MINISTER OF LANDS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 16 April 1928, Page 6

MINISTER OF LANDS

DISTRICT TOUR WELCOMED fcT «&JMGW®OD ONAKAKA IRONWORKS VISITED EN ROUTE SOCIAL AND ADDRESS VARIOUS DEPUTATOXS The Minister of Lands and party left Takakn on Friday afternoon in time to visit Onakaka for the f> o'clock tap at the ironworks blast furnace. As Minister of Industries inid Connnerce. Mr McLeod was very interested to see the blast furnace in action. The visitors were met at the works by Mr A. lb Fletcher, chairman of the Collingwood Comity Council, anil shown through the iron smelting plant. The Minister asked many questions about tln> plant jiihl the various methods adopted. After the spectacular operation of tapping the furnace for slag and molten iron had been witnessed the party continued the journey to Colling wood.

PUBLIC WELCOME The evening was occupied l>y a social in honour of "the Hon. Mr McLeod and Mr K. P. Hudson, M.P. The following musical programme was rendered ( by locaM talent:' Pianoforte' duet.' Mrs Wells and the Lev. (!. 11. Schorr. Song, "Off to the Rio Crande." Mr Bickerstafl'. Song. "Lad o' Mine." Miss A. Ex ton. Duet. Mrs Teat and Mr Malhuitvne. Song, "The Little Irish Cirl," Mr Ford. Two seal songs, "The Mother Seal's Lullabv" ami "Von Musn't Swim Till You're Six Weeks Old," Miss Webb. Vocal quartette. Mrs Fletcher. Miss Webb, Mr Ford and the Lev. Mr Schurr.

Mr Fletcher, who presided during the evening, welcomed the Minister on behalf of Collingwood and Ihe surrounding district. He recalled the Minister's previous visit two years ago and his assurance then that it would be hard for him to return to Collingwood. The present visit was due to the efforts of Air Hudson.

Mr Hudson associated himself with the chairman's welcome. He felt sure a great deal of good would result to the electorate through the Minister's visit.

MR McLEOD'S ADDRESS In reply Mr McLeod said he wavery -gratified at the nature of the reception given him. He was very pleased with the fine programme that had been provided. "There is no one in the House." said the Minister, "for whom I would do more than I would for Mr Hudson." Although the local member did not. as he said, do much to fill Hansard, yet the speaker could assure those present that Mr Hudson did a great deal of valuable work on several >f the various committees, that did so much of the hard work in connection with bills before the House. The life of a member of Parliament, was not 'the easy round that many people imagined. While Parliament was sitting every member had to put in very long Hours every day. Answering correspondence and sitting on committees occupied the mornings and the remainder of the day was taken up in the House.

TO REMOVE A WBOXG

IMPRESSION

The Minister hoped the audience would excuse him for dealing with certain ])erst)nal matters hut lie wished to alter the opinion held by many that the Minister of Lands was born with a silver spoon in his month and had no sympathy or understanding of the difficult conditions under which backblock settlers lived. Mr McLeod said lie was born many years ago, one of a family of eight, 40 miles from the nearest school. He had to learn what, he could at his mother's knee and from remittance men, many of whom were graduates of the best universities in the British Isles. His father had not possessed enough halfpennies "to rattle on a tombstone." The Minister too brought up a family of eight children 14 miles from a school. He had to educate his family by providing a governess and later by scratching along to send them to a finishing school. Mr McLeod said he mentioned these things not in any boastful manner but to show that lie had been through the mill and had been familiar with back country life right from earliest childhood. He had the greatest sympathy with settlers in the remote districts.

BETTER PBTCES NEEDED The post-war slump during the past seven years had been very trying for the men on the land. Other Countries had experienced similar difficulties and cheaper money and control of produce had been tried as remedies. Hut the speaker's conviction was that those schemes did not provide a remedy. There would have to be a raising' of the value of the products from the land before any general prosperity could come to those engaged in the work' of the soil. What the farmer was producing from the soil was now reaching a better value as compared with production from other sources. If had been said that if the price oft foods! nil's rose it meant hardship for alT'but that ■was not so. If the price of primary products rose sufficiently to assure reasonable prosperity to those on the land it meant prosperity for everyone in the countrv.

