FARM PROBLEMS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23828, 7 June 1939, Page 12

FARM PROBLEMS

CAUSES AND REMEDIES EXCHANGE AND INDUSTRY THE POLITICAL ASPECT ADDRESS TO FARMERS' UNION Vital matters in connection with the primary industries to-day, including guaranteed prices, exchange control, the relation of farming to secondary industry, and the wisdom of establishing a farmers' political party, were discussed yesterday at the annual provincial conference of the Farmers' Union by Mr W. W. Mulholland (Dominion president). After emphasising the gravity of the situation, the speaker told his audience that a solution depended entirely on the measure of unity and co-operation that the farmers could command. A Shadowy Proposition Mr Savage had said that the Farmers' Union was fighting the shadow of a guaranteed price for meat and wool, Mr Mulholland said.

That meant that no such idea had been entertained by the Government, but he- had a letter in front of him from the Prime Minister which concluded as follows:—" The Government would be pleased to consider a guaranteed price for meat and wool and would weclome the support of your organisation." Did that sound much like a shadow? Actually, however, the whole business was very shadowy, for the simple reason that Mr Savage had refused to give farmers anything definite or specific about the proposals. It was no fault of the Farmers Union that the scheme was so nebulous. The Minister of Marketing had been offered the columns of Point Blank, the union's journal, for the purpose of turning his shadowy proposition into something that farmers could think about and talk about.

"The farmer to-day is in a very different position," Mr Mulholland said, " quite apart from the state of his industry. I refer to his standing in the community. He has few sympathisers outside the rural community. People who should be better informed are saying very hard things about the farmer. They say that it is all farmers' growling and that things are not nearly as bad as they are said to be. But what is even more-important is that what sympathies still exist are being alienated. This is probably due to the hard times through which the country has lately passed, but whatever the cause, it is certainly something over which farmers have no control.

" People are saying that the remedial measures adopted in the past have all been in favour of the farmer. That is true up to a point, because the farmer must be helped if the country is to be helped, but oeople still have the idea that the guaranteed price for dairy produce is a straight-out gift to the farmer. One of our paramount duties is to remove such impressions, and that is one of the reasons why I welcome the promise of a Royal Commission to investigate the position. We will have a chance of placing before the nublic the actual position of the farming industries. I hope that evidence will be fully placed beforo the commission, and that the public will be broueht to a proper realisation of the whole matter."

Party Politics

The farmer's position to-day had aiso to be considered from another angle, Mr Mulholland continued. Mr Hamilton had urged them that morning to select the political party which they thought would serv* them best, and get behind it, but not to form a third party. There was one weakness about such an exhor tation. When once any party was elected to Parliament, the electors lost all control of it. The farmer's only means of securing and retaining control in Parliament was for him to have his own members of Parliament. Many farmers up and down New Zealand were concerning themselves with this asnect of thp matter, and were considering the formation of a farmers'- or country parly. Personally, he thought i' was a matter which deserved the greatest consideration.

"I have been opposed to a farmers' political party in the past," Mr Mulholland said, " but I feel now that the whol? matter must be reconsidered in the light of present conditions. There are various reasons for such a change of front, and one of them is that the weight of politics has shifted until at the moment there is an almost clear-cut town versus country issue which I have never encountered before.

"Then there is the tendency of business people more than ever to favour strongly the close regulation of business. By this means competition is eliminated and prices rise to the farmer. Though competition could be hurtful when developed to a cut-throat degree, there is still a lot of truth ih the old saying that comoetition is the life of trade. The position has arisen when it is a cmestion whether the country and the town can work mutually or effectively in one party. " I am not advocating politics In the Farmers' Union." Mr Mulholland added. " I still believe in the non-political character of our organisation, but I am firmly convinced that the farmers' leaders should take a very definite part in righting the position."

Relation to Secondary Industry ■ Mr Mulholland said there was no hostility on the part of the Farmers Union to manufacturers or importers. Nevertheleis that did not mean that they were prepared to embrace or al'ow policies which were antagonistic to their interests. The farmers of New Zealand and the country as a whole were confronted by a crisis which they were not facing very wisely. Exchange control had been adopted to meet the position, but in every other country in which it had been resorted to it had proved a heavy incubus on the exporting industries. In New Zealand the proscect to-day was for greatly reduced exports, but that did not appear to matter as long as new industries were being established and the country continued on its way towards the self-sufficiency which seemed to be the "goal of man* people. " But can New Zealand continue to enjoy the standard of living which has been the Drivilege of our people for so long if the exporting industries are to be neglected in favour of manufacturing industries? " the speaker asked, and then proceeded to analyse ?ome of the new secondary industries that had lately been made the subject of a lot of publicity. He suggested that New Zealand could not manufacture as much as it did last year unless its exports were maintained in full or increased. It was a mistake on the Government's- part to embark on exchange control, especially as the position could have been met with reasonable foresightedness by other means. The Exchange Position The demand by farmers now for a free exchange was entirely in line with what had occurred in other countries which had had a controlled exchange, but here a difficulty immediately arose. With a controlled exchange there came into being vested interests, existing under the false values the system created, and these were entirely onposed to the removal of control. The problem was that only farmers really wanted it, and in the meantime the country was facing a crisis which would only be properly faced and dealt with when a dangerous economic position develoDed. "Farmers are up against a situation which fairly threatens their industry, and the extent to which it will be avoided depends entirely on how strongly and unitedly farmers are prepared to stand up for their rights, Mr Mulholland concluded. A vote of thanks to the speaker, moved by Mr James Begg, was I carried by acclamation.