FARMERS' PROBLEMS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 12, 14 July 1939, Page 15

FARMERS' PROBLEMS

SIX MATTERS DISCUSSED

COSTS AND- RETURNS

:. The ..problem of securing .suitable farm labour was placed before the Ministez's by several members of the Women's .Division ■of the . Farmers' Union. They all stated that there was great difficulty, in getting young men to_w.qrk. .on .-farms because, belter inducements were offering elsewhere, '■-.■ \ .Mrs. .G. 'K. Wilson, Pi'opib, "' 'King Country, said that the majority of the men.who hadi previously-. been engaged on farms were how. on sustenance. She knew that .many r of- them were fit for farm work, "and ..suggested, that sustenance payments should, be terminated and the money given to hospital boards to provide pensions for those--who were unable to earn. She knew of--.one man of thirty-six who was en sustenance, and considered that such men should; be,put to the work they were capable I of doing. ■ . j

■Another speaker said that the dairy farmers were not getting sufficient from their farms to be able to pay for suitable men and had to take those who were not suitable inmates for the' farmer's homes. In many cases farmers had to take poor workers because they .were respectable men who could be trusted with the children of the family.;

THE -EXCHANGE RATE,

In the last' .resort all branches of primary industry relied on the money that came from overseas, said Mr-. W. J. Thomas, Wairarapa. They were not blaming the Labour Government for the present position, since New Zealand, had been depreciating its currency for a long time in its relation to sterling, - • .

They suggested that the Government should bring- costs and prices more into line arid fix the exchange rate through the Reserve Bank to bring about a closer relationship between the New Zealand pound and the pound sterling. If the exchange rate were allowed to reach its true level there' would be an immediate effect on tariffs and the pi"ices-~©i~im-ports. By reducing- costs they did not mean reducing the standard of living of the worker, for whom, the farmer had as good a feeling as any other employer. . •

STAY OF PRQGEBEJINGS. •■■ JSLr. A. J. Davey, Tcmuka; "dealt with th& of many., farmers whose morJEgages had been, adjusted by commissions only a year or two ago, but who were now unable, to carry on. There were others in the same plight who' had not thought there" was any occasion "for them to apply ior adjustment. The Farmers' Union conference had passed the following remii: "That the Government be asked to institute immediately a temporary stay of proceedings against . farmers /in financial difficulties pending the decision of the Government following the Royal Commission's report thereon." They wanted to avoid doing anything that would embarrass the Government, he said. They appreciated the Government's action }n setting up the Royal Commission and intendedvlo co-operate as far as possible, but that Commission. was to deal with the position of the sheep farmers and the remit concerned all farmers; Unless something was done immediately, many farmers and their wives and children would have to .go off the. landl Investors in general'had met the farmers very fairly and the number of men who had actually gone )ff the land was not a true indication Df the position-.

Stressing .the need for..stability in '.he primary industries, Mr. C. C. Winn, AsHburtoni'. "-said-; that •'the first thing needed was stability of tenure. It appearedl that only, a small percentage of the men who were/ producing the life blood- of the country were working on .a \ sound financial basis. Farmers who had had no occasion .to. ask for an adjustment of their mortgages were iiow, unable to meet the costs of their farms. Some temporary action was required to call a halt to the dispossession of farmers until the Royal Commission investigating the industry could report. ,

GUARANTEED PRICE.

Mr. R. J. Glasgow, Onewhero, dealt with the guaranteed price for the 1939-40 season. He offered the thanks and .congratulations of the farmers to the Government on the action takfen to secure a recommendation from a committee last year, but said that the reaction of the farmers, to the Minister's suggestion that that price should continue was in line with the resolution- carried-by the Dairy Conference. Any tiling less than the price recommended by the committee could not t'be' accepted by the industry without .a* feeling that an injitstice had. been done.

The farmers wanted to help in reaching stability'and consequently did not ask for an investigation of the additional costs?" that had accrued so that they might be added to the price. All was not well with the dairy industry, and production was declining. Those who were concerned with financing farmers had 'stated that the demands for assistance at the present time were greater than at any stage since the depth of the depression. Mr. B. Clearwater, Southland, •supported Mr. Glasgow's statements, and said tfee- position in the south was just as acute as in the north.

TAXES AND RATES

Mr. H: E. Blyde, Lepperton, discussed the incidence of taxation as it affected the farmers and said that they had no objection to paying their fair share of taxation. They felt, however, that they were being heavily penalised by its incidence. They considered the land tax inequitable and uaiust and not in relation to the earning power of the land itself. It was pre-sing most heavily on that class o£ land l^ast able

APPEAL TO GOVERNMENT

' "Aa unusually large deputation visited Parliament Buildings late yesterday afternoon, when between four and five hundred farmers and their wives, who are at present holding conferences in ■Wellington, discussed farm costs and returns with four Ministers of the Crown. A large number of speakers placed the views of the farmers and their wives before the Ministers, and the deputation continued into the early evening, some inconvenience being caused at one stage by the failure of the lighting system in the Social Hall. The deputation was introduced by the president of the New Zealand Farmers' Union (Mr. W. W. Mulholland) and was received by the Minister of Health (the Hon. P. Fraser), the Minister of Agriculture (the Hon. W. Lee Martin), the Attorney-General (the Hon.-H. G. R. Mason), and the Minister of Labour ('the Hon. P. c. Webb). • ■■;•. . The matters discussed were the shortage of farm labour, the relation of the exchange rate to farming costs, a temporary stay of proceedings to prevent farmers ih financial difficulties from being dispossessed, taxation for hospital purposes, the guaranteed price for the coming season..and transport charges.

