STRAIGHT SPEAKING

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XI, Issue 238, 12 October 1921, Page 5

STRAIGHT SPEAKING

Mr. Massey and Farmers NO NEED FOR PANIC. ECONOMY AND TAXATION. PREMIER CARRYING THROUGH HIS POLICY. (Special to “Tribune/’) Wellington, October 12. Some straight spcaKing was none by Air. Aiassey in replying to a- lariuers deputation, tie wanted, them to think OK the eutct oi publication 01 their views in .London. Bid it ever occur to anyone that tins was the worst blow too credit oi the country ever had/ lie ielt it very Keemy. In spite of rows oi figures they might bring, he could tell them expenditure was being reduced. Though they had not made any iuss about it. there was a saving aireauy oi a million and a hall. He had heard one speaker say that retrenchment should commence at the top. He did not Know whether that was a hint that he should reduce ins own salary. While lie was in .London he received a cabletram from his colleagues asking it he would take off a couple oi hundred along with the others and he said “Yes.” Three things he mentioned, interest and sinking lund. pensions, and cost of living increases. The first two must stand, and the third would be regulated in due course. Against the public debt the Govern-

ment had practically twenty millions of money which had been raised by taxaton, and which was interest bearing. t Bome of it earning 4 per cent. Also, there was a possibility of reparations, to which he had referred on several occasions, being received irom Germany. He could not guarantee its payment. He believed Germany was well able to pay it, but the British people were soft-hearted, and he would not be surprised if there were propaganda started m a few years’ time to secure a reduction. There was 1’26,000,QU0 owing to us from Germany. Payment, according to the arrangement made, would be spread over a period of 36 years, at £1,500,000 to £1,600,000 per year. Subsidies to keep down the cost of living were being stopped. This relieved them of nearly a million. Already there had been sufficient savings to reduce expenditure from the Consolidated Fund by at least a million and a half, and they were still •carrying on.” He had on his table recommendations of the Economies Board. If the recommendations were given effect to—and he would have to obtain the authority of Parliament for some of them—it would reduce expenditure by another two millions, and he believed it could be done without causing any very great hardship. “You must look the difficulties squarely in the face,” said the Prime Minister, “and for Heaven’s sake don’t encourage the spirit of pessimism.” They had spoken of increased taxation. How many men in the room had had their taxation increased in the past three years? A member: “Yes; land tax.” The Prime Minister said the rate of land taxation had not been increased except on very big estates. A member: “But valuations have, that is the same thing.” The Premier said he would not mind if his valuation were trebled. He would not whinq, because he had the Valuation there. Member: “But can y< u realise?” The Prime Minister said he was realising. He admitted that his case was exceptional. Mr. Massey said that if the farmer had not value in land he had a remedy. He could appeal. He emphatically repudiated the suggestion that the country was in the state speakers had made it out to be. He had travelled through Canada and the United States, and knew something of the conditions there. There were six million unemployed in America. He had seen the possibility of unemployment, and had made preparation, with the result that single men were being paid 10/- on relief works and married men 12/-.

A member of the deputation: “And the reSt of us have to pay,” Mr. Marshall: “Twelve shillings a day is more than the farmers are getting.” iue Prime Minister: “And how much have they received in the last five years?” Mr. Polson: “But where has it gone?” The Prime Minister: “I don’t know. They got it.” • Mr. Poison said that it had gone in increased cogt oi labour. The Prime Minister ; “Then you have improved your farms.” the Prime Minister said he began to think the little district he came irom must be the best putce in New Zealand, lor he did not hear these tilings there. The Government thoroughly understood the position. It had started a policy of retrenchment, and was going on with it till it had brought finances back to a sound position. He was looking forward to reducing taxation, and if he could not leduce it he hoped to be able to readjust it in such a way as to make the burdens x. er y much easier for those who were unable to bear them. ANOTHER £5,000 000 LOAN. A further little loan negotiation was mentioned by the Prime -Minister to the deputation. He said he had instructed the High Commissioner that if a further £5,000,000 could be obtained for a special purpose at the same price as the last loan of £386,000 (£99 5/-) he would take it. Mr. Marshall: “Don’t go to America for it.” The Prime Minister said he was not going to break our connection with the people of England, who, he realised, had stood by us so well. THE FEAR OF DISASTER. FARMERS COMBINE FOR ACTION. ROUSING SPEECH BY MR. HUNT. Wellington, Oct. 11. Delegates representing the principal organisations of the primary producers of the Dominion recently met to discuss the possibility of creating a central body to speak on behalf of all interests. The separately served bodies concerned were the New Zealand Council of Agriculture (which initiated the conference), the New Zealand Farmers’ Union, the New Zealand Sheep Owners’ Federation and the Board of Agriculture. That conference decided that the organisations represented should unite to th© extent of setting up a National Council composed of represen-

