CHARGES ON LAND

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23617, 29 March 1940, Page 10

CHARGES ON LAND

LIVING STANDARDS HEAVY CALL ON FARMERS EFFORT TO PLACE THE BLAME [by TKI.KCII.W'M —OWN COlllt IvSI'ONDKNT] WAIPUKI" HAU, Thursday People in New Zealand did not realise that the farmer had been called upon to provide a standard of living that could not be justified, said Mr. A. P. O'Shea, Dominion secretary of the New Zealand Farmers' Union, in an address to farmers at Waipuluirnu. In providing this standard, he said, the farmer had been drawing on the fertility of the land which had been stored up for centuries, and this could not go on for ever. Tt had to be realised that it was going to cost more to produce the same quantity of pastoral wealth. Although his remarks might be construed as an attack upon the policy of the Government, Mr. O'Shea said, ho was compelled to point out that any blame attaching to any Government applied right back to the time of Seddon. "The only time during our history that there has been a conscious effort to ease charges on the land," Mr. O'Shea said, "was during theslump when national safety made it imperative that the farmer should continue to bring home bread, butter and clothing for New Zealand. The blame, in my mind, attaches not to the Government but to the whole community, for it by now should have realised the necessity for looking alter our greatest asset —the land." There had been a great deal of nonsense talked about purchasing power, Mr. O'Shea continued, and, while there was much to be said for some of the arguments put forward, it had to be remembered it was essential to increase purchasing power of the farmer also, especially if the poorer hill country was to be farmed properly. "Fvery Government from the time of Seddon has lowered the farmer's purchasing power by depreciating his currency through borrowing or some other means," said the speaker. This policy has made it necessary for farmers to get Is 4d per lb. for butterfat." The only real and permanent way to increase purchasing power, he added, was by making things cheaper. Ihe prosperity of the farmer was essential to the prosperity of the country and it was useless the farmer making for greater production if others in the community did not pull their weight.