c tobearthe burden, and in that respect G it was a class tax. Moreover, it was ] hampering production, and increased! production was never more necessary >'• than at the present time. There was j s also the unfairness of road rating,] - l - which should be a national liability. • At; the same lime they felt that the ""'present System of control of the roading system should be retained. ■• •■ I 5: Dealing with hospital rating, Mr. 2 Blyde said that the rates were in--1 creasing all over the country, and the 2 average increase:in the counties since v 1931 was 27 pcx; cent; It was as high - as 87 per cent, in one county. A num- } ber of counties had a large Native 3 population from which very little in 2 rates was collected, and with the. ad--1 vent of the Social Security Act it was , expected that the demand for hospital 1 accommodation would be considerably: ; increased.-The ; provisidn of extra; accommodation would: mean that the '. burden on ratepayers would be greatly 1 increased. The conference had passed ■ the following remit: "That this confer--1 enc-e urges that the present inequit- • able system. of hospital rating, placing ;as it does an ever-increasing and nn- ■ bearable burden of rates on the farm- : ing community, '■■ without regard 'to ,'.\ ability to pay, Should be abolished and j the-, whole" cost iborne by the Social iSecurity Fund." -;•:■' . : • . Mr. A. .Briscoe Moore, North Auck- ' land, said that the farmers objected to ■ the fixing of road-cartage costs in rural ; areas. Such a course brought ;an ' element of rigidity where previously : there had been flexibility. Transport 'jcosts were a heavy item in the budget ■ jof the farmer and anything that tended to make' road transport more costly would reduce production. The farmers could not see why an industry that had made 20 per cent, on capital outlay during, the last three years should be given protection. J MR. FRASEK'S REPLY. j Replying, Mr. Fraser expressed the ; pleasure of the Government at receiv- '{ ing the deputation, and said that he,.;' ti'c&lsted"'""'tr^ and willingness, to co-operate. He; * Qould. assure .the, deputation that the; ' merhbers oil the. Government, indiyidu- ' ally and collectively, appreciated the seriousness of the problems that had: 1 been presented. The particular; prob-; lem presented by the women speakers; was =ay difficult .one,:vbutvsurely was; capable of solution, although perhaps; not in the orthodox manner. If young; men were to be asked to'commence an apprenticeship on a dairy farm or station, some inducement must be held. but to them in1 order to satisfy their ambitions. There was a long-range problem to be dealt -with and a long-range solution to be found, and there was . need als<b; of some form .of co-operation ;'' be-' tween farmers and the placement officers that would, fix definitely where labour was required. The representations required to be taken very seriously. .". .. Mr. Fraser also dealt with, the other representations made, and assured the deputation of the Government's cooperation in meeting the various .difficulties claimed to exist. ■-•.'■ : f INVESTIGATION PROMISED. ThepMinistef of -Agriculture said that he had. already had discussions with the Attorney-General regarding the possible need for stay orders to protect farmers;, but the information they had did not disclose the- serious position the union had presented. If the union could give them information about cases they would be investigated. . ..... The guaranteed price for .the coming season had been under consideration for some time, but-he had no intention of announcing it there. : Mr. Martin said, that he knew,from experience as a dairy farmer that costs had increased, but he-.also knew that the dairy farmers had stability. The farmers, as much as any others, knew what a condition of suspense attached to a moratorium, said the At-torney-General, and consequently he realised that the_ request made would not have been put forward unless there was some need for it. Even'the suggestion that such action might be taken had a detrimental effect on credits, however, and the facts would have to be gathered and carefully considered before anything was done. He asked that all available information should be furnished in concrete form so that the position could be pictured exactly. He assured the deputation that the Government would consider the matter most carefully. . j READY WITH LABOUR. i The Minister of Labour said that he was glad to be able to tell the deputation that his placement officers would attend the Farmers' Union conference today to take the names of those who wanted labour. He had every sympathy with those who had suffered hardship through having to do all of the work where labour was required, but that problem was not a new one. He referred to the efforts he had made on taking over the portfolio of Labour to get a complete picture of the farmers' labour requirements. He had given an assurance that the labour 1 would be supplied, but he could, not guarantee that every man would be fully experienced. The Government had co-operated fully'with the farmers in respect of labour and had stipulated tn at any man refusing.to take farm work'would be classed as voluntarily unemployed. The placement officers had lists of experienced farm workers available and he would do his best to supply all the requirements. The Government had to make the social life on the farms as bright arid attractive as in the towns. i Voices: What about the pay? ' The Minister, said that they were not discussing wages. He thought the Government was doing something by.way 1 of the guaranteed price to. improve }

the economic position of the farmer. He felt that the farmer had as much right to a higher social standard as the people in the town. HOSPITAL RATING. On the question of hospital rating, Mr. Fraser said that admittedly there J was a problem in some districts and the question of endeavouring to readjust matters was under consideration. Hospital rating was not a rural or an urban matter, but a national one. Nationalisation of hospital charges involved the question of local government. In his opinion, in a democratic State local government was a sheet anchor. The danger of centralising government instead of having a complete and efficient system of local government should be taken into consideration.