FARMERS’ PROBLEMS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 3 June 1927, Page 8

FARMERS’ PROBLEMS.

MR POLSON AT DUNEDIN,

At Dunedin last night Mr W. J. Poison, Dominion president of the Farmers’ Union, addressed a large gathering on farmers’ problems. His address followed closely upon the lines of his speech in Hawera recently. After comparing the land in New Zealand with that in Sweden and Denmark, the speaker said that the question of rural finance was a serious one. Long-term loans and mortgages depended, greatly on their persistence in hammering at the Government, and what they needed almost as much was the sympathetic support of the townspeople. Mr Poison outlined at length the methods adopted in America as the result of the work Eugene Meyer had done in the interests of farmers’ finance. It had been suggested that had the commission on rural finance returned earlier the legislation for better finance would have Been put on the Statute Book last session. However, it was not the fault of the commission. They had an itinerary to cover and could not cover it sooner. The legislation would come soon, and better and easier financial, arrangements would bo available.

Speaking'of agricultural bonds to be issued, Mr Poison said a paper had said the bonds were not Government bonds, but he wanted to deny this. They were backed by the Government and were as safe as any investment in the country. The Hon. Downie Stewart had himself given that assurance. The long-term loans of the Rural Credits Board would not carry.nearly so high a rate of interest as that attached to the longterm loan proposals of the Bank of New Zealand.

A great need was a better land settlement policy. Mr Poison instanced Brazil, where the question of immigration and land settlement was dealt with in a remarkably sane manner. The production of this country of 30,000,000 inhabitants was enormous, and all as the result of the land settlement policy of the Government. Surely if Brazil could do so much for foreigners, New Zealand should do better for her own sons. Thousands of young men had had to walk off their farms simply because of' land deterioration. They wanted this sort of thing to stop. They wanted some system proof against such a state of affairs.

The farmers were badly in need of a Government with backbone enough to provide them with some security in respect of labour, the costs of which were steadily rising, not only as a result of high wages, but in a greater degree in consequence of the endless and eternal restrictions imposed on production by awards. No industry should be called on to pay higher wages until it was ascertained without shadow of doubt that the industry was flourishing enough to bear the burden of higher wages. Wages should be based on what a man produced and not upon what he con-