The Otago Witness WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY (TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1930.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3993, 23 September 1930, Page 45

The Otago Witness WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY (TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1930.) THE WEEK.

Farmers and Finance.

“Nunquam allud natura, allud sapientia dixit.” -J ti VEN AL. “Good nature and good sense must ever join.”— Fops.

At the last meeting of the Otago Provin-

cial Council of the New Zealand Fanners’ Union, the chairman, Mr I. D. Revie, introduced compe-

tently a discussion of public finances in New Zealand as they affect the farmer. At present the primary producer is struggling hard to make ends meet, and there is no reason for assuming that the position is improving; rather is the contrary the case. The only means whereby the farmer’s lot can be improved are, as Mr Revie stated, increased prices for primary products or a general reduction in production costs. The first method is obviously impossible, for the farmers do not control prices, so it becomes the plain duty of i.he Government, and of agencies connected with the farming industry—or, as one speaker suggested, against it—to assist in bringing about a reduction in costs. This necessity in the Commonwealth has been made sufficiently clear by Sir Otto Niemeyer; it is scarcely less urgent in this Dominion if we are not going to drift into a position of equal financial instability with Australia. The Arbitration Court has, all unconsciously, no doubt, been in great part responsible for the heavy increases that the farmer has had to bear in placing his goods on the market. It is no use the worker talking about a decent standard of living, about seven-hour days and five-day weeks, if this means tliat they are to receive the same wages for farm work as in days when the return on products was 50 per cent, to 100 per cent. more. The freezing companies, and other distributing agencies of a like nature, also are hampered by this, parrot cry for better conditions and higher rates of pay. The Otago farmers reveal themselves as rather bitter concerning the political system in New Zealand, but here it is not necessary to support them fully. What they seem to want is a dictatorship, a form of Government alien to British ideals. The criticism of the Government’s failure to face the facts and reduce State expenditure and State borrowing is, however, more than justified. Rationalisation is needed on the farm, if matters are to improve, and it is equally, if not more necessary, in the Government departments. It is to be hoped that the reso lution passed by the farmers will not go the way of so many such pronouncements, into oblivion, but will arouse the entire farming community of New Zealand to take an emphatic stand on the subject raised.

The Case for Optimism.

When the Governor-General, Lord Bledis-

loe, makes a speech he usually has something worth while to say, and that is a tribute impos

sible to pay to many “ professional ’ talkers in this country, if politicians will permit the term. Addressing the Wellington Rotary Club recently, his Excellency said:—“ Prudent Government finance is not the only road to national prosperity. Self-help "is at least as important, coupled with clear vision and a sense of relative values.” This is a lesson that might well be read iu conjunction with those demanding a better business sense from our Government at the present time. It would be very unwise, as the Governor-General pointed out in a kindly fashion, to depend too much upon the State to undertake tasks more appropriate for individual enterprise. He considers this tendency one

of the greatest perils in this Dominion, and another he names is the drift of population from the country to the towns. These are tendencies which need watching, but his Excellency is not pessimistic. As he said in another speech: “ There are a few clouds scudding across the sunshine of commercial and industrial prosperity, but so far as this country is concerned I am a profound optimist.” It is necessary, he emphasised, that we should recognise that our wellbeing is wrapped up in the land, and it is highly desirable that the farmer should receive every assistance at an unprosperous time; it is necessary, also, that our money should be “ kept in the family,” and expended at home or in Great Britain, our best customer. The sorry position in which Australia finds herself has led to some over-gloomv speculation in New Zealand, and there is no harm in a reminder that we have not yet had to call in a bailiff. There is no need why we should ever have to do so, provided careful attention is paid to the principles enunciated by the Gov-ernor-General. That is, of course, provided also- that State expenditure is cautiously and wisely controlled.

Mr Massey.

Five years ago New Zealand lost one of

the greatest of her statesmen, the Rt. Hon. W F.

Massey, who died in his seventieth year, after a long illness. Five years is a short period of time, even in the Parliamentary history of this country, and Mr Massey is still more than a memory to us; but the years have been years of change. Many of his colleagues and dear enemies have passed away, others have vacated their seats in Parliament, and a party new in name and new in experience has achieved, precariously, to the reins of Government he held so long, and so fearlessly and capably. In another five years there will be thousands of new voters to whom the name of William Ferguson Massey would mean little were not some other means taken of preserving it than in the records and Statute books that are, after all, more interesting to the politically-minded than to the average elector. The erection of a memorial to Mr Massey at Point Halswell is the right manner in which to keep his memory alive. He was a great ana good servant to the people of New Zealand, am. well deserving of a dignified monument, as of the words of affection and praise spoken of him at the ceremony last Friday, when the memorial was unveiled. Mr Massey s rise to power was not spectacular. He climbed steadily, and deserved each success that he gained. Even when he became Leader of the Opposition after the loss of Sir William Russell, he was not a public figure, but with his Prime Ministership recognition came from eveiy pa.it of New Zealand, as from other parts of the Empire. He was an Imperial colonial statesman in every sense of the word, and held the security and prestige of the Great British Commonwealth close to his heart. To his resource and tireless vigour New Zealand owes much, especially for his guidance as Prime Minister in the years 1914-18. An edifice in stone is a poor way of recognising the debt, but Mr Massey left other tokens by which he and his" work will be remembered.

