FAILING FARMERS

NZ Truth, Issue 850, 4 March 1922, Page 4

FAILING FARMERS

PATHETIC . PLIGHT Of BUCOLIC' SPECULATORS

1 A month or two ago "Truth" dealt 1 at some length jwith the difficulties m which many farmers find themselves to-day.. We know that the view o| ' the situation herein expressed and the remedy suggested, met with tho approval of the vast majority of our ' readei-s- Some farmer subscribers, however, feeling the impeachment of_ their' parasitical policy, have written complaining that our criticism, though not unfair m the main, was altogether too sweeping. But we, will let one of our critics put the position as he sees it before our readers. He says: "Truth" 'is altogether at sea m blaming the farmers as a whole for the unfortunate position m which the dairying, meat and sheept'arming (industries (for industries they are, every bit as much as the various trades and occupations; of our cities) are up against. Most farmers are genuine workers on the land and very hard their work is too. Any sensible . person (which stipulation, I hope, does not exclude 'newspaper men) who knows anything about .work on a farm, especially a dairy farm, knows that the farmer has not taken up the game because it is an easy job, or a "comfy" billet. The man who thinks so ought' to be sentenced to- a couple . of years' grafting on a dairy farm where the land is good when you've made ,it, the cows fair to middling and the weather bad to worse. .11, when the term is through, he can show a gain of a "bob" an hour for j the time he has put mon the farm, I 1 am sure that the members of the Farmers' Union, provided they have the necessary credit at the banks, would gladly subscribe collectively a sum equal to a bonus of another shill--ing an hour to such a well-deserv-ing person. Many farmers who now find themselves m financial difficulties, cannot by any stretch of imagination be called "exploiters.^ of the unearned increment," as "Truth' would fain dub us all. ' During- the time high prices were ruling for butterfat, etc., the prices of .stock, as well as land, farming implements and everything else were relatively as high, and, so, when the farmer struck a balance he found himself little, if any, better off than he was when butterfat; meat and wool prices were lower and those of 'other things approximative. The fall m the prices of ; farm produce has caught many farm-. | crs not only with high-priced farms, I but with high-priced stock and high- ; I priced farming implements, obtained mostly on bills of 'sale, with orders j 'on the factory, or other agency, to. de- < duct one-fourth of ' these farmers' ; cheques monthly until their accounts i are liquidated.- Under such oircum- : stances, it will be seen at a glance ; what the position 1 of such farmers is. ; The fall m prices' to less than half of ; those previously obtaining, means ! that when a fourth of a farmer s monthly earnings are taken for the j purposes named, the balance will ,be inadequate to meet his other cur- ; rent expenses. In addition to this, { the fact that the amount due the '■ farmer monthly is. less than half what : it former! v was, means that he will ; be more than twice as long m paying ! off- the debt due and his interest bill will thus be considerably augmented. ! How does "Truth" propose, he should j get out of this hole? ; : : : : . ■ : ; ' Before, attempting to answer the very j pertinent question with which the above able and frank statement on be- | half of. the farmers closes,. '-'Truth" j desires to disclaim the assertion with j /which this otherwise very fair state- • ment opens. This jpaper did not blame J "the farmers as a whole for the piti- i ful plight m which they now find ; themselves placed. It blamed a, ; particular section of the. farming ' class | which it dubbed "exploiters of tin- | earned increment," or, m other words,! farmers who farm not farms, but farm- ! ers. This point was made so very j clear .m both of the articles to which j the above letter refers, that we are ati a loss to 'understand how "Thames r Valley," as the writer of the letter j ; subscribes himself, could have read it ! otherwise..' ' j *: :: " By a strange coincidence, a member i of "Truth" staff has just returned from !. spending a three weeks' vacation ■: ! among the /farms of the North Island—- ; i Manawatu, Taranaki, King Country : • and Thames Valley being ; the places i j covered m his itinerary. Over a third i ' j of his time was spent on a' farm and j.i l.m visiting 'other., farms m ■ the last- : i i named district. He talked with meat h ! and wool farmers, cheese, butterfat and ;,.i j milk-powder farmers. Visited the ' ;■ Glaxo factory near Bunnythorpe and i l the skim-milk, powder factory '-at Wai- ] j toa. He conversed with farmers :and ] i dairy factory officials and workers' of ] 1 all shades of political . opinion, and .1 j although the "slump," its .causes and < i e—m—s, were frequently the theme of < IJH^H&ation, m which connection the j j ■^^■^■^ "Truth" were- quoted, m not j 1 H^H^^^^^did a bona fide farmer ex- I 1

