Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 1934, LAND SETTLEMENT

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18386, 2 May 1934, Page 4

Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 1934, LAND SETTLEMENT

Several important questions concerning hi,s department were touched upon by the Minister of Lands in an address at Dannovirke last week. In particular, lie emphasised the alteration in farming conditions and the consequent need for a change of outlook, but it is encouraging to find that ho has not yet reached the stage of concluding that it is’ necessary in the interests of the Dominion that there should be any restriction of production. Such a policy, of course, would bo little short of disastrous, and it is clear that the difficulties that are being encountered can best be overcome by alternative methods. The Minister referred to one of the main problems in his opening remarks when he commented that land to-day was too dear, but he neglected to point out that the chief factor in maintaining inflated values was tho protection afforded the farmer by the Government. The exchange premium and other means of assisting primary industry have the effect of giving an inflated return for produce, with the result that, owners of land assess their values accordingly, while prospective buyers, uncertain how long these expedients are likely to continue, do not know what basis of calculation to adopt. If, for instance, the Government should decide to abandon its high exchange policy land values will almost immediately fall in proportion, and this serves to show how important it. is that somo effort should be mado to restore a greater measure of stability. Even with this difficulty overcome, however, there is still tho problem of the uncertainty of returns from the various branches of farming, and here the Government is virtually powerloss. Mr. Ransom has stated very definitely that he does not consider that the country is justified in materially increasing the national output of dairy products, and thus, by implication, adds his support to the opinions of other Ministers that some form of restriction should bo adopted. His department, he says, is planning to vary future operations by going in more for mixed fanning rather than concentrating on dairying. ,The wisdom of this course can hardly be doubted, and it has, in fact, been freely advocated from time to time. One of the drawbacks has been the tendency of the Government to subdivide properties into such small areas that a settler was left little option, but to become one of the ever-increasing number of dairy farmers. Now there is to be a change; the size of sections ready for selection is to be increased, but this is likely to fall a long way short of providing a real remedy. Mr. Ransom summed the matter up remarkably well when he remarked that; they were realising that production was only one side of the picture, and added that the law of supply and demand holds good. These points, after all, provide the crux of the whole position,, and it is to them that mueh more attention will require to bo given in the future if tho Dominion is to continue to be dependent upon the development and production of its land. In many respects, production in New Zealand has been brought to a very high state of efficiency; yet, in other ways, because it has given little thought to tho allimportant factor of supply and demand, it has been haphazard in the extreme. In tho past the predominant cry lias been “Produce more,'’ without considering the prospects of profitably disposing of what is produced, and without making any attempt to stimulate the demand for it. The present crisis in the dairy industry is only one example. While we claim to make the. finest butter in the world, we are confronted with tho spectacle of Danish' supplies .selling in equal quantities at a much increased price. Tho obvious reason is that the supply has outpaced tho demand, and the country lias been so bent on increasing the former that it has paid scant attention, if any, to the latter. Even now New Zealand is not producing more butter than Great Britain can absorb; the real difficulty is that, for various reasons, there is a preference among consumers, for the product of another country, and 'uft-til that handi*

cap is overcome there is little hope of any progress being made,. As with any other industry, it is essential that the farmers of New Zealand should ensure that their goods meet the requirements of the market, and not; merely lie content to export whatever it suits them to produce. Having created a demand by catering to the public taste, the next step, obviously, is to extend it in every possible way and thus justify an increase in production. Hitherto, the practice has been- almost the reverse—to produce in unlimited quantities and expect the goods to go into immediate consumption. If the more businesslike procedure is adopted it will be found that a great many of the problems at present associated with the marketing of produce and the settlement of land will automatically' solve themselves.