Mr McLeod referred to his position of Minister of Industries and Commerce. When he was asked by the Prime Minister to assume the portfolio he expressed himself willing to carry out. the wishes of his chief but he remarked: "It is going to be a pretty queer mixture—the departments of Lands and Industries and Commerce controlled by one man.'' The Minister expected criticism. There would be many who would say that the two departments would not go together. The speaker did not agree with the contention.

"T AM. NOT A FfiEE-TIiADET-:" For ?>~> years lie had been a financial member ot the Farmers* Union and 22 years ago he was a delegate to the union's annual conference held on that occasion at Wanganui. A remit up for discussion read something as follows: "That this conference a/firms the principle of free trade." The speaker told the conference on that occasion that the farmers would never lie taken seriously if they passed remits by the biishclful and did not show the public that they took an intelligent interest in the business before them. "I am not a free trader/' was Mr MeLeod's state-

menf on (hal occasion. He s;ii«l then that perhaps no country in the world had been s ( , well titled by nature lo beeoin if tin- grcatesi industrial centres of 1 lie I'neilie provided the people of tin' country believed in li. He also told the conference that ail around him he saw hundreds and thousand- of horse power tumbling down (lie mountainsides in waterfalls and sfrcs'wft, but 'if "the energy was to be broughl undei lite service of man then the farmers .lone could never pay for il. New Zealand would never become whal nature intended hei to 1„. in the I'aeilic on primary produce alone. If the people were content for the country to haw a population of from one-ami a -half to t wo-and-a -ha If millions for the next ."ill years then it might depend solely on primary industries, but if Ihe people were intent on building up a country occupied by a prosperous British race, with defensive and where necessary, as in the Crent War. offensive possibilities then the Minister believed that there was room in New' Zealand with all its natural water power and minerals for seeondarv indusi i ies.

"ALMOST A HEBESV" Mr McLeod said he knew he might be preaching what was almost a heresy in this country. It was not what the papers had leil the people to believe for some time past. The cry had been: "Free trade, and woe betide Ihe Oovernment that says otherwise." The speaker was not a free trailer but neither did he believe in high protection, especially high protection against the Homeland. He believed there would eventually come a system of free tiade or fair trade within Ihe Empire but lie would be no party to saving that those countries that had New Zealand by the throal some years ago should be'allowed to trade with tiiis country on the same terms as our own people. There were uol Iwo per cent, of t lie farmers in t lie count ry who really believed thai. No one would support pill ting into competition the labour of New Zealand and the sweated vcllow and black labour of the world.

The speaker was uol a believer in rushing things. The development of (he primary industries had been comparatively slow, and so must the secondary industries be slow in growth. Too high a protection would lie a bad mistake and would brine about a necessary reaction. Before instituting protection in any particular case it was necessary to see that the industry to be affected was being run in a proper niter. It was necessary for (he secondary industries to put their enterprises on a proper business footing—to see that there was no over capitalisation, <'tc. The worker* should put in good services for their weekly •!! or -Is hours and should expect not more than a reasonable wage in return. When all these things had been done and tile industry was still uol making head way then it was nil right to come to the (I'ovcrninent for protection. .At the same time Mr McLeod said he knew a number of industries had started in New Zealand which should never have been allowed lo start.

