THE GUARANTEED PRICE
IS ABOLITION DESIRED? IN HANDS OF FARMERS "If the farmers wish to go back from the protection of the State we will not mind," declared the Hon. E. Semple, Minister of Public Works and Transport, when replying to a deputation from the Cook County Council and settlers on the flat land on Saturday evening. , Mr. Semple said that although pro- ' tests had been made about tho guaranteed price, many saying that the price was insufficient, he did not think I farmers wished to go back to the old system. "Tho Minister of Finance," Mr. Semple added, "made it definitely clear, and it is on record, that tho price for this season is not the final word, that if was a piece of experimental legislation, and that in framing it we had nothing to guide us in the world. It would have been unfair to strike a boom price, and it would have been equally unfair to striko a slump price. It was definitely stated that if the butter exported brought a higher value than. what we paid out under the guarantee, tho surplus would be banked so that the farmer would have the money for his use, and if an increased price was wanted at the end of the year tho price would be raised. Tho guaranteed price has guaranteed that there will not be slump prices any more."
When lie met Morrinsville farmers who complained about the present system, he told them that they could go back to (id per lb it' they wished, and nobody knew whether that price Would rdlp again or not. The improved price being paid for New Zealand butter to-day was due to causes over which we in Now Zealand had no control, and the guaranteed price protected the farmer from a further slump that might easily occur. If the butter brought moro than the guaranteed price, the farmer would get that, too, on the understanding that the price would be reviewed . "Wo had to protect farmers from tho uncertain markets of tho 'world,'' Mr. Semple continued, "but if tho farmers wished to go back from the protection of the State we do not mind. You can easily get rid of the .guaranteed price by Inking a ballot /of fanners.'''
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/PBH19370531.2.124
Bibliographic details
Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19338, 31 May 1937, Page 11
Word Count
379THE GUARANTEED PRICE Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19338, 31 May 1937, Page 11
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