FARMERS IN CONFERENCE.

Evening Star, Issue 14627, 25 July 1911, Page 8

FARMERS IN CONFERENCE.

THE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. The annual Dominion Conference of the New Zealand; Farmers' Union commenced at Wellingtoii to-day. The President (Mr J. C. Wilson) said : T neexl scarcely say that tho season, on the whole, has been a good one. for the large majority of fanners. Despite the fact that the' New Zealand fanner finds that he gets more than his share " of tho ills that crops are heir to," and that this season has brought to light some now and some rejuvenated old peats and blights, the itlimatic conditions have, on the whole, fafored the largest portion of , New Zealand. If th* drought has been too severe in some districts, it has suited others. Our Dominion seems to he divided into two climates. Usually in tho North Island the Valley of the Waikato and the west coast hace'the same climatic conditions, the east coast climate from Poverty Bay to Palliser Bay being often in marked contrast. Tho rainfall this year on the cast coast has been very much greater than the average, ami on the west coast less than is usual, the result of a prevalence of easterly weather, As the west coast has usually too much rain and the east sometimes too little, a thorough saturation in the latter case may bo the more advantageous in the future, however unsatisfactory it may be for the moment. On the west coast, again, there have been compensating results to counteract the serious trouble that was felt in the loss of the turnip and rape crops, for the weather has been dry and the growth unusual for the late autumn. Although tbero may be some trouble with hoggets later, so "far there has not been any great loss reported, but there is no doubt that the '• husk " is more prevalent than usual. The South Island is much the same as the North. It. too, has two climates, which see-saw from year to year. Marlborough, North and South Canterbury, and. again. North Otago have one climate, and the West. Coast and Southland another. This year the drought has been most serious "in South Canterbury; tho grass ha.s been scanty, little or no rape, and the growth of feed for winter has been diilicu.lt, and turnips in Southland and other favored spots have been at a premium. Despite all. these difficulties, lambs have, fattened in a wonderful way, no doubt becaiu-'o of the continuous sunny weather, and we shall have probably an export iecord. —lnd liferent Farming. — We cannot .shut our eyes to the fact that there is a great deal of indifferent farming in New Zealand. We have some farms which ar« a credit to any country, and some farmers who, by their energy and enterprise, while treating the- kind with intelligence, will get. the utmost produce out of it; but the general average of our farmin;,' leaves much room for improvement. Education is the only means we in Now Zealand have of eliminating the indifferent farmer, and we have not the means to provide it. 1 would not for a moment depreciate the value of tho practical side—it is just as important as tho seientiie; but, whilst even on the practical side we have much to loam, the present-dav farmer has often not had tinadvantage" which we hope tho younger generation will have in training and education in agriculture. —Labor Troubles. — The question of an award for shed hands ha*, been settled since we last met. The Court decided there should bo an award, but limited the award in the following terms: Nothing in this award filial! be deemed to apply to members of emplovars' families or permanent employees, or children of Maori parentage under 16 years of sge. Had such a clause not been inserted it is difficult to foresee what would have happened. We have, before lis another dispute in connection with the agricultural laborers, as the. farm laborers in Canterbury have formulated claims, and will no doubt press them before the Arbitration Court. The chairman of the Hank of New Zealand in his annual address to the shareholders said: "Any industrial enterprise likely to require much labor is not viewed as a good proposition. Capitalists are undoubtedly nervous at the attitude ot Labor ; and it is to bo deplored for it must bo patent that unless there be exhibited a' spirit'-of greater harmony between Labor and Capita! no quickening of industrial activity can be loked for. T have the conviction that if employers and employees exhibited a genuine de.siie to work amicably together, with a mutual regard for the just interests of each other, industries which at present are in a languishing condition would spring into reinvigorated life and prosperity. This is essential in the interests of the- State." If tliis is what the Labor laws and the La.bor leaders have succeeded in doing, it is a deplorable result. What, then, may we expect if the result was the same in th* greatest of all our industries—the agricultural industry? We are to bo dragged before a Court which, after the meet exhaustive, hearing that has been known since tho Arbitration Court has been set. up, declared that it would not make an award. If wo have no award, tho bitterness of feeling will bo raised between employer and employee, and large sums of money will be spent in the ease and the whole industry disturbed ; while if we had an award it would bo impossible to work under it without immense loss. The industry could not, of course, be stopped, the growth of wool, sheep, cattle, etc., would have to go on, but on a different scale altogether, and modified in a gu'-at tiiiuiv respects. Fewer hand;; would be eniplovcd, and none would be the gr iner, whilst the industry would be seriously injuri'd. I need not elaborate 1,1:.' vsidts, you yourselves know too well what they "would be. tine result of this want of confidence has been that the money which would ot henri.-e have bean invested in industrial ventures has been turned into safer channels, and money has been cheaper on mortgage than before. Tho Hank of New Zealand chairman, however, considers "the coining year promises to be one of low juices for commodities, and thai- there aie strong indications that the pioduee year will yield a smaller return than the" previous one.'' In financial circles, 1 .am told, it is expected that money for mortgage purposes will not 1.0 so plentiful later on, and this would seem Jikelv. for the total value of wool <xpcrt.i.d ivS nearly a- million less tluu lastyear. —Taxation. — When there is still such a demand for the increase in the land tax amongst a certain section of the people, it- may be interesting to analyse the payments made in respect of it and compare it .vith 'heincome tax. The 'Year Book. 1910,' gives the net ;issef-scd income, after allow - fn.g all exemption, a.s £7.440,683, paid be* 11,175 persons or companies: the net as-sessed taxable value of land and mortgages as £122.959,425. and tho tax war; paid by 33,162 persons or companies. On incomes there is an allowance of