tatives from the associations namec and that the council should deal with matters of common interest, but ' not with those which affected the individual organisations exclusively. A committee was set up to draft a constitution and submit it to a future meeting of delegates for ratificatior and adoption. The further meeting contemplated by the resolution was held to-dav, many delegates being present*. Mr. G. L. Marshall, chairman of the Council of Agriculture, presided. Tn his opening remarks Mr. Marshall outlined the arguments advance/ at the previous discussions of the subject. He thought a constitution wa« impracticable at the present time, but if they could arrive at some means oi achieving unitv instead of being a sei of disunited bodies they would have achieved a great result. Mr. W. B. Matheson explained that J. ho Farmers’ Union, while anxious tc

support the ideal outlined, had expressed the opinion that another body was not desirable. Mr. J. D. Hall urged those present to take a serious view of the subject. They would not be creating a new body. There were large questions which the various interests should cooperate on. The chief of these was retrenchment, in respect to which the Government would welcome their assistance. Mr. W. D. Hunt emphasised the desperate position of the country. He referred to the fall in the prices of dairy produce and meat. His idea was to impress on the farmers the desperate state of the country and then it must be jammed into the public and into Mr. Massey and the Government. “Mr. Massey does not understand it.” ho said. Mr. Polson: He is still talking in an optimistic way about the splendid future before us.

Mr. Hunt continued that not only were the prices for products down, hut the prices of what the farmer needed were still at the top level. It took five or six bales of wool instead of one to pay for a ton of wire now. The position was such that unless something was done soon there would be absolute ruin in the country. After enlarging on the low revenue and big current expenditure of the country. Mr. Hunt said that the position could be rectified in two ways—by letting the process of handling back costs to go until a large proportion of the farmers were ruined, or by wise handling and the establishment of the standard of living by fixing wages. The claim must be abandoned that strict economy meant lowering the standard of living. Farmers were lowering their standard now and everyone must do it. Preference to unionists must be abandoned. (Hear, hear). Wages and conditions had been imposed on the industry which the industry could not carry and which were causing the industry to stop. The rank and file of the workers were as anxious to give value for what they received as anyone else, but many of them were in the hands of organisations from whose grip they could not escape. The larger the proportion of the country’s income taken for administration th eless there was for production. Money spent on production was better spent*. It was used over and over again, while if spent on administration it was only used once. He urged the setting up of a joint committee. The Farmers’ Union might some day represent all farming interests, but the country was burning and they could not wait. Ho would not waste time on organisation.

They must do something and the only way to do it was to bring tremendous pressure to bear. To-dav we have a farmers’ Government and we have never had such an opportunity with the Government and Parliament, and he believed the press were sympathetic with farmers necessarily, because it was to their interest to he sympathetic. The trouble about the .farmers bad been that thev were slow. Where labour organisations took action and got a reply the next day the farmers’ ope rations took months. Mr. Polson, in endorsing the views expressed by Mr. Hunt, supported the suggestion that a joint committee should he set up to deal with urgent matters. Several speakers followed expressing approval of Mr. Hunt’s statement of tlie position and endorsing stronglv the plan for a small loose committee in preference to a constituted body. A deputation was formed to place before the Government the gravity of the financial position fronting the farmers of the Dominion and to urge the necessity of an immediate reduction in Government expenditure and taxation and the abolition of preference to unionists. It was agreed further that the respeetivp presidents of the organisations concerned or their nominees be empowered to meet and jointlv follow up the day’s work as a committee by continuous action through their several associations until thev succeed in the determination to reform the. present financial position. The committee was empowered to add the presidents of other producers’ associations and to consult other persons if deemed neces-