THE PRICE OF WHEAT.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16741, 23 December 1914, Page 6

THE PRICE OF WHEAT.

We are not at all surprised that the Farmers’ Union should bo initiating a little agitation to have the restrictions on tho sale of wheat removed. The grower naturally wants to get tho full value of his crop, aifd in a few weeks now .the new wheat will be coming on the market, so that the matter is one of urgency. Making some allowance for the tendency of the farmer to bo 'pessimistic concerning the yield, we must be prepared to find the crop 6hort of tho early estimate, and if an increase iu price is determined on by the Government after close investigation of the position we shall have to face it as cheerfully as we can. But it is highly important that tho public interest in this question should not bo overlooked. All tho conditions of tho market are abnormal, and nothing is more certain than that speculators will bo striving to turn the position to their advantage and to the disadvantage of the public. We should like to bo able to believe that the wheat position has been handled in a satisfactory manner, but the facts point strongly in the other direction. It may be only a coincidence that the determination of tho Government to stop the holding of excessive stocks of grain was announced after the elections and not before, but if tho authorities have been carrying out their obvious responsibilities in this matter the Government must have been in possession of all tho information it required before the end of November. Surely in four months it was possible for the authorities, with the State behind them, to ascertain exactly what the position was and to act upon the knowledge they had gained. The worst feature of the situation has been its uncertainty. When tho Government took power to deal with tho wheat problem in the interests of the people it was assumed that the power would be used, and unquestionably some holders of grain acted in the belief that steps would be taken immediately to stop speculation. But other dealers were prepared to take tho risk, ancl the event justified their view. If the subject had been firmly grasped at the outset tfe should havo heard fewer complaints and we should not havo been faced, as we are now, with the prospect of a sharp agitation in which some bitterness is bound to bo imported. As matters stand, the Government cannot affect to be surprised if the farmers or any other section of tho community should take tho view that it is amenable to pressure.