£3OO per annum granted before the a.«r:cfismcnt. of tax i* made; hi tic- case

of land, it' tho not value- ift not more thai: £1,500, an exemption of £SOO i.-= made — taking I ho income of 1-hits at 5 pci ■ ent., ;t means that all over £25, as compared with £3OO income. i=> taxed -but. tins ceases iii'ter the value reaches £2.500. It would appear, then, that tho average income of thcee who pay income tax i.s £665, which, together with the £"iGQ exemption, would mean £965 (this does not, however. l-ake into con.-ddea-tion that companies and absentees mo net allowed the exemption of £300); whereas 1 he income of those who pay land tax i* very inuih smaller. On :> 5 per rent. b,is;s, the income from land valued at £122,965,425 would be £6.137,871, or an averse of £lB5. The total amount of inoom'j fix collected from 11.175 persons was £316.835. or £2B 7<=. tho 32.162 persons who paid by way of land tax £642,270 avoragiiiii; £l9 7* 6d. Viewed in this linht.it will be seen that the owner •■r.o paid land tax with mi income of £lB5 paid two-thirds as much a« the income tax payer who had an income of £965 an altogether disproportionate amount; but while the income tax payer ceises. to pay further taxation upon bus income, this is ' not the case of the landowner. Ho has to pay by way of rates, a very largo ijjuiu of money—viz", £1,390j789.per annum;

and'as there are about 176,500 owners of land, whether Crown tenants or freeholders, this amounts to nearly £8 a. head. So that those who pay land tax pay within £1 per head of tho.se who pay income tax, although they have, lews than a fourth of the income, fam quite awaro that this is a very rough and ready way of making the comparison, and that there are complicating circumstances, but eo far as 1 liavo the information at hand, it is a reasonable comparison to make. Another section of th© people who make the. demand of an equal division of land according to the abovo figures wouJi not find much consolation when each got liieir share. The taxable value of th© uiu;nproved land estate in the Dominion is, as we have seen, £122,959,425. If this were divided amongst the present people of the Dominion ea«h would receive about £122 worth of land—a rather inadequate and disappointing amount to make a living off. Now that the Labor iaws are making living so expensive and crippling so many industries, the cry for increased protection is again raised, and i'ia iron trade is now demanding an increased dvdy of 33 1-3 per cent., which, together with freight, would amount to 40 per cent, at least. No one who has watched tiie trend of events would consider that final , it would only be the occasion for fresh demands and request* for further protection. The farmers will therefore inquire to exercise tho greatest vigilance, and -e----sist to tho fullest this proposal to increase the rate of duty.