WHEAT INDUSTRY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 5 September 1929, Page 7

WHEAT INDUSTRY.

QUESTION OF DUTIES

FURTHER EVIDENCE TAKEN

(iiy Tul'.'grapti —Press AsseciaUoii.)

„ WELLINGTON, Sept. 1. Further -evidence whs heard to-day by tlie -special committee of the House which is considerin'' the wheat duties question. Mr. McDonald, at one time president of the hoard ol Trade, outlined what had been dune by the Government during the war. and said that had it declared in taionr ol a lire trade policy the wheat industry in Nrw Zealand would have gone out ol existence. If if was desirable that New Zealand should produce sufficient wheat to be independent of importation. and he agreed it was. then lie knew of no better method of carrying out that policy than the sliding or fluctuating scale of duties. It effected the object aimed at with a minimum of Government interference. To the Hon G. \V. Forbes: Witness did not think it wise to depend on Australian markets. There was a constant danger of labour difficulties and j these were likely to lead to panic conJditions in New Zealand. In contra-1 (distinction, witness pointed out that* England could draw on the whole world for wheat. To the question did he think the farmer got the benefit of the present protection witness replied: “Yes. to the, full.’’ „ I Mr. Kuddenklau. of Waimate, a[ wheat grower, gave evidence that under i normal conditions the costs of producing wheat in the Dominion were in-1 finitely higher than in Australia, and,’ land values and tax on wheat-growing I lands were also much higher. Pro- j teetiou in the form of a bounty or subsidy did not offer stability or continuity to a reasonably remunerative selling price, as it did not keep Australian wheat out. and any form of fixed duty lent itself to dumping.