“HELP THEMSELVES”

Taranaki Daily News, 3 May 1935, Page 4

“HELP THEMSELVES”

ADVICE GIVEN TO FARMERS. UNION BRANCH PRESIDENT’S VIEW. An exhortation to farmers to help themselves during hard times, and not to rely solely on Government assistance, was given by Mr. M. Davis, president of the Midhirst branch of the Farmers’ Union, at the annual meeting of the branch last night. A united front was necessary to meet the present position, he said. The Farmers’ Union should get the best advice from authoritative sources and should follow it. Several bodies have been set up to- look into the farmers’ problems and the depression generally, he said, but he did not think that any good had been done. Any measures taken should be for the benefit of the whole country. “We have legislation that penalises one citizen for the benefit of another,” he said. “I know mortgagees to-day who are on the old-age pension—they have lost everything. If we give relief let us give it to everyone. I don’t believe that the farmer will ever get prosperity by a ‘sectional move,’ that is, a move that will help the farmer without helping the rest of the community.”

He believed that the present legislation, however, was a move to try to improve the farmer’s financial position and to put him in a safer position than he had been in. It would also make for greater security for the mortgagee. He was.sorry that opinions were so strongly divided on the subject, and that it was not better understood.