Manawatu Daily Times [ESTABLISHED 21st MAY, 1575.] FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1921. DAIRY PRODUCE.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 1976, 18 November 1921, Page 4

Manawatu Daily Times [ESTABLISHED 21st MAY, 1575.] FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1921. DAIRY PRODUCE.

The city man cannot appreciate the situation of the dairy farmer. He thinks, for some reason or another, that the producer has been making a mint of money, and that he is endeavouring to exploit the consumer on every conceivable opportunity. This is, of course, a wild and reckless absurdity. The dairy farmer has always been one of the hardest-worked men in the community. He has no holidays, and no fixed hours. He is at it from daylight to dark. W'hen prices of produce were high, he had to pay more for his labour, his farm requisites,,and his stock. Those who imagine that he made a fortune, are labouring under a grave delusion. It is true that many were enabled to sell their properties and to retire. These were fortunate. But those who remained upon the land, and those who purchased, are faced with a difficult position. Their land is heavily taxed. Their rates are high. The cost of living is a serious problem. How are they going to succeed if the price -of butter-fat comes down to one shilling per pound? The city man says it is a good thing, for the consumer will benefit, and the values of land will come down. This is an entirely erroneous conclusion. If the price of butter-fat reaches such a standard that the occupiers of the Ipnd cannot pay their interest and overhead charges, the whole of the community is going to suffer. The resident of the town is so largely dependent upon the man who occupies the soil, that anything that deprives the farmer of his spending-power indirectly affects the living of the people. The farmer is not the only man who has to live. But without him, or without his products, few other people would be able to subsist. That is the crux of the whole position, so far as New Zealand is concerned. When people clamour for reduced prices, therefore, they should remember that if the value of produce is such that the farmer cannot pay his way, the bottom is going to fall out of the whole economic structure. The desire of city and townspeople should be that the man upon the land shall flourish, for it is as certain as that night follows day that rural depression will bring urban disaster. The theory that cheap meat, butter, and cheese means a return to general prosperity, is entirely fallacious.