THE FARMER'S VIEW

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 33, 9 February 1927, Page 10

THE FARMER'S VIEW

TARIFF AND PRICES

MR. M'LEOD ON CONDITIONS

TO-DAY

(By Telegraph.)

(Special t« "The Evening Pott.")

BUNEDIN, This Day.

Speaking at the manufacturers' dinner, the Hon; A. D. M'Leod said: "There is no blinking the fact that the basic industries are in a depressed state. You can put up what barriers you like, you can pay wages by necessity rather than by production, and you can borrow money for whatever purpose you like; but should your basic industries remain unsound then the country as a whole must suffer." He believed, from what he knew of the farmers, that if any attempt were made to impose an extremely high tariff the farmers would consolidate their forces with the country labourers and be in a position to return at least fifty members to Parliament. The country worker was not organised in the same way as the town worker, and there was no need for that; but he would certainly object to paying 45s for a pair of boots that cost him 15s before the war. It was necessary to educate the farmer as far as the tariff was concerned, and he was sure that if their demands were reasonable the farmers would meet them. The farmer, he said, had a sharp eye on-the importer -of monopoly-controlled manufactures outside New Zealand.

The Minister pointed out that the wool exports for the year were down by £7,000,000. He admitted that few wool growers who knew anything-about wool agreed that the values that ruled in 1924-25 could be maintained. He himself had received 2s 6d per lb for crossbred wool, and he did not expect ever to obtain such a price again. He believed that wool exports would be up a little this year, though not much. He considered that wool was now at such a point that growers whose runs were not too heavily mortgaged and who were fairly well established would make a reasonable living. ■ Dealing with meat, he said that fat sheep were down 33 per cent, on the values ruling last year. A reduction of 7s or 8s meant a great deal to the sheep farmer. "The farmer has toiled hard during a difficult period of reconstruction,'.^, he said, "and he will not be satisfied until every , section of the community has taken its fair share." There had been a complete 'collapse in the export of beef, and . this also had been a serious blow tg the farmer and the country. .