Page 4 Advertisements Column 2

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16914, 29 July 1918, Page 4

) I DOMINION WHEAT-GROWING i

? "Man wants but little here below— he usually wants it below coat." i MY DEAR PEOPLE.Last year we had a similar wheal shortage to this year's one, and it took about 10 months to get across from Australia a million bushels, and you remember well tho scarcity of flour, bran, and sharps. Since then tonnage has decreased, and freights advanced, and there are transit dangers similar In some 'respect to what happened to the Wimmera. If you let the Dominion's wheat-growing lapse through bungling, our annual requirements are about six and a-half million bushels. This is not a conundrum, but how long would it take to get it across, and how would you amuse yourselves in tho meantime? Don't you think it is about time you aroused yourselves, and mado an effort to . save the Dominion's wheat-growing industry, as it appears beyond "the seat of knowledge" to do so? Sir James and Sir Thomas both admit that we are having a heavy drain on our man-power and resources. Sir Thomas threw out » hint, which was resented. (Vide cable and Press Association wire.) Sir James Wilson, President of the Farmers' Union, before the Military Service Board at Marton, contended that ploughmen should not bo allowed to leave the Dominion. The stores were full of mutton, and in view of shipping difficulties lambs would probably have to be carried over next winter, and every available ploughman would be required if the exceptional feed necessary was to be gTown. Mr. D. Jones, President of the Canterbury Farmers' Union, when speaking recently on the wheat question, said: "The war had illustrated it was dangerous for a country • to rely upon outside resources for its food supply. The Government could not compel the farmers to grow wheat unless it provided them with sufficient and efficient labour. The depletion of labour had caused many farmers to adopt othor methods | —increased stock-raising and less grain- : growing." Champion suggests that the Government should at once tackle the question of permanent wheat-growing in a busincssliko man- ' net and fix the price at 6s Dd or 7a per j bushel, f.o.b. at Southern ports, as it can- • not be landed in the Dominion for less, now or later on, before it is too late, and not ■ keep it steadily in view like our prospective ' Northern Railways, county roads and land j for settlement, otherwise our generals will , be caught and put the Dominion at the m>rcy of tho Commonwealth to pay what it dictates, as its crop this season, and not : yet harvested, is reported to be 83 per cent, i lower than last year's one. The demand for , its wheat from all parts of the world will be enormous and its export price is from 9d to Is 3d per bushel higher than its home con- J sumption one, which is now 4s 9d, though I the farmers are clamouring for 5s 9d. You j can just imagine what we are in for if our farmers DO NPT RESPOND, and our Government " keeping the matter t steadily in view." The Hon. Mac Donald's reply to the ' Farmers' Union I hope does not imply that ( the Government will play hide-and-seek . with the flour duty by removing it like it did two years ago, but kept it on wheat not to displease the wheat growers, though the ' game forced down the price of wheat to a \ loss and made the millers the scapegoat, , Was this playing the, game? The time that is wasted at this critical r juncture, apart from sending the money out of the Dominion, is Bimply appalling, and if similar methods were adopted by any busi- j ness firm, they would become Ike the ex* \ tinct moa, a relic of the past. i The Government has no competitors at present, and how long will my people IV) content to muddle along by listening to platitudes, etc., while our principal food ] supply is passing to the Commonwealth, { which is subject to droughts, etc., and! ( what about our bacon, dairying, and carry- i ing interests, which require large quanti-1 i ties of bran and sharps, and the Common- , wealth has rarely any to export? , The Commonwealth's import Customs duty ( on flour is '£2 l(is per ton, on wheat Is 6d '. per cental, adopted by a business-like ' , Labour Government. The Dominion's i import Customs duty on flour is £1 per ton, ' , and 9d per cental on wheat, and we always I . have a shortage. E My people, can you wonder at the Com- ! i monwealth always having a surplus under r normal conditions at moderate prices? Give i the same protection to the Dominion and you will always have enough and to spare . at moderate prices, instead of this perpetual tinkering, which is not only exasperating, . . hut quickly killing the most essential in- j * dustry, wheat-growing, and its numerous I ' adjuncts, such as railages, etc., as on the ( rav material there are always two labour l handlings, but not so on the manufactured • t imported articles, flour, bran, and sharps, j g Why doesn't our Government adopt the I £ same tactics with the boot and clothing in- I £ dustries ?—and then " keep them steadily in i C view." \ The milling capacity of the Dominion is ' £ about three times its requirements, so you c need have no fear of inflated prices, as the £ competition is keen enough, while Champion I is about, and he has never taken advantage i of you during strikes and war period. ( My dear people, this is a heart-to-heart C talk. Now do your duty promptly. ( C I am, 1 f V AUCKLAND. 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