The Times TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1944. Collective Farming Fails

Manawatu Times, Volume 69, Issue 210, 5 September 1944, Page 4

The Times TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1944. Collective Farming Fails

With an. appreciation of the known bias of many Government members towards socialistic experimentation, it is probable that an attempt will be made in this Dominion with collective farming, most probably within the sphere of rehabilitation. Indeed one Government spokesman in the Budget debate declared that some returned men had asked for the opportunity. Of course “some” men might mean exceedingly few indeed.

There has been a great deal of publicity about the collective farming enforced in Kussia by the Soviet, but that publicity has smacked of propaganda. As a set-off to that there comes from America an account of a vast experiment tried there but of which, because of the tragic failures that resulted, there has been little heard elsewhere. Would it not be wiser for New Zealand to be guided by American experience, gained in a democracy with people very similar to our own, rather than to gauge a system on the experiences of Russia, a dictatorship, whose people are racially distant from pur own and who have never known true freedom? Herewith is the condensation of an authoritative report on collective farming as experienced in America. The author is representative of his State in Congress, farm-born and. bred, a qualified lawyer and recognised in the House as an authority on farming. He spent nearly a year as chairman of a special investigating committee studying farming rehabilitation by the F.S.A. (Farm Security Administration). This American Department was set up to rehabilitate farmers during the great depression. Its broad policy was to assist those hopelessly involved, to carry on by means of carefully supervised loan assistance. But the farmer remained an independent—an individual occupier of his own ground. Almost a million farmers were so assisted with a remarkable degree of success. To June. 1943, 93 per cent, of repayments due had been met. Nearly 400,000 families had paid off their indebtedness in full—“an almost incredible showing for persons once broke and discouraged.” The cost of carrying on this great work has been approximately 75 dollars a year for each family. The F.S.A. achieved a brilliant success in rehabilitation on a private enterprise basis. Yet this very same institution that had proved its efficiency so well encountered a disastrous experience when it sought to create in America the establishment of farms on the collectivist model. It tried out this theory on no less than 197 projects under most skilful direction and with ample financial resources. Every one resulted in failure. In one typical case, the capital cost to the Government of 11,000 dollars per family was added to by losses in operation, increasing the burden of 18,000 per family. The Government could have given each of these families a farm and home—free of all debt—together with a gift of a thousand dollars in cash and still have spent less than half the cost per individual in the collective farming establishments. The families established on collective farms suffered pathetic experiences in that they were financially worse off at the end than at the beginning. Yejft-s of wasted labour and a millstone of debt were the outcome.

Those were the results of collective farming as compared with individual settlement, both conducted by the same institution, under the same able administration, in a country akin to our own. What possible better chance would there be of making a success of collective farming—Communist farming to give it its proper title—in New Zealand than there was in America? It is simply not suited to the spirit of our people who desire to go on the land Whether it has succeeded in Russia itself is very much to be questioned. Certainly there is no evidence available to justify the expenditure of public money on such an experiment in this country. If some persons have faith in the idea, let them back that by guaranteeing the investment from their own pockets.

Three Young Women in Court Three young women came before the Palmerston North Magistrate’s Court yesterday on theft charges. The first accused, aged 19, stole money at the restaurant Where she worked, admitting the offence, although, according to Senior-Detective Meiklejohn, she had denied it when first questioned. Mr. H. P. Eawry, S.M., admitted her to probation for 18 months. The second accused, aged 24, was caught shoplifting. Her bag, when inspected, contained a frock and costume, valued at £l2 13s 6d. She was admitted to probation for two years. The third accused, charged with the theft of a pair of shoes, asked for a remand till Friday, which was granted.

Free Art Exhibition The current art exhibition In the W.E.A. Room, Commercial Buildings, The Square, offers particularly fine prints of paintings from Persian manuscripts, also Persian textile designs of lyrical beauty. For those who wish to see this display during the week-end, the exhibition will be open from 8 to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Escaped From Defaulter's Camp A labourer named Walter Frederick Jones, aged 40, was sentenced by Mr. H. P. Lawry, S.M., in the Palmerston North Magistrate’s Court yesterday to three months’ gaol for escaping from the Whitanui defaulters’ detention camp. He was sent to the camp on September 9, 1942, and managed to get away on June 23, 1943. He was arrested in Wellington on August 31, 1944, where he was working as a labourer with a changed name. He had been absent from camp for 435 days. Trans-Tasman Air Terminal At the week-end meeting of the Palmerston North Labour Representation Committee, Mr. Hodgens reported that the Prime Minister had given an unqualified assurance that the representations of the organisation regarding the suitability of Ohakea or Milson airport for the TransTasman terminal, would receive every consideration before making any final decision. Delegates, commenting on the report, expressed satisfaction, but regretted the parochial interests that were apparent in the advocacy of Rongotai on the one hand, and Milson on the other, when in tlielr opinion, the first consideration should be the safety of the crew and passengers and the aircraft*,

Can ten ary Services The Dominion centenary of Primitive Methodism Is being: celebrated at New Plymouth, where the Rev. Robert Ward established the first Primitive Methodist church In New Zealand in September, 1844. Totara trees were planted on the site of a proposed Maori girls’ college at Spotswood as memorials to the early Wesleyan missionaries, to Mr. Ward, and to two Maoris. In the afternoon at Fitzroy Church, on the site of the first Primitive Methodist church in New Zealand, a cross of South Canterbury sandstone in memory of Mr. Ward was unveiled by the Rev. Mr. Tinsley, president of the conference. The cross is a gift from the Ward family, which also presented a pulpit and communion table and railing. At an unusual celebration held in Devon Street, the speakers stood where Mr. Ward first preached at New Plymouth.