Government’s Policy And Farming

Northern Advocate, 31 March 1938, Page 4

Government’s Policy And Farming

FARMERS' UNION COLUMN

g: A comprehensive survey oi union Inactivities and the (general efleet of the • Government’s policy particularly as it affects farming was given by Mr A. Briscoe. Moore, president of the Whangarei Sub-Provincial Executive of tfiie Farmers’ Union,' in his annual report presented at yesterday’s meet,.ipg. : V -. ' . ‘‘'Pie last 'twelve months have seen ' a steady growth in the membership and prestige of our Dominion organs isatipn,” Mr Moore said. “I regret that'• membership locally ;is not as high,' as it should be, but with the early, advent of an organiser, I am enough- to expect that farright thing and join . up with the only body that can give ", expression to their wishes and rights ,in the current .administration of the country. ~ ' ‘ “If farmers expect to be heard as , individuals, when all other sections ■ are strongly organised, they are voluntarily ■ disfranchising themselves, ahd wll‘ things economic ; go against them. ! Forcing The Pace, t “Various matters affecting us during the year have received, a good deal of'publicity, and I think it opportune,; with an election impending, id-preview the general §ffect of . tpis Government’s .|>olicy, particularly as it affects farming, 'before the becomes charged with the bitterdess of party propaganda. ~ t “For decades, the policy of successive New Zealand Governments has f ftppnf: has been broadly termed ‘Socialistic,’ but the present Governs njtPnt has forced the pace, and has aroused resentment in precipitately ‘imposing r ppon •us measures which might save ’ been more, readily accepted at a slower rate of evolution.

T : “Hence, we have our? steep rise in dosts, >:which has fallen so heavily primary producer, with his pass them on. think New Zealanders \6:an,t the bureaucracy and -regi--tpeptatiop of ‘whole hog’ Socialism or the selfishness and exploitation of Extreme individualism. Our. past •; history points to a commonsense midd% ; course, , conducive ' to the 1 voluntary co-operation. “Following are some of the salient ‘this Government’s legisla- , • tlori af|ectij|ig us:-r' f - ; - , ;|“The : ' of the Reserve i Bank and Mortgage Corporation to the State, away from- sharehplder control,, must have.' pur. approval ip

principle/ In the taking over of these two institutions which can have so much influence in the lives of many of us, the Government has shown a commendable determination to make monetary authorities serve the needs of the community as they should do, since all issues of bank credit —the bulk of our money-are, and always have been, made against the productive capacity of the people, without which no bank could functiop. It is to the Government’s credit that it has succeeded, as part of this policy, in keeping interest rates low. Money Reformers Disappointed. j “The many who hoped for real monetary reform, in the sense of getting away from the debt system of finance under which the world can only carry on by going deeper and deeper into debt to banking systems, have been disappointed.

“The problem in the failure in the distribution of modern plenty is to put purchasing power into the hands of v the consumer by a method in which it does not enter into costs and prices, nor cause inflation. “The familiar spiral of ascending wages .with prices rapidly catching up, indicates that the Government has largely failed in this objective. “A new principle was put into operation in the guaranteed price for dairy produce—that the , position of the exporter in having to sell at low pricep in the world’s markets, and buy in a highly protected local market, should be recognised and corrected, and that he and the community should be protected .from the effects of violent fluctuations pf overseas markets.

“In practice, the amount of the price fixed has not given the farmer a fair deal in relation to the financial rewards of others, which are in striking contrast when hours worked are considered.

“The principle involved, nevertheless, is widely approved, with the result that the compensated price idea, with its four points, has received practically unanimous, support from farmers everywhere. This develops the principle to the point at which it does give the farmers economic justice—which is not the case today.

? Cannot Be Escaped. “I think that pressure, upon this will be such that no future Government can escape the fulfilment of it, 1 for other sections are coming to see that it is in the general interest that the remuneration of the exporter should be in accordance with his services, since his spending power for the maintenance and development of the land is the mainstay of our internal market. ;V"■ “The provisions for mortgage adjustment have been in operation for some time,,,and are,probably as effective for the-purpose as any device

can be which has to deal with complex effects and not causes —meaning that it must entail some injustices.

“Wc arc labouring under the heaviest taxation wc have ever had, some of it unfair in incidence and all of it tending to lift costs and restrict enterprise. “Compulsory unionism seems to me to be altogether alien to our New Zealand tradition of independence and the freedom of the individual, and has forced employers and employees into opposite camps where before was often harmony. B Stations. “There is much feeling about the virtual suppression of the B stations as agencies of free speech over'’ the air. - Despite repeated protests, and its own pledges, the Government lias maintained a stranglehold over the air. Broadcasts prepared to put the farmer’s case before the public have been cut about and mutilated, by a censorship more worthy of a Fascist than a democratic regime.

“The heavy increase in costs and the labour shortage have dealt our basic two heavy blows. We cannot pass these costs on capitalised, they represent a confiscation of the farmer’s equity of far greater amount than anything he may have gained in other directions. .“The effect is to depress the farmer’s standard of living and to hold up the development of the land from which approximately 75 per cent of our wealth is derived. This means less trade in the 100 and 1 materials required for such development, a huge loss in possible employment, and, if continued, a shrinkage in production. While some cost increases are due, to overseas price increases, undoubtedly the majority is due to legislation. “in a classical conception of Socialism, Bellamy’s ‘Looking Backward,’ the workers in arduous industries, such as farming, work short hours, while those in lighter industries, and ‘ those.to which mechanisation can be* applied, work longer hours. Our Government decrees the reverse, so that today the farmer and his wife have to work harder than ever before—in sharp contrast to the 40-hour week.

Other Attractions. “Many of our skilled farm workers are to be found on public or other work of secondary importance, while the man on the land has to put up with much untrained and inferior labour. Similarly, his wife has in many cases to do without help which cannot be obtained, though she often has to cook for men as well as her own family. “Wives and children have had to go back to the milking shed. There is a very real difficulty today in carrying on the essential work of

many of our farms. "These things should not, and need not, be. It is. in my view, a tragedy that such factors are accelerating tiie drift from the land at an alarmingly increased.rate. Since, we have attained our present position largely by the production from our land, surely it is not in the national interest to let such productipn decline, by stifling new development, and reducing man power where it is needed most. "The most dangerous trend in the general policy in New Zealand today is that decried by all authorities —the I trend towards ‘economic nationalism’ 'or self sufficiency. We live on grass, and we cannot allow our vital export trade to be imperilled. If They Are Adopted. "This trend is apparent in two recent happenings—the decision to establish what may prove to be uneconomic State ironworks, and recent increases in tariffs on goods already heavily protected. If such policy is allowed to develop, it must in the first place restrict primary production by putting up costs still further. ‘‘Secondly we must expect retaliation against our produce by way of tariffs, quotas, or boycotts, in those countries who lose trade to New Zealand as a result. Both effects would be damaging to the country and disastrous to the farmers.

“In conclusion I thank you for your helpful co-operation during the year, and express the hope that a big increase in local membership may help us on still further in the year to come, our objective being justice for farming as a chief means towards the best standard of life for all in New Zealand.”