FARM IMPROVEMENTS

Evening Star, Issue 19615, 22 July 1927, Page 10

FARM IMPROVEMENTS

SUGGESTED UNEMPLOYMENT MEASURE SHORT-TERM LOANS TO FARMERS [From Our Parliamentary Reporter.] WELLINGTON, July 21. As a .means of providing work lor the unemployed on useful farm improvements it was suggested to tlio Minister of Finance in the House by Mr Hansom (Pahiatna) that the Government might grant short-term loans to farmers who would undertake do spend money on scrub cutting, fencing, and similar improvements. Some such proposal hod been already considered by the Government, replied Mr Downio Stewart, but various difficulties had been pointed out. ]n the first place, if these loans wore made on specially favorable conditions as a means of relieving unemployment, it would undoubtedly mean a tremendous rush of applications from all over the dominion, and unless some organisation, such as the Farmers’ Union, undertook the distribution of the loan money the cry would immediately be raised by farmers who had been imsuccesful in getting a loan that there had been favoritism. Another difficulty encountered was that of security. If a farmer had adequate security ho could raise a loan in the ordinary way, but if the applicant was already heavily mortgaged it would bo difficult to get another mortgage of anv value. The widespread applications which would come in should be granted out of some unemployment fund, because tlie ordinary State loan funds were already overwhelmed with loan applications. If unemployment was a purely local problem, added Mr Stewart, it would bo easy to deal with on the lilies adopted when bush fires caused heavy losses to the farmers in Waimarino district. Thou loans were granted on security of the farmers’ promissory notes, and were used to purchase grass seed. These amounts were repaid in a few years. Immediately the Government started offering the farmer Joans to provide work for unemployed it would bo overwhelmed until applications.

However, the Minister, after stating all those objections, promised to look into tho matter to see if a scheme could be evolved.