The Hawera Star. MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 1933. NEW ZEALAND AND ENGLISH FARMERS.

Hawera Star, Volume LIII, 7 August 1933, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 1933. NEW ZEALAND AND ENGLISH FARMERS.

Delivered every evening try & u'clook in Hawera, Manaia. Kaupokonui, Otakeho, Oeo. Pihama, Opunake, Normanby, Okaiawa, Rltnam, Ngaere, Mangatoki, Kaponga, Awatuna, Te Kiri, Mahoe. Lowgarth, Manutahi, Kakaramea. Alton. Hurleyville, Fatea. Whenuakura, Waverley, Mokoia. Whakamara, Ohangai. Meremerti, Fraser Road and Ararata.

Mr Forbes’ suggestion that English a.nd New Zealand farmers should confer with a view to arriving aft- a -better understanding of each other’s difficulties has been well received‘in. England:. The controversy that has arisen over the subject of quotas has revealed thalt there is room for an improved understanding by -each side of the peculiar 'difficulties of the other. New Zealand farmers have so long looked upon Great Britain as "their” market that it. is only with the greatest difficulty they are now beginning to recognise the reasonableness of the claims of the English farmer for consideration in that same market. The English farmer, for his part, has suffered 1 so long from the swamping of his market by foreign and overseas Empire supplies that he finds it difficult to distinguish between the two. If some means could be found of bringing.together representative and influential mm front both sides, the foundation might be laid for a. better approach to -the subject of import restrictions. Both sides would' find that they were much alike in their desires. Each only wants to live, but up till now there has been very little thought, on the part, of the Dominion's particularly, given fto 'the question of how the other fellow is getting along while one is making a living. These two sections of British people have grown too far away from each Other. For years the Dominion farmer, with his mass production methods, developed under co-operation, has taken little heed of England as an agricultural and

pastoral country. We have developed a “superiority complex” in this part, of the world towards the Old Country, with its old-fashioned' adherence to individualism in farming and marketing, but there are, nevertheless, old conditions and new developments at Home which we do not appreciate. Cor such a conference as that suggested by Mr Forbes tto be of real value, its delegates should be influential men in the sense that they should be capable of giving the benefits of their experiences to their fellow farmers. Am exchange of courtesies between a few farmers from each country will not of itself bring about a rapid 1 change in the attitude among the rank and file of farmers 1 in each country. Messrs. Forbes and Masters have already done good work in this 'connection. Thoi have fought stoutly for the New Zealand producer on the quota subject., but have conducted themselves in a manner which has left only pleasant memories in England and enhanced the general goodwill of the Old Country towards ■this Dominion. In checking the move in England towards quota .without adopting a hectoring attitude the Prime Minister and his colleague have performed am outstanding service to New Zealand. It is still itoo much to hope that their elfor.t9 w T ill leatd to an abandonment of England’s quota intentions, but it is already plain that the New Zealanders have caused English public opinion to view the problem with a measure of sympathy for the difficulties of it his country which was previously lacking.