SUPPORT VOW IIK'N INDUSTRY

Then as regards the iron work-, which, wii h the iiiaiiufacl lire of cement ill Tarakohe. made up the two indusi ries that were of such importance to the ili-t ric(. ll had beep recognised that since iron- was the chief or basic mean- of defence I hen ill every country an iron industry was necessary for ils protection. 'The speaker had read thai New Zealand could just acasily obtain all the iron sin- required from' Australia or another country. Oulv the other day the highways of the' world were almost closed because of the (oval War. When a country had the •essnry material- for the production of iron everything possible should be done to establish the industrv. Also many industries depended oil a -iipply of pig iron. It was no use building up an industry ilia! depended on the supply of a raw product if there was a possibility of ihe supply being cut oil'. A sure source of supply

of pig iron was necessary in this country. It was disappointing to find a number of industries that had had their requests Uu- protection granted buying their iron outside of New Zoa land. That was not playing Ihe game. "I was very much impressed with the Onakaka works." 'said the, Milliter. Certainly many of the appurtenances to the main plain were out of date bul the industry had to have a beginning and mistakes were sotne-

times le. There was an opening tor Ihe spending of i v capital in providing new machinery and improve meiils to the ple.-elil plant. Many countries would like lo have the adjacent deposits of lime ami iron as were found al Ouakaka. The Onakaka deposits would be a goldmine if they occurred in Australia and (lie Minis 1..,- could mil Hunk bul (had (hey ahouW be 'i goldmine in New Zealand. ■I (•,,,, „:tfe!v „;iv foi Onakaka," eon tinned Mi M.donl ••Ilia! ih:<l little indusi ry has a -real flltuiv both for itself and for I hi- district."

The ma iilil'ael lire of ceinenl. -aid Mr Mil ,1 was one of the important industries of lid- country. The Cuvernmrul had been criticised for putting I'l a ton duty on imported cement which, but for the duty could be bought in New Zealand f I cheaper." Mr McLeod believed thai I'l spent in the country was better than -ll* -pent outside the country, lie knew that statement would be contradicted bv economists, but he would remind those presi nt that England, the pinneci of five trade, was being forced

into protection. Further, would the ~j ire of cemeiil remain do v. n supposing the New Zealand works were dosed down bv the removal of the CI a ton duty": This was a day of trusts and combines thai wen- quite beyond the authority of New Zealand. The Dominion'- best defence was the possession of its own industries which could be easily controlled, fn many of these things.'if there were no other reason the speaker would -ay that ihe building up of the country's own industries was the best protection that could be got. Australia had put on verv high tariffs on some products, e.g.. agricultural implements. Therefore the great shipping i panics were delivering agricultural implements to Australia at just about halt ~f what ihey charged to New Zealand. The n (lllctit'.ll was made to help outside inlere ts lo compete with Australian manufacturer.-. 'dany people said i hal I lie country should nol have industries thai could no! -land by themselves but no industry in New Zealand could -land against such out - side compelilioii. In , elusion Mr McLeod said it was certainly a very great pleasure to be visiting the Collingwood district again. He hail no dread of the next election. Mr Hudson would still be the member for Motuek.i and Ihe speaker would still be Minister of Laud-. Such being the case he would look forward to -till yet another visit to Collingwood. Al' the conclusion of the Minister's speech a verv appetising -upper was provided.

DEPUTATION MAKES REQUESTS

When the social was concluded a deputation from the Collingwood County Council wailed on the Minister to bring; certain requests before him.

Mi- Fletcher asked the Minister to do whal he could to expedite the revaluation of ihe county. An application for it revaluation was put in 12 months :ig-ii la-i September. ' Mr McLeod explained that the \'alual inn I lenart incut had in hand far more such applications than il could possibly deal with during the coming year 1,1,,' he promised to see thai the Collingwood application wa- dealt with

The deputation asked the Minister to lav before the Minister of Public Work'- Ihe council's request for I'Siill to complete I lie Tot ara road. The council had speni the loan of fcT.Onil required for this work but thai sum did not quite complete the work. The Minister said he would bring the matter before his colleague the Minister of Public Works.

AT BAIXHAM On Saturday morning the 'Minister and party motored to Baiiiham to be present at a gathering of farmers. Mr Fletcher, chairman of the County Council, presided. He explained that the Minister had come to meet the farmers and have a talk with them.

A request for a bridge over Cook's creek was brought forward and it was explained that four settlers supplying milk to the local factory would make use of the bridge.

