WOOL RESEARCH

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22328, 31 July 1934, Page 10

WOOL RESEARCH

GOVERNMENT'S PROPOSAL OPPOSITION IN SOUTH ISLAND GREATEST NEED IN NORTHERN DISTRICTS The proposal contained in the Government Bill dealing with the establishment of a Wool Research Council to be financed by a per bale levy on wool is not of a kind calculated to foster cooperation and unity in the pastoral industry of the Dominion. The announcement of the Government's intention* has come as a surprise to both growers and brokers in the South Island, the majority of whom considered the possibility of such a step fairly remote. At least it was generally believed that no attempt would be made to foist anything of the kind on to the wool growing community without a vote of the industry being taken. For that reason the industry in the southern provinces of New Zealand viewe the idea with keen disfavour, and judged by the opinions expressed to a Daily Times reporter yesterday, it is probable that the Government will encounter a good deal of opposition from th» representatives of pastoral electorates in the South Island when the proposed Bill is brought before Parliament. A BROKER'S VIEWPOINT A reliable representative of the woolbroking side of the industry 6tated yesterday that there was little support for the proposal in the South Island. Personally, he was not very familiar with the scheme because it had so little interest for either growers or brokers in this part of the Dominion. The North Island was very keen on the setting • up of such a council, and had always worked hard for it. That, of course, was natural considering the coarser descriptions of wool grown in the North Island. i This coarse wool had had very much the worst of the market, and if it was to attain a price strength comparable to that ruling in the South Isln'.d it would have to be greatly improved. If North Island pastoraliets could get a State organisation to hurry on this improvement with funds provided by the industry as a whole they would have every reason to be gratified. In the South Island, he continued, such a «eheme was not considered neceseary, mainly because the bulk of the '. wool produced was of a fine type, the quality of which was for the most part good. He thought he could say with every confidence that fanners generally in the South Island were fiercely opposed to any sort of levy for that purpose, and that they would do everything possible to upset the North j Island's plans. ATTITUDE OF GROWERS A well-known Otago wool-grower, with a long experience in' an executive capacity in local farmers' organisations, stated, in the course of a telephone conversation with a Daily Times reporter yesterday, that he was amazed to notice the apparent confidence with yh.Jch the ' Government had announced its intentions. It i would seem that the Government had the idea that it was doing something really generous for wool- . growers, when all the time it was merely endeavouring to help the pastoralists of the North Island at the expense of the industry as a whole. The large pastoral provinces of the South Island, which would contribute most of the finance for the scheme, had less need ©f it than any other part of the Dominion. They did not want it, and he felt sure would resent the manner of its introduction. They had a right to expect to be consulted before any definite move was made. Another representative of the pastoral industry in Otago took the view that it was unfair that the producers of fine wools should be expected to "foot the bill" for North Island woolgrowers who ■ had so concentrated on fat lamb production that the quality of their wool clips had fallen to such an extent that for the most part they were unattractive to buyers. If less attention had been paid to fat lamb raising and a little more had been devoted to maintaining a reasonable standard of quality in wool, pastoralists in the north would not be in a position to-day where they must do something to bring about a drastic change in the character and type of the wool they were producing. Why should Otago and Canterbury rush into such a scheme when the bulk of their wool was of fine quality, and, as last season's values had shown, generally attractive to buyers? NORTH v. SOUTH ISSUE . That persistence in its proposals by the Government would result in a division in the ranks of pastoralists, and the creation of a North v. South issue, was the fear expressed in another quarter, the speaker stressing the fact 1 that the necessity for such a scheme was not national but local. If the North Island woolgrowers felt that they were in need of some such assistance as it was proposed the Wool Research Council should furnish, there was nothing to stop them from establishing a scheme of their own, financed and developed by themselves for their own purposes. It was hardly to be expected that the South Island would be overjoyed at the possibility of having to contribute to the cost of an improvement scheme which it as unnecessary. VIGOROUS CRITIC OF SCHEME VIEWS OF MR JAMES BEGG Unqualified disapproval of the scheme was expressed by Mr James Begg to a Daily Times reporter yesterday. Discussing the matter from the sheepowners' point of view he questioned the motives of those responsible for the proposal and stated emphatically that the objects of the scheme could not be achieved in the manner proposed. The Government Bill to promote the sheep breeding industry had never been ■ asked for'or approved by the sheep farmers of New Zealand, said Mr Begg. It was the pet of the Council of Scientific and Industrial .Research, the Department of Agriculture and Massey College. These institutions all wanted money to spend, and not being able to get more from the Consolidated Fund, they now wanted to get it direct from the producers. .; Instead of consulting the producers about it they had evidently contrived to get the Government to impose a levy without the producers' consent. "The column<of propaganda published in ; this morning's paper is the work of the above institution," said Mr Begg. "It is pure propaganda and incorrect in many respects. The proposal to establish a council to administer the, fund is said to have long been supported in the North Island. It is true that some breeders there have supported the echeme, but sheep, farmers generally have not done so and a referendum of I sheep farmers either in the North Island

or the South Island would show that strong opposition to the proposal exists everywhere." Continuing, he said that the sheep owners had agreed, on the urgent representations of Mr Forbes, that the sum of £2BOO should be raised by a levy of Id per bale to pay New Zealand's share to the Imperial "Wool Council, which had been formed to carry out an economic survey of marketing and the utilisation of wool." The condition attached to this was that Australia, South Africa and Britain should contribute in proportion to the size of their flocks. Beyond this the sheep owners had refused to go. According to the telegraphed report, the movement originated in Palmerston North, though it would perhaps be more correct to say at Massey College. The meeting did not represent the sheep owners, and the Government had never been asked by the representatives of the rdieep owners for any wool-improvement scheme. Were sheep owners convinced that general improvement would follow such a scheme, they would heartily support it, but they knew better. The science of breeding was fairly well understood by the stud breeders and the art of breeding was well developed. The art was much more important than the science and could not be taught in a college or by any department. Mr Begg then quoted from an article by A. D. Buchanan Smith, of Edinburgh University, on science and the improvement of live stock, in which that noted authority said:— .The geneticist has been able to give very little help to the stock breeder. Much that science has accomplished has merely shown that the practice of our great stock breeders is exactly right. It is not within the realms of possibility to achieve for many years to come exact knowledge of . our classes of live stock. We need expect nothing revolutionary in the stock-breeding industry as a result of the science of genetics. "I, could go on quoting," said Mr Begg, " but it is not necessary. Massey College has a Eomney flock. It is definitely inferior to many privatelyowned flocks. The college has yet to show that it can successfully combine the science with the art of breeding. Let the flock and the scientists get together and produce stock better than the studmasters are doing. So far the flocks at the colleges are not outstanding ones. When they can produce outstanding flocks we will reconsider the matter, but in the meantime what they cannot do to their own flocks they cannot do to ours. Improvement, which is very necessary, will come from the stud or not at all. With regard to diseases and hogget mortality in the South Island, we have in the Department of • Agriculture an expensive veterinary department. Is it a total failure when thousands of pounds more are required to enable another department to help it?" The scientific gentlemen were out to get money to enlarge and glorify their various departments, he concluded. They were unable to do what they claimed and money provided would be largely wasted. A referendum of sheep owners would let the Government know their opinion of the attempt to place a new burden upon then* for benefits that were nebulous if hot non-existent. He was well aware that he would be denounced as conservative and non-pro-gressive, but that was not likely to cause him concern, since it seemed that only those who advocated greater and ever greater public expenditure were regarded as progressive in these days.