THE STATE AND AGRICULTURAL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13905, 17 May 1909, Page 7

THE STATE AND AGRICULTURAL.

To the Editor of the •Tiniaru Herald." »;r.—l wish to fully explain the nicautiig oi iut* iciuai.is tiiiri-sjitl ity Jj.e Dt-lwre the .\luiister ot -vgricultuie at tue lion. J. --viiatey's place on toe 4tli. On that occasion 1 toicl Mr Meiienzie that the Uovernment should leave prouuetion alone, as they IncKeti the most necessary qualifications to produce anything in connection with agriculture to perfection. Those qualiti vat ions are economy, physical energy, and a knowledge of tlio subject. 1 sugegsted to him that instead they should take charge of the purchase and distribution of our produce when ready for sale, and not leave us. to the mercy of millers, merchants, and all other rings, whose prices are made to suit themselves, and which are far below the value of our products. Now this department of agriculture cost? the State £160,000 a year, and I don't believe it does a particle of good to the farming community. Its principal function is to combat diseases in plant? and animals, yet although our turnips potatoes, wheat, and oats, are affected with blights and rust, and our