press liimself as other than m practical' agreement with the conclusion arrived at by this journal. We do not say that "Truth's" contentions did not arouse the opposition of some farmers, but these we found to be men who, though working- as farmers, nevertheless hoped to make more out of the price of the land than out of the price of its products! Do not mistake our meaning. These men are farmers, many of them as good as you can get them. But the itch to make "easy money" is strong upon them, and they miss no opportunity to. do so. Among those "Truth's" rep. (incognito, of course) met were quite a number of this type. One had sold out'a 'farm at £40. iper 'acre, getting so much down and talcing -a mortgage for the balance. He then, bought another farm at £50 per 'acre, which he soon sold at £65 per acre, thus making £15 per acre on the deal. He subsequently bought a well-improved farm '• at £75 per acre, which, immediately on taking over, he advertised for sale at £§5 per acre, telling inquirers that if he did not get it sold at that figure m three months' time he intended to laise the price to £115 per acre- Unluckily for him, before he could get the last place disposed of the "slump" had come, and his rosy dream of "easy money" was rudely dispelled. Not only does he find it impossible to meet even the interest on tlie mortgage out of the earnings of the .farm, but the party that bought 'his other farm at £65 an acre is m the same predicament, and his income from that source also has dried up. His case is bad, but that of the farmer j who sold him the farm at £75 per acre j is even worse. Tliis last "farmer" had been at the game for a considerable | time and was said to be yveU m. At present he is holding 'heavy mortgages : on three, if not four, farms which' he j disposed of at from, £65 to £80 per j acre. Pie then took over and is at j present working a farm which cost : him £90 per acre, for which he paid a ' comparatively small sum down, ex- i pecting to be able to meet the interest ; and periodical payments of principal-; out of the returns from his other' three I or four farms, disposed of at such "ox- '. . cellent" prices. This source of income ! ! having failed him the outlook is black • indeed. These men, and there are all : j too many such, are m parlous case, but ! ! their misfortune is the result of their j ! G>wn inordinate selfishness and their j ; howl for Government assistance is I neither just, nor equitable. Such men ! are incidentally farmers 'but really ; speculators and have no legal or moral : right to look to the Government to get i them ''out of the hole." As for what | "Truth" would do to get them out, wo cannot confess to any particular anxiety to do so. The hole these particular parasites are m is a. pit they digged themselves. ' True, they dug ! it for others, but that fact/but adds to ! their iniquity. "Truth," and the Gov- i eminent will have enough to. do help- ! ing. out of holes the victims of just : such "farmers", and their allies the "booming" land agents. In all our travels and inquiries rwe did not come across' a single case of hardship where the farmer had worked steadily on his farm and refused to sell at the boom prices offering. These men were content to do well while the market for farm produce was at top, and now when it has come back to ! 'normal they are as well off as they were before the rise, plus their extra | savings during the "boom" time. The j real cases of hardship are those of returned soldiers and others who havel taken V up farms during the last three ' or four years, paying high prices' for J the land and doing so out of borrowed ' moneys. For these men ' somethingmust be done. Such men are deserving of every effort the State and the community can. put forth to save them from utter ruin. They are bona fide farmers... They are producers m „ the true sense, and are ready to tackle years of hard work provided they have a chance to make good m the end. Despite the slump that chance must ; still be given them and, if given them, "Truth" has no' doubt but a fair aver- , age of them will win out. As for the other kind they are even worse and more pernicious to the community ' than the tribe of guessers and unscru- •, pulou's punters who infest our race meetings. They speculated and speculated .till their luck turned and they have been cleaned out. "Truth" has no pity . to spare.- for any. such. They ■ have now ah opportunity of doing hon- : i est work for lrpneiit money. The. mcdi- '1 cine rhay.be unpalatable, as medicines .< generally 'are, but we have no doubt i they will be tho better for it.' At least . this little Dominion will. '■,