WEALTHY LAND

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22822, 1 September 1937, Page 14

WEALTHY LAND

HAPPY SOUTH - AFRICA A FARMERS' GOVERNMENT MILLIONS FROM GOLD "Wo say, as I believe you do, that the farmer, is tlic* backbone of the country, and that is why we have a farmers' Government," stated Mr. 0. R. Nel, M.P. for Newcastle, South Africa, who, with his wife and daughter, arrived by the Awatea yesterday. He said that in South Africa all transportation was State controlled, all mails were carried by air, farmers had received £34,000,000 in subsidies in the last seven years, and millions wore being spent upon irrigation. He added that while South Africa had very advanced social legislation, the Conservative-Liberals were in control of the country. In the Union Parliament, said Mr. Nel, tliero were 150 seats, of which tho United South African National Party held 120. There were only four Labour members and one Socialist. The coi.cntry had abolished all export subsidies, witli the exception of lid ii pound on chilled beef, a trade which the Government had resolved to develop with Great Britain. In addition, farmers had tho privilege of volunteering to have in their particular districts a compulsory system of inspecting sires, to ensure the production of good quality f;tock. In those areas all sires had to bo passed by the Department of Agriculture, which allowed £l2 10s toward the purchase of highgrade bulls. Low Interest Rate Further subsidies, equalling onethird of tho cost of erecting silos, to a maximum of £SO, were granted and Government assistance was extended to farmers whose land was subjected to erosion, duo to heavy rains which fell in the wet season. Farmers who used white labour for this work had to find only one-eighth of the cost of labour, but they had to provide plant and equipment. No South African farmer paid more than 3£ per cent interest on lus mortgage bonds, said Mr. Nel. "We never have attacked the sanctity of contracts," he continued, "but if any farmer is charged more than 5 per cent we tax tho difference. The Government then pays 1$ per cent and tho farmer 3£. This method has been of immense help to farmers." Extremely Prosperous South Africa was Britain's best customer. '"We havo bargaining power second to none," ho said, "and we intend to make tho utmost use of that power. The country is extremely prosperous at tho present time, in the last two years wo havo reduced our national debt by £17,000,000, all our war debt is liquidated, and last year our railways showed a profit of £2,000,0 CX). Our gold industry produces about £74,000,000 worth of precious metal each year, and between 1933 and 1937 the taxation on gold brought between £37,000.000 and £38,000,000. Eleven new gold mines, with an estimated capital expenditure of £23,000,000, are being opened, and for the first six months of this year our national trade showed a favourable balance of £10,000,000." It was not surprising, thereforo, said Mr. Nel, that tho South Africans intended to make the utmost of their facilities and their bargaining power. For this reason the farmer was given every encouragement, with excellent results.