FARMERS’ PROBLEMS

Taranaki Daily News, 4 January 1933, Page 8

FARMERS’ PROBLEMS

PRODUCERS’ INVESTIGATION. INTEREST REDUCTION WANTED. The problems of farmers in the economic depression and the chief solutions so faff suggested were exhaustively discussed by 40 farmers and representatives of the Women’s Division at a meeting held at Midhirst on Friday evening. Mr. M. Davies, president of the branch of the Farmers’ Union, under whose auspices the meeting was called, presided. Mr. W. J. Polson, M.P., Dominion president of the union, was also present. At about 11.30 p.m. the meeting arrived at a decision to support the policy laid down by the Farmers’ Union (published elsewhere), with special emphasis on the necessity for drastic reductions in interest charges and rents. Mr. Davies said the meeting had been called to consider some of the more important of the many schemes put forward as calculated to relieve the distress of producers. So far he did not know whether the Farmers’ Union was supporting any of these schemes, but in view of the meeting of producers at. Wellington next month it was desirable for all farmers to investigate the various proposals with a view to trying to approve of some workable measure. He was pleased to see representatives of the Women’s Division present. VARIOUS SCHEMES.

Dealing with the various schemes that had been put before them Mr. Davis referred firstly to the proposal expounded by Mr. C. A. Wilkinson, M.P., to a meeting of combined farming and business interests at New Plymouth. * Personally,” said Mr. Davis, “I have , little faith in this scheme, but the fact that a man of Mr. Wilkinson’s ability should advocate such drastic measures should illustrate the real seriousness of the position.” Mr. Wilkinson’s scheme appeared to him very like repudiation, he added. It aimed at the wiping out of mortgage to the value of about £200,000,000. That meant two-thirds of the total mortgages registered in the Dominion. Then the Government was to be asked to take over' the remaining third. Mr. Davis regarded the result as State control in the last degree, under which individual buying and selling of land for profit would disappear. Mr. Davis said he did not think much of this scheme and asked the meeting to eliminate it from the discussion for consideration at some later date. This was agreed to, and the chairman went on to discuss Mr. N. B. Fletcher’s proposal, also propounded at the same meeting as Mr. Wilkinson’s. This scheme, he said, proposed to reduce interest charges and to compensate revaluations of land by an issue of State bonds, but the speaker pointed out that any question of interest reductions affected the position of toe banks. In the good times of a few years ago nobody worried about the banks, but now, when farmers were so badly up against it, people were inclined to say the banks should do this and the banks should do that. At the same time it had to be remembered that the banks were actually the financial backbone of the country, and until something could be found to put in place of the banks nobody could do without the system these institutions had established. “I know,” he said, “of a man who was recently offered a Government investment that would return him 5 per cent, free of income tax for seven years. If this was so it appeared very difficult to see how a general reduction of interest charges could be effected.” THE EXCHANGE QUESTION. The matter of raising the exchange rate, continued Mr. Davis, was another suggested remedy. Here a decision apparently rested with the banks, and he understood the banks were prepared to raise the exchange rate provided the Government would assume responsibility for all surpluses in London. The last scheme was that adopted by a number of county councils. The proposal was that all rural rates should be remitted and land tax abolished for the ensuing year. This seemed to him something in the nature of a subsidy, and the matter of borrowing £2,000,000 was involved. “I would like this meeting to confine itself to considering the best means for giving assistance to farmers, taking first the proposal to remit rural rates,” said Mr. Davis. ‘I believe a workable scheme can be evolved from one or other or all of the following: (1) Raising the rate of exchange, (2) reducing the rate of interest, (3) the remission of rural rates and land tax. I think these constitute the chief proposals.” Mr. Polson: I can give you quite a lot more if you require them. CONFERENCE OF PRODUCERS. At the invitation of the chairman Mr. Polson outlined in detail the policy of the Farmers’ Union in relation to the position. He went on to say that on January 17 a big conference of all primary producing interests would be held at Wellington to consider recommendations to the Government. On the day previous a preliminary meeting would be held to co-ordinate the views of the various sections present. We will have to go for very drastic changes and advocate procedures we would never have contemplated a few years ago, he said. “It may be necessary to demand a certain form of what may be termed deflation, to press for reductions in interest and principal, and advocate other measure's which I would prefer not to disclose prior to the conference ” A good deal of further discussion followed and then the chairman moved that the meeting was strongly of opinion that interest rates and rents should be drastically reduced. That the farmer in his troubles must yet adopt an attitude that would be fair and equitable to other sections of the community was stressed by Mr. B. Richmond, who went on to say, in supporting the motion that if a cut of 50 per cent, on all interest charges ruling in 1928 were made a fair thing would be done. Whether willingly or not, it was plain that the time had come when mortgagees would have to force a writing down in the value of their mortgages. Messrs Plews, Pauli and Strack thought that before the motion as put were adopted the meeting should approve the policy of the Farmers’ Union, and eventually the motion was altered to read: “That this meeting of farmers supports the policy laid down by the Farmers Union, with special emphasis on the necessity for drastic reductions in interest charges and rents.” In that form the motion was adopted.