OUTLOOK FOR FARMERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19511, 15 December 1926, Page 14

OUTLOOK FOR FARMERS.

PESSIMISM NOT WARRANTED. SOUND FINANCE ESSENTIAL. PRICES AND STABILITY. THE HON A. D. McLEOD'S. VIEWS. [bv telegraph.—own correspondent.] GISBORNE, Tuesday. The Minister of Lands, Hon. A. D. McLeod, does not view the future of the farming industry in New Zealand with the same degree of pessimism as shown by many of the producers at present. He considers that 75 per cent, of the farmers must be on a fairly sound footing. Mr. McLeod said that to his mind the real trouble in New Zealand was not so much the land values but the fluctuation in prices which had taken place during the last five years. Sound finance was the essence of farming and with the rapid rises and fall in the price of stock it was impossible for the farmer to know where he stood. It was necessary that stability should be reached again in order that the farmer should prosper and he believed that slowly but surely the Dominion was getting back to a greater degree of stability. It was true that many farmers had'purchased properties at prices that would eventually mean they would have to go under but' there was a wrong impression in the minds of many people regarding the quantity of land that changed hands jn New Zealand during the boom years. Sales in Boom Years. Only about 25 per cent, of the land / was sold then, which meant that there was still 75 per cent, of land on which the advances were only up to 66 per cent, of the Government value. It was obvious that this land was held under satisfactory conditions and with butter fat at Is 4d, wool at about Is, and lamb at 8d he could not see that there was any real ground for pessimism in the future outlook. :• It was probable that there was no district in New Zealand Which so well exemplified his contention as did Poverty Bay, for there were many farmers here who had hypothecated unpaid balances in order to purchase fresh land. These men would in the end have to go under and -nothing that the Government could do would stop that. Why had not the Government faced the position and reduced the valuations was a question which some people asked. The answer was very simple, for experience had proved that wholesale deflation of values was just as disastrous as wholesale inflation. The Government' had continued' the moratorium and allowed farmers fx> rearrange their finances and in doing so had done splendid work. Deflation would proceed quietly and it was much better for the country that this should be Closaa? Settlement Difficulties. The Minister said, that many of those j §rho loudly urged closer settlement failed fo ©nderst«as the difficulties connected ii. There were a number of properties fc the Poverty Bay district which had been offered io the Government but the prices asked were such that he could I not consider the' proposition. On Saturday evening a private deputation of the Gisborne Chamber of Commerce had urged closer settlement' on him and had mentioned" a niimber of properties which were considered suitable. ; : His answer had been that if they could find any man with £IOOO who was willing to invest in the properties &t the prices at which they considered the Government should take them over he would' consider the matter. " They haven't brought along anyone with the £IOOO yet,"- added the Minister with a smile*.' \ ; ; In some respects, said Mr. McLeod, the Chamber of Commerce laid themselves open to-charges of inconsistency. He had beeh present at the opening of the con- i ference of chambers of commerce and one of the first motions they had carried condemned the Dairy Produce Control Board and asked for the repeal of the 'Act. Their grounds in doing so were that compulsion 'was foreign to the nature of the Englishman and that he would not submit to it. A few remits further down the Poverty Bay members urged that the compulsory clauses of the Land Act should be put into effect and this too had been carried unanimously. Closer settlement was a difficult problem at present and it was useless endeavoui'ing to put settlers on land unless that land could be obtained in the first instance at a reasonable price.