SOCIAL BETTERMENT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23220, 18 June 1937, Page 6

SOCIAL BETTERMENT

TO THE EDITOR

Sir. —I was interested in the speech of Mr W. W. Mulholland at the Farmers' Union Conference. It appears according to the Dominion president that the union is not opposed to social betterment. Then, as if to prove this, he next informed the conference: "The union resisted strongly Ihe inflation of wages beyond the 1931 levels." That must have been illuminating to those struggling settlers with large families who were often forced to work to supplement uncertain in comes and who "knew that the 1931 wages furnished but a bare existence for a man with a family. The lower purchasing power of the family through the succeeding years is still in the form of debt a recurring reminder to both storekeeper and farmer of the horrors of that.period. It was then that our members of Parliament, reviewing their .handiwork, said in effect to the world's financiers through their agent, Sir Otto Nierfteycr: " The sceptre of power is yours. Speak, Lord thy servant heareth. Tell us th> wishes and it shall be done according to thy will." Thus it was decided that all butter should be sold f.o.b. through private enterprise. Private enterprisers bought butter, and, after some had deteriorated by a policy of cold stor age, it was put up in competition with later shipments of butter. These tricks of the trade so affected the sale that Danish butter was invariably sold a+ £1 a cwt above New Zealand butter There are rumours that the firms responsible contain shareholders who. though connected with many middle men organisations that prey on the farmers, are also prominent advisers end members of the farmers' unions.

Through the return of the Labour Party to power the State now markets the dairy farmers' butter, Nov/ no dealer can buy butter f.0.b., store, and sell deteriorated butter to get the balance of fresh butter cheaper. Thus on May 15 Danish butter was sold at 108 s a cwt and New Zealand butter 106 sto 108 s a cwt. Thus one factor that injured the sale of New Zealand butter has oeen wiped out by the State Socialism which Mr Mulholland condemns. If the Qtago Harbour Board would only confine its activities td the lower harbour for a while to enable 20,000-ton boats to come to Port Chalmers, as they do.up north then on a round trip such boats could take all our fresh butter as they arrive, and, through travelling so much quicker, the time taken to reach London would be so much lessened that another factor would make for even competition with Denmark. When, some time ago, I suggested that Lord Nuffield should be approached by advocates of private enterprise to establish a branch of his industry here, if they were sincere about private enterprise, I was ridiculed on the ground that we had no iron mines in New Zealand to provide the raw material. It seems to me that the Government instead of putting men on temporary public works, might be able to employ them permanently on our great iron resources, which, if successful, would give work to all life employable unemployed. What a purchasing power this would be locally for farm products! During the worst of the depression never less than 12 persons sat down to meals at my home, and for much of that time none of my family was working. There was no family allowance then. On top of that the meat restriction was not allowed to fall on the big sheep farmers' products, but without compensation, on the poor man's dairy products. He alone, least able to bear it, had to " carry the baby" Now that a little Socialism has lightened our lot one looks with dread on the past spectre of rule by private entemrise,. the influence of which has the effect on us of a bad nightmare I am, etc., J. E. MacManus.