FARMERS AS BORROWERS

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 75, 26 September 1932, Page 10

FARMERS AS BORROWERS

< LACK o¥ CONFIDENCE

Probably .the. most important barrier to'be'oyercoine'm-the depression is the question of' confidence.) Legislators overlook .the .important, fact that legislation that tended to: destroy confidence or to prevent-.a revival of confidence also delayed rec6very,">'said^Hr. A. C. Davidson, General Manager- of' the Bank of New South Wales, in addressing producers in Sydney. "If a farmer wants to enter into an. engagementto-day, how can the lender safely give' him' assistance after the experience of the last-two or three years? He might. enter: into quite a reasonable .contract'to-day, and have it varied by force-within- a few months. "One of ,the great difficulties in Australia,' -Mr. Davidson continued, "is that we have not: been through some of the dsastrous '.experiences of some of the smaller -countries of Europe and other parts of the,world. There are very few men living.who vhave faced a situation where credit, does < hot' exist. But it is quite, possible'that could happen, and that such interference by the Legislature would put the business community-as well as the producing?interests: of Australia in the Position that they could not obtain credit. All of us recognise that many farmers require to have their conditions ameliorated in view of the tremendous falls in export prices, but don't let us drop the substance for the shadow. We must try to maintain confidence—build it up and pursue a policy to try to stop the drop in and restore the prices to the higher levels,, and then we can take lip the question of. meeting individual conditions which have been made too hard owing to the drop in prices. : "I think all of you will realise that you can have plans offered to you to help the men who were out on the margins of wool and wheat production which will not help them -in the long run, but prove a burden upon the individual and upon the community." - . '