ORDERS ON CHEQUES.

Northern Advocate, 28 July 1934, Page 11

ORDERS ON CHEQUES.

(To the Editor), yir,—l was much interested in your fourth article on assignment orders on j dairy cheques. I cannot but think that the writer of the article does not really 1 understand the meaning of an assign--1 meat order. An assignment order is i really a promissory note, or a series of promissory notes, which is quite a reI cognised and fair method of financing, | That some farmers have given too many 1 orders against their milk cheques is no I argument against the system, but rather shows that that particular farmer is not very good at financing. Much of the article is pure repudiation. But what struck me most was clause F of the writer's suggested remedies, “that a commission of 2-i per cent, should be charged against all dairy orders, with the exception of those to the Government lending department and herd testing’! Why have exceptions'? Is it be-, cause the writer knew the charge was too outrageous for the Government to swallow'? Two and a-half per cent, on a payment of £2O equals 10/, surely altogether too much. The bank would charge (id on under £2O, There should be some charge to recoup the dairy company for its trouble, b(jt 6d on under £2O would be quite sufficient, and would be fair. Why should the Government lending departments have precedence in this favouritism over, say, the vendor of topdressing manure, which is far more important from a dairying point of view than borrowing money, because “fertility ’’ is the foundation of all good farming, Without “fertility” the farmer wants neither cows, fences nor a house to live in, I think if the writer of your article looks at the matter dispassionately, he will see that orders on dairy cheques, the same as orders on his I bank account in the form of cheques, are quite legitimate. It is true that some farmers purchase things such as gramophones, which might be done without, and pay for them by orders on dairy cheques, but why should an outsider cavil at that? Has the writer of your article set out to save the unthrifty farmer whether he wishes to be saved or not? The present unsatisfactory financial position of the world, and our own New Zealand, is largely due to the many restrictions, .such as tariffs, quotas, onibargos, etc,, which have been passed to restrict trade, production and financial intercourse, which throe are the source of all prosperity, and the lack of them the cause of the present lack of confidence, which spells depression.—l am, etc., E. YATES.