. Making the Butter Trade. Continuing, Mr. Campbell said the butter trade had been worked up to a profitable stage by the local merchants, in conjunction with Tooley Street. He believed that had they continued to work in conjunction with Tooley Street they would not be in the mess they were in to-day. After referring to the failure of the price fixation policy the board endeavoured to adopt several years ago, Mr. Campbell said their job to-day was not to start more trouble. If the Tooley Street people were able to get a rakeoff for doing a reasonable kind of work,- they would probably deal with us again, and give us an excellent return. They did it for many years, and would probably do it again and assist us out. In that way quite a lot could be done to recapture the market, much more than by setting up boards, in which Jie had no faith whatever. Mr. A. S. Richards (Lab., Roskill) : Do you think the market is still there? Mr. Campbell: There Is not a shadow of doubt about the market being there. The price of Danish butter shows it is still there. Mr; Fraser: Is the honourable gentleman supporting a Bill he has no faith in? \ No Faith In B3IJ. Mr. Campbell: He is. aud that is perfectly clear and frank. I am in the unfortunate position fhat on two occasions I gave pledges, when I first came into this House and at the last election, and those pledges I do not break, but if I come back I will come here with a perfectly free hand. Mr. Campbell said that by the Dairy Board’s price fixation scheme New Zealand had been landed into a deplorable state, a very serious state indeed. The only way they could help the farmer was to relieve him of a certain amount of taxation and interest. He thought he should have considerable,, if not entire, relief, in the matter of rates. When reading was commenced in this country they were built up. with one object, to meet the needs of the country settler, but the position to-day was entirely different—the roads were national roads used nearly as much by the man in the city as by the country settler whom they served. If rates were reduced or wiped out altogether and the charges fur the upkeep of the roads put on benzine and so on, it would mean a very considerable saving to the dairy industry and to the farming community generally. And given the goodwill of Tooley Street there was no reason why they should not be floating along on a comfortable basis. Matter of Urgency. “To-day,” said Mr. Campbell, "we have to deal with the .position of the dairy-farmer as a matter of urgency. I would like to see, if possible, everything in the way of rates wiped out. and to get rid of all direct taxation

except income tax, which in my opinion is the only fair direct tax, and as far as possible work only on indirect taxation, which never hurts so much as "direct taxation. The Government has gone some distance in another way in assisting the dairy industry. State lending departments have been brought on-side, so that they can how make terms with borrowers without fighting to tiie last possible ditch, as they did before. They can thus give a certain amount of relief,- and the farmers can also go to the Mortgagors Relief Commission and get some relief from it.”

Mr. Campbell said he believed that with that help and with the natural fall in interest, which he thought would go somewhat further, there was a great prospect of the dairy-fanners and other farmers pulling through. To sum up briefly, he would say to the Government: “Get on side with Tooley Street; get rid of the rates, or as many of them as possible, using the motor taxation to keep the roads going; and with this loan reduction 1 believe that in a short time we may pull round and at the same time keep clear of the Socialistic evils we are going in for.” -