Untitled

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 827, 4 October 1916, Page 6

According to calculations made by the Government Statistician about one third of the butter produced in the Dominion is consumed locally, leaving about two thirds for export. As a result, of abnormal conditions, the retail price in England is now from 2/3 to 2/6 per lb. With unrestricted facilities for export, it is pretty obvious what would happen to prices locally. But the Government, which is so frequently accused of doing nothing to keep down the cost of living, placed an embargo on the export of butter, except under permits issued by the Minister of j Agriculture. The result is that; people in the Dominion are able to J obtain first grade butter at 1/8 per lb retail. The domestic consumption is estimated at 201b per inhabitant per annum, and as the local consumer is saved at least 2d per lb through the action of the Govern- j ment, it is equivalent to a present j of about £135,000 a year which the! dairy farmer is making (reluctantly,, no doubt) to the rest of the conunun-i ily. This enforced "benevolence'": appeals so little to those interested' in the production and export of i butter that they have been to the] Government with a request that the! embargo be lifted altogether, or that the local price be raised. If is difficult to dispute the justice or logic of the demand, whatever view the j Government, with an eye to its poli- j tical popularity, may take. It is per-! fectly right and reasonable that Go-!

vcrnments should intervene to pro I led the public from the manipulalions of i)ersons who desire to ohlain something in exeess of the I prices obtainable for their goods in I Hie world's markets, hut if is a new| principle, thai any person or group j of persons should he forcibly compelled to part with their goods at prices below their market value. The farmers might very well retort that I

the tiling should cul both ways, and i that it' he is required by the Government to take less than the market i price for his. produce, the people who are supplying him with labour, machinery, and various commodities indispensable to him, should be placed under a similar obligation. The decision of the Government to establish an experimental farm in I the Westland district is a very wise one, and should do much for agriculture on the West Goast. South Westland particularly is capable of great development, not to mention tlie Hecfton district, where there isi plenty of land capable of being! brought to a high state of productiveness. Farming is backward on the West Goast mainly because of! lack of communications, difficulty of! access to metropolitan markets, audi also to Ibe fact that some of the! farms are held by old miners audi others whose agricultural methods • compared by Canterbury standards arc far from up to date. On this side of the range the farming is gen-j ernlly of a high order. Farmers in-J dined to be slovenly are kept up the mark by the example of their more progressive neighbours. They have access to all kinds of information, expert advice, and assistance! that are not so readily obtainable on i the West Goast, while the marketing! facilities are unrivalled. An experi-| mental farm in Westland will help! the local farmer in several ways, and) more particularly in coping with the conditions created by the excessive rainfall, which is sometimes tenfold] greater than in. Canterbury. Dairying especially has a great future in Westland, and the fat cattle sent over from time to lime for sale at Adding-! ton prove that there is nothing! wrong with the fattening capacity) of the land. Probably the cheapest j argicullural land in the Dominion to-day is to be obtained on the West Coast, and that itself should be a factor in stimulating development. The opening of the West Coast railway in two or three years time at the latest will also have an influence on values that should not be overlooked by persons contemplating the purchase of farms, and in considering the settlement of returned soldiers on the land the Government might very well give serious consideration to the agricultural future of Westland.