PRODUCE AND PRICES.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 16869, 16 October 1920, Page 11

PRODUCE AND PRICES.

A WARNING TO NEW ZEALAND. ■LAND, AT TOO HIGH A FIGURE, A plain warning was given to a gathering of farmers at Masterton that they must expect lean years as well as fat ones so far as prices were concerned. „Wc have had such a wonderful run nr this country with ouf‘ primary products that some otherwise sensible' people iind it bard to realise that reaction follows action, and that even the millions of money lot looie by the war must in lime got back into cuannols where they viiil have a less rapid flow than they have had for the past few years, it was Major Norton, managing director of tiio Bristol ana Dominions Producers’ Association who warned these V airarapa iarmers. Ho told them Unit they must nut look for high prices in the future as the present inhaled figures could not last and must conic down. High prices had been caused by speculation' and values would ultimately come down to level fair to the producer and the consumer. LAND TOO DEAR. » When this warning was brought under the notice of an Auckland man (says the Star)* who is Tn close touch with the man on the land and the markets ot the world, ho said he quite believed that New Zealand producers were in lor a bad 12 mouths, but there was no need to grow pessimistic about it as the Dominion was a wonderful country, and matters would right themselves. The markets of the world were bound to right themselves, and ho did not anticipate anything disastrous. One thing, however, could not be stressed too much and that was the unreasonable price of land. The prices paid for fanning land were altogether too high and must come down.' People wore, in his opinion, foolish to pay such prices as LiuO and even Ll2O ror farming land. Dairying was the only possible excuse for such figures, and it would be folly to gauge values on that industry. It was a mistake to have all your eggs in one basket. Speaking of the depressed state of the meat and wool markets, a condition ' brought about by the lifting ot the Government commandeer, ho said it was remarkable how the world markets seemed to right themselves in time. However, farmers should take warning and not pay too high a price for their land. Regarding wool, he pointed out that the demand at Home, was for liner wools, and this operated seriously against the New Zealand crossbreds. Of course the fashion might change and rougher cloth become the fashion, Jmt in the meantime the market was very uncertain as far as the Dominion clip was concerned. .WORLD-WIDE UPHEAVAL. A prominent financier said it was quite, .impossible to forecast what was going to happen; at least he would not have the temerity to do so. Conditions that had been loft by the war were so different from anything we had experienced before, and the effects of the upheaval had been so widespread that it was impossible to draw analogies from anything that the world had tone through in the past. Personally e could see no indications at present of a fall in the price of produce as suggested by Major Norton. Regarding high prices having been caused by speculation, be took it that the Major must be referring to land. As a matter of fact, the price of land had gone up because the price of produce had risen. Until there was a fall in t]ie exceptionally high prices that were ruling abroad for our produce, high prices were bound to prevail here. A HIGHER STANDARD.

A business man who has made a study of social problems as well as business said prices would never come down to pre-war level. The people of today had a higher standard than 20 years back. Everything had been speeded up in recent years, and speed had to bo paid for at high rates. For instance, when he was a boy the usual thing was to walk to work. Nowadays 'population had gone so far out that that was impossible in many cases. That meant that additional money was required for transport. Then, again, take the pleasures of the people. The pictures had set a pace that had quite revolutionised modern life. Twenty years back an entertainment was a more or loss rare occurrence in the round of life, but to-day many people if they did not visit the pictures two or three times a week thought that something _ had gone wrong. Those were two instances of how the outlook of the workers was changing, and although small, they were typical of the demand for ease and pleasure that was characteristic of life to-day, and ease and pleasure were things that cost money.