Mr McLeod promised lo bring- the request before hi- colleague the Minister of Public Works tt'he Hon. K. S. Williams). Mr Williams would almost certainly \ i-it the Motuek.i electorate before the coming session and discuss these matters personally with the

settlers concerned. Mr .McLeod Would brinu the various matters before Mr William- who Wollhl be able to look into them for himself when he came round.

Mr l.augford made a request for assistance in the erection of a new posi ollicc to replace the present building which was inadequate for the work. In reply Mr McLeod said thai the p-.-.l olii.v question, too, cyme ujrjer the control of y nol hoi Minister and he would hind on the reqne.-l accordingly. Tee i'o.-t utaster-Oeueral was a business lean and would deal with Ihe question accordingly. In Mr Mel.eod's opinion the New Zealand Post and Telegraph service was the best in the world. Two -y stems had been tried in New Zealand —extending the number of po-l ollices and extending the delivery service-. With the consent of the people affected 100 post ollices had been .dosed in New Zealand in favour of rural deliveries, It was certain that a full inquiry would be made into the local position in due use. Lime for mauurial purposes was also dealt with by Mr Lang lord. He said the district had not the advantage of tree railway transport of lime and farmers had to pay dearly for it. There was at one time a subsidy of Ms a ion on lime but that was for some reason stopped. The speaker hoped the Covernnicnt would see its way clear to renew the snhsidv.

The Minister said that the lime question had been raised at Murchison and Takakn. He was familiar with the manure problem, especially as regarded lime. There was no doubt some proposal would be brought before Parliament during the coming session. The Minister pointed out that the Railway Department had now been commercialised. Fast year about. 200,000 tons of fertilisers were carried for farmers at an average price of Is a ton. The cost tn the Railway Department was

.something like 8s a ton and the difference had to be made up by a vote from tin; Agriculture Department. Tn this way between I'Sii.lioii and C'.Mi.uoii was paid over last year plus C'io.lion for I lie carriage of lime free io farmers lu view of this Mr McLeod did not think the farmers would argue thai the Covciniiieiit should subsidise the cartage of fertiliser- and lime on roads at the same rate as on the railways. Land awav from a railway was

generally cheaper for that reason and this. too. had to be taken into account. Although the farmer was the most important unit in the country he was not the most important voting unit and the < bivernmeut must follow the wishes of the majority. Actually ihe farmer made up one quarter of the toi:il vote. Both the Reform Party and Cabinet were 00 per cent, farmers and they were aware of the difficulties farmers had to face .and were pursuing a policy to remove those difficulties as far as possible. LABOUR DIFFICULTY The high price of labour was dealt

with by one speaker who said the farmer- wanted labour to be made available at a price that would permit farmers to use it. There were a number of unemployed in the cities but here the fanner- were short of labour. If the working man would accept a wage that would allow the farmer to employ him a great deal could he done in increasing primary production.

.Mr McLeod admitted that the labour question was ;i big problem. The con-ference-being held at Wellington would probably let tile Covernnicnt conic in some definite idea, of policy and as to what legislation would be introduced during the coining session. Labour had rights—in many cases very real rights. The speaker had been very closely in touch with labour in his personal efforts to open up new country. He could say unhesitatingly that Hie rank and lilt' of labour in Xew Zealand compared favourably with that of any country in the world. Labour had very often been led astray by those who protended to be the friends of labour. For work in the country the Minister said thai there was a suitable class of labour such as he employed himself a I C2 a week and keep. That was not too big a wtige for a single man provided he was a good worker and as a general rule those men earned their pay. There were others, who if they received ids a week would be overpaid. The Minister said he would repeat what he had said elsewhere. "Unless there is a permanent rise in the value of what the farmer sells then the permanent wage cannot be maintained >tt this country without disaster." More would have to be paid for primary produce or else wages would have to come down.

In conclusion the .Minister said lie had been very pleased to visit the Motueka electorate and meet many of those who were doing so much to keep the country afloat. It was his firm belief that all sections of the community should receive a reasonable return for their work—something more than a mere sufficiency on which to live.

A vote of thanks to .Mi McLeod for his sympathetic hearing of the farmers' grievances and requests was passed by acclamation.