KEEP WATCH

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 31 August 1945, Page 6

KEEP WATCH

OVERSEAS TRENDS IMPORT CONTROL CRITICIZED Wanganui, August 29. The biggest job that Federated Farmers would have to do would Ih> to watch the economic trends, particularly overseas, said the Dominion secretary of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union, Mr. A. I*. O’Shea, addressing the first provincial conference of Federated Farmers of New Zealand at Wanganui today. There was no question that the farmers of the world would have to gel together to protect their interests. Labour had already done this with striking success. Farmers as a whole would have to take n much greater interest in overseas affairs They would have to see to it that their markets wore extended and preserved. There was no doubt that lhey could expand production enormously in New Zen Mu ml. given the proper conditions. New Zealand must help to provide the food and clothing for people of Europe and Asia. The only way to do this was to trade with them or to make them gifts of produce. Here the fanner must be on the watch. They must trade or light with the otket nations in the world, and it was regrettable that New Zealand had already started to sow the seeds of the next war. The Government had said that it was goinf to continue with import control. If New Zealand stuck to this policy of economic self-sufficiency, then it was stupid to disband its armed forces; if they were goinj! to adopt a policy which led to war the} should be armed to the teeth. It wue certain now that the policy of bulk purchase by the United Kingdoir was going to continue, and there would he little trouble in this connexion for ai least five years. After that New Zealand would have to watch the position carefully. Bulk purchase was not the ful solution. There were several drawback? to bulk purchase. One was that it die not envisage an expanding market foi New Zealand farm products and (he second was that there was no provision foi taking care of surpluses which could not be sold on the United Kingdom market. Low prices anywhere for farm product? prejudiced good prices everywhere. The} had to see that surpluses were not allowed to compete with the ordinary supplies on the good markets. Some system of buffer stocks would have to be adopted to deal with surpluses. These could be used to feed the starving people of the world without ruining good markets such as the United Kingdom or U.S.A. They could be financed by a small levy on produce exported which would amount to an insurance premium. These were all matters that Federated Farmers would have to deal with and it was necessary to have a strong organization. It would be vitally necessary to have more money, particularly at head office. The individual products would be dealt with by the people directly concerned, and on top of this there would he the evergrowing general work of the organization. The Farmers’ Union had tried to do it? job. but limited finance meant limited staff and. lie regretted to say. they had been much like a one-man-band. Recently they had been successful in preventing the Wellington Harbour Board from increasing its charges, but if they compared the time and the money the board «pent on its case with the time and money which the union had been able to spend, thej would get n great shock.