Evening Post. WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 1917. A PATRIOTIC DUTY

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 128, 30 May 1917, Page 6

Evening Post. WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 1917. A PATRIOTIC DUTY

The Wellington Provincial -Farmers' Union Conference had to meet yesterday without its President, Mr. T. Moss, who is serving his country on the National Efficiency Board, but the admirable opening address which, owing to his absence, was delivered by Mr. G. L. Marshall showed that the Conference has a VicePresident thoroughly well qualified to preach the gospel of national efficiency and patriotism. The loyalty of the farmers to the Imperial idea, and the supreme value of the services which as producers they are rendering to the Empire during the war, are commonplaces with which everybody is familiar, but there was a force and a freshness about Mr. Marshall's appeal to his fellow farmers on both these grounds which roused the enthusiasm of the Conference and should produce a lasting effect. Mr. Marshall's eulogy of the farmers' patriotism and of the contributions that they are making to the winning of the war was not a mere rhetorical display, an exhibition, of the cheap and easy practice of self-praise. His'object was the severely practical one of stimulating the farmers to further effort. The welfare of the country depends, as he says, upon " production, first and last." The safety of the Empire depends just as much upon the production, of foodstuffs as upon that of shells or soldiers. Mr. Mar-shall, therefore, urges upon the farmers of New Zealand what Mr.'Lloyd George and his colleagues ; have been urging upons the farmers of ''the United Kingdom—the, need for increased production as jL patriotic duty. "I hope," says Mr. Marshall, " that we shall show that we are prepared to put patriotism before pocket—that our policy is ' Win the War,'" and he is confident that his hope will be realised.

The habit of measuring exports by value rather than quantity is responsible for a feeling of complacency regarding New Zealand's contribution to the cause of the. Allies in the matter of food production which is a good deal stronger than the facts warrant. It is not to increased production but to higher prices that the immense addition to the value of our exports during the war is due. When we speak of a great increase of exports we deceive ourselves through the. fallacy above mentioned. There has been a great increase in the value, but not in the quantity, of our exports. From the standpoint of Imperial service, there is no merit in charging higher prices for the same amount of goods as before.. Seeing that the prices are paid by our kinsmen and Allies, it might be more plausibly argued that there is even demerit in it, especially as these prices could not have been realised without the aid of the British Navy, to which the contribution of this country is practically nil. _ Attention was called to the unsatisfactory character of the trade figures from this point of view by Mr. E. Newman, M.P., in his speech at the opening of the Marton A. and P. Show in March. In round figures the value of the wool exported during the last three years was as follows: 1914, £9,000,000; 1915, £10,000,000; 1916, £12,000,000. An increase of £3,000,000, or 33i per cent., in two years is in itself a very gratifying result; but, unfortunately, the quantity of the wool exported has declined almost as much as the value has increased. The figures are as follow:—1914, 220,000,0001b; 1915, 196,000,0001b; 1916, 185,000,0001b. Though our wool brought us in 33a- P el' cent, more in 1914 than in 1916, the quantity supplied was 16 per cent, less in the latter year than in the former.

The export of frozen meat shows a similar though less pronounced tendency, but in the case of dairy produce an increase, of 10 per cent, in the quantity of cheese exported rather more than balances the decrease in the batter export. .What Mr. E. Newman, -M.P., calls "the unpleasant fact" remains, however, viz., that on the whole, as he said, our main products are being reduced in quantity instead of being increased in this hour of the Empire's need. Like Mr. Marshall at the Farmers' Union Conference, Mr. Newman put in ft strong plea for increased production, especially In tho matter of wheat.

Fully understanding as a practical farmer the difficulty in growing wheat, Mr. Newman nevertheless pleaded with the farmers of the Rangitikei "to put all personal feelings on one side and, for the good of 'the country and the boys who were fighting for us at the front, to grow as much wheat and potatoes as possible." Mr. Marshall urged as a special reason in support o£ his plea on the same lines that the uncertainty, of Russia's position has enhanced • the gravity of the outlook and prolonged the period for which we may probably have to "stick it out." He accordingly argues that it is the coming season in which a special effort should be made to maintain and even increase production, so that the check which the country may receive from a prolonged shortage of shipping should be as far as possible counteracted.

It may, of course, be said that one reason for the decline in exports is that the steady drain of men for oversea service has already seriously depleted the supply of rural labour. It is beyond doubt that if Parliament had adopted the principle of exempting industries by Statute, the agricultural and pastoral industries would have been the first to receive exemption. But Parliament made no such clean cut, and its determination to leave each case to be decided on its merits has resulted in a piecemeal and unscientific procedure on the part of Appeal Boards, which were, acting without co-ordination and without the aid of any preliminary survey of the whole field. This general survey is now being made for them by the National Efficiency Board. Had the Board been set to work two years ago, the difficulties of which the farmers complain would have been reduced to a minimum. But without the expert aid the Appeal Boards have already learnt more of their business than when they first took it in hand, and they none of them would dispute the broad principle that the manufacture of soldiers to the obvious detriment of the foodstuff and wool exports is a disservice to the Imperial cause. In addition to wider exemptions, substitute labour and a readiness on the part of the farmers to face harder work and greater sacrifices are two of the necessary remedies or palliatives for the difficulty. If the farmers face the problem in the spirit displayed by Mr. E. Newman, M.P., and Mr. G. L. Marshall, they will (greatly increase the obligations of the Empire to their enterprise and their patriotism.