The America’s Cup.

The reader can only feel very sorry that

Sir Thomas Lipton’s hopes, shared throughout the Empire, of regaining the America’s Cup, have

been dashed for the fifth ana last time. The title of this trophy, it may be mentioned in passing, was’ given to the cup after it had been won for the first time by the yacht America in a race round the Isle of Wight in 1851. America took the cup back to the United States, and there, despite constant attempts to regain it for Great Britain, it has remained. America was a vessel perhaps unique in history. In-1917 she was still racing, and still winning races. She is now berthed in Dewey Basin, at the United States naval training school. It must be recognised, not as an excuse for Sir Thomas Lipton’s continuously unsuccessful attempts to regain the trophy, but as an extenuating circumstance, that the yachts which contest in the race to-day are very different from those that raced 79 years ago. Compared with America they are mere frail shells, and the frailer is doubtless Enterprise, which did not require to make an ocean voyage before meeting the challenger. For the races just concluded, however, conditions were as fair as they ean ever be so long as one boat has to cross the Atlantic under sail. Shamrock and Enterprise were built to Lloyd’s specifications, and both are seaworthy. In the past the defender has sometimes been nothing but a freak boat, broken up immediately after the races. While Enterprise carried everything that money could buy. and represented marked departures from yachting practice, it is rather futile to advance reasons for Shamrock’s unsuccess. She had bad luck, and she was badly beaten four times out of four This much is certain, that Sir Thomas I Lipton has proved again and again that he is a thorough sportsman—he has earned the title of “ the world’s best loser.” None of us would wish to appear less able to take the count and come up smiling.

Fifty Years of Football.

One of the most valuable features of

practically any athletic game, at least as played in New Zealand, or in

any other country where professionalism scarcely exists, is its democratic nature. Particularly can

this be said of Rugby football. It is, in more ways than one, a great leveller. Citizens who are now holding important positions in the land, who have wealth and authority, can greet and meet on equal terms others' who have not travelled past the first rungs of the ladder of success—they have in common the enduring bond that they played Rugby together. The scion of an ancient house (or his equivalent in the New Zealand social strata) meets on equal terms on the football field the son of the employee who sweeps the office floors. Ihey can exchange hard knocks and still smile at each other. The aristocrat is he who can heel the ball the better, or make the best run. A game that can thus teach men to meet on equal terms is an influence for good, and foi this reason the people of join in congratulating the Vj • u pon the attainment of its fiftieth jubilee. Half a century ago when the union was formed, it was already a comparatively strong bodv, with 600 players in Dunedin, Invercargill, and Oamaru, so football in this provincial district actually has its origin in a more remote past—2o years after the settlement of Dunedin, in fact. Today there are 3000 players in Dunedin alone, and football clubs exist in every country district, and turn out good players, too. The O.R.F.U.’s birthday will serve to send the thoughts of Otago Kugby enthusiasts back down a lon<* vista of years. Names all but forgotten and games that had not been thought of for decades will be recalled. This is the purpose that is served by the celebration of such an auspicious event a " d ? t x , will bring to many an old footballer.

Art Unions and the Public.

Many specious arguments have been

heard in recent months both for and against that form of lottery euphe-

mistically termed “art union. Many foolish claims have been advanced, also, which can only be dismissed as paltry and even insultin" to the intelligence of the average man or woman—for it is insulting to be informed by some righteous individual that the young people of New Zealand are on the road to moral degradation because they have an occasional half-erown on a test of luck, or that older people who buy an art union ticket are de-pr-xleSl\, A ll , the same ’ mu «t be admitted that the protests of the organisations opposed to art unions deserve respectful consideration. A large body of public opinion disagrees with even such minor gambling, and if it can be established that the majority of New Zealanders do not approve of art unions, then they should not be permitted It so happens, however, that proof has not been forthcoming Even the religious bodies are by no means unanimous on the subject, and the opinion of more than 200,000 persons is plainly mdicated in the fact that that number of tickets has been sold in each of the bi" art unions. There are other considerations which should weigh with the Government in this matter. The first is the object lor which the art union is heldthe second, the number that should be permitted The art union provides the most rapid and popular way of obtaining large sums of money for deserving causes One example is in the application of the Native Bird Protection Society for the permission to raise money by this means. The society has the sympathy of everybody, yet it has little chance of obtaining revenue except bv his means. . That the number of art unions held in a year should be limited is desirable, but that the Government should refuse all permits has yet to be proved so. J