GUARANTEED PRICES

Southland Times, Issue 23897, 16 August 1939, Page 3

GUARANTEED PRICES

To The Editor

Sir, —I have read with interest the letter written to your paper by J. Gibson Smith giving his opinion of the present guaranteed price. He wants to know if farmers, who at the moment must constitute over 50 per cent, of the people, are going to be stripped and

drag everybody low in chasing the beautiful mirror of socialism.

Not being a dairy farmer, I have naturally wished to meet one who would be able to give to me an unbiased opinion of the guaranteed price as affecting him. Last week-end I had the pleasure of being introduced to a prominent dairy farmer from Feilding. He was travelling through New Zealand with his son who, by the way, was a member of the Manawatu Rugby football team. I asked him to give me an outline of his position as a dairy farmer working under the Labour Government’s guaranteed price, and he willingly did so. In his first few words he informed me that if he thought that the Government was going to take away the present guaranteed price he would, immediately sell his farm. He stated that he had heard over the radio the announcement of the Prime Minister and had immediately sent a telegram to the Prime Minister protesting against any suggestion of doing away with the guaranteed price. He milks over 90 cows and also had a mixed farm, and he informed me that the guaranteed price this year would make him £3OO better off. This farmer has owned four farms in the many years of his experiencethree during the reign of the Tory Government—and he had practically walked off three of them. He said he could recall the time when he had received 6d per'lb. Today he owns his own motor-car and, further, his son also owns a motor-car and travels 25 miles every week to play football. When I asked him what all the fuss was about, he said, “Political bias, that is all.” It was an inspiration to me to meet at least one real dairy farmer who has the opposite opinion to your correspondent.—Yours, etc., THAT’S ALL. August.ls, 1939.