"GREAT UNREST"

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 130, 29 November 1939, Page 10

"GREAT UNREST"

DAIRYING INDUSTRY

COSTS BURDEN

CONFERENCE OPENED

Called by the New Zealand Dairy Board to deal with the problems surrounding the dairying industry, a Dominion conference of ward delegates of the board and members of the Dairy Industry Council was opened in Wellington today. Mr. W. E. Hale, chairman of the board, presided.

This conference has been called because of the great unrest throughout the industry and because the board wished to have from you clear-cut decisions as to the lines along which we now should move," said Mr. Hale, in welcoming the delegates. "In all the many years in which I have been associated with the industry in one way or another, I have never known such widespread dissatisfaction as exists at present and as has been shown so clearly by the great attendances at meetings called in various farming districts. These meetings have put forward an imperative demand for consideration of the farmer's case today and from all parts of New Zealand, and the board and indivMual board members were inundated with requests for the calling of a conference." I

Immediately following the board's decision to call the conference together, suggestions were put forward by the National Dairy Federation that there should be a big conference of protest held with delegates from every factory in New Zealand, Mr. Hale continued. Having decided to call the present conference, the board felt that it would be wiser to go ahead. Those present who were leaders -of the industry, elected by the dairy factories of the Dominion, were all intimately acquainted with the industry's problems, and the board felt that their judgment on the issues before the industry would be sound. If it was their considered opinion that a conference should be called together to make a mass protest, then they would say so. The board working under its. statutory powers had evolved a system. of representation at the present conference, based on factory output in such a way as to give fair representation to views of all districts. A bigger conference might be unwieldy and companies would have to bear the delegates' expenses, costly to, some of the smaller factories. However, it would be for those present to decide the lines of action that must now be taken.

STEADILY-RISING COSTS.

"The farmer's greatest concern today lies in his steadily-rising cost burden, and it is this problem, combined with the Minister of Marketing's refusal to allow any 'increase in the prices, despite the increased costs, that has aroused the intense resentment of the industry," said Mr. Hale. Because of increased costs, the position of an increasing number of farmers was becoming more and more difficult. In the Act under which they worked they were promised a price which took their costs into consideration.

The industry's major complaint was that last season the Minister of Marketing arbitrarily altered ttu. standards fixed by an expert committee which had reached unanimous decisions. The industry considered that Dy his action then, the Minister of Marketing cutjiie ground from under the feet of the dairy farmer and left him at the mercy of the Minister's personal decision. The Act was intended as the dairy farmer's charter of liberty and the dairy farmer today said that the charter was being completely disregarded. If the guaranteed price is to be an equalisation, as appeared from the Minister's present action, then the Minister should tell: the industry so. :

SOCIALISTIC MEASURES.

"The third cause of great dissatisfaction at the present time, more particu* larly among those concerned with sheep as well as with dairying, is the widespread feeling on the part of farmers that the Government is using the war as an excuse for intensifying its campaign of socialisation," Mr. Hale continued. ''Feeling on this point is particularly strong in our mixed dairying districts, and the fact that those who have taken this up with the Minister of Marketing have been unable to obtain any satisfaction from him that socialistic measures will be cancelled when the war is over has tended to increase the alarm."

The fourth great problem facing the industry today was the difficulty of obtaining suitable farm labour. "Qur farmers are working harder than ever before, many of them for very meagre returns. -We must make this known to those responsible for fixing the price, and see that the present drift downwards in production will not continue and that there is an increase in the price or a decrease in our hosts," MrHale concluded. "We have got to come to a definite decision at this conference, gentlemen. The industry is up in arms and expects us to give a lead. What we want to do today is to decide how our problems will be' tackled and it will then be for you delegates', by conferring with your own people, to see whether our decisions meet with their approval.

GUARANTEED PRICE

A report on the negotiations between the Dairy Industry Council and the New Zealand Government for payment for dairy produce in the 1939-40 session was made by Mr. W. Marshall. "Having regard to all that has transpired, the council does not consider that it has really been consulted on the matters which have been dealt with," he concluded. "There have been interviews and discussions, but it appears that the Minister had made up his mind before war was declared, that in spite of increases in costs which had taken place since last year's price was decided on, we would have to accept last year's figures; further, that the increases that would occur during the current year as a result of war conditions did not in any way affect the decision which he had made. It must be freely admitted that the Minister has always been ready and willing to meet representatives of the industry, but the council is of. opinion that it has just been told what had been decided, and that -this is far from satisfactory. Nevertheless, the council is strongly desirous, that in the national interest no effort should be spared if anything can be done which, would assist to remove the dissatisfaction and resentment existing in the minds of many dairy producers today."