GUARANTEED PRICES

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 69, 19 September 1938, Page 17

GUARANTEED PRICES

FARMERS' REGRET

NON-ADOPTION OF REPORT

Tnere will be considerable disappointment among members of the farming community that the report ofthe Guaranteed Prices Advisory Com-* mittee was not adopted by the Government," says an official statement issued by the New Zealand Farmers' Union. "Apart altogether from the question of the actual price, the fact that the recommendations of a firstclass tribunal have been departed from will be viewed with regret by farmers. This is all the more so when it is realised that the committee was unanimous in its fin Sing.

"The Government's departure from the labour standard of output agreed upon by the Committee is difficult to understand, particularly in view of the fact that the tribunal had among its members men whose knowledge' of the dairy industry was second to none in New Zealand.

"When one compares the labour reward offered to-the dairy farmer with the rewards offered to the men who handle his produce it becomes evident that the dairy farmer is expected to work harder for less money than workers whose Wages are fixed by the Arbitration Court.

"The Committee gave the Government a chance to bring the farmers' reward a little nearer the wages of the people referred to, but the Government has preferred not to accept the opportunity.

"It should be remembered that a good proportion of the increase will go to the farmers' employees, and also that the dairy farmer was himself contributing from last year's surplus at least one-third of . the projected increase."

MEETING ARRANGED

FARMERS' DISCUSSION

A meeting has been arranged for Wednesday of representatives of the New Zealand Dairy Board, the South Island Dairy Association, the National Dairy Federation, and the New Zealand Farmers' Union to discuss the Government's announcement of the guaranteed prices for dairy produce for the current season. The meeting will be held in Wellington.