The Hawera Star. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER, 3, 1926. DAIRY PRODUCTION.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 3 September 1926, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER, 3, 1926. DAIRY PRODUCTION.

Delivered, every evening by 5 o'clock in Hawera, Manaia, Nonnanbv, Okaiawa, Eltham, Mangatoki. Knponga, Alton, Hurleyville, Patea, Waverley Mokoia, Wliakaniara, Ohangai, Meremere, Fraser Road and Ararata.

Although there may be nothing new under the sun—the Hebrew Preacher tyas emphatic, about that—old' truths can sometimes bo stated in new and striking fashion, tvith profit to those who listen. For example, exhortations to greater production have become so numerous and frequent in New Zealand in the course of the, last year or so that there is danger of the reiteration defeating Its own object, of familiarity with .the teaching, breeding contempt, for it. The Imperial Economic Committee, in its report on the preparation, and marketing of Empire dairy produce, 'a column summary of which has been 'cabled from London, has chosen to emphasise the need for greater production by hinting at the probable consequences of disregard 1 therefor:—•

Our main conclusion is that, both at Home and overseas, it will not be practicable to maintain the present standard l of living among those dependent on the dairy industry unless the farming interests, in order to meet sueJi, cutting of prices' as may come from increased competition, prepare without delay for the adoption of more, efficient and cheaper methods of production.

The working dairy farmer, as a general rulei, is so busily occupied earning daily bread that, lie lias little time to meditate upon or theorise about tlie standard of living, which is a phrase more often in the mouths of Labour demagogues. Yet, whether we realise it or not, our .standard! of living is, to every one of us, a matter of vital and intimate concern; and any attack upon it, either direct or. indirect', rouses our instincts , of self-preservation. .StanHard of living is governed principally by income. The differing tastes of different families, and varying skilful® ess in the housewifely arts, are important secondary influences, but the final measure is the family, income. Where a household uses dripping on its bread, the reason usually is that it cannot afford butter. When a clever child is taken from school as soon as he has passed the .sixth standard, when a mother and daughters yearning their hearts out for a. piano must yearn in vain*, when the family motor-ear is sold, : the explanation in most, cases is want ‘of means. Money, then, or the lack of it, fixes the standard of living. And the price which the world will pay for that which we have to sell, be it manual labour, executive ability, or butter-fat, determines our supply of money. So far the eases of tlie waterside worker and the farmer are parallel. Now they begin, to diverge. Becauso the watersider supplies a limited local market, because he is organised, and because his organisation, is not subject to competition (save from free labour brought in to break a strike) it is possible for him, in some measure, to control the market price of his commodity —his labour. The farmer who milks cows in Taranaki supplies the market of the world. He is not organised to any appreciable extent, and he is subject to constant and increasing competition from a dozen different directions. He has absolutely no control over the market price of his product. Therefore, where the watersider can safeguard' his standard of living, and that of his family, by holding out for higher wages for the same work (or less), the farmer can. maintain his former position, when the market turns against him, only by cheapening and/or in‘ereasing production. When the New Zealand trades unionist fears that his standard of living is in, jeopardy, he hastens to the Arbitration Court; and rightly so, for a developing civilisation

should bring lr>. its-train a constantly rising standard of life. But for the farmer there is no- Arbitration Court. If he has been producing three units of output and receiving fourpenc© a unit, and the price drops to threepence Vi unit, the only way in which he can restore his -standard* of living is by producing four units without an increase of cost, or —which would he the sanieVthing—four and a. half units at ■an increased cost equal to the value 'of only, half a unit.. Thus, reduced to 'its simplest terms, the* conclusion of the Imperial Economic Committee is the familiar advice to produce more; only it strikes deeper, this time because producers arc. warned ,of the penalties of *heedlessness. * 1 The summary of the' committee’s report which has appeared in our news 'columns is in itself sio comprehensive and careful n. survey of the position of the dailying Dominions, that elaboration is • needless. There is *> nothing there that we have not been told before; but hitherto we have not been told in quite so direct andi simple a •manner. For that reason, the report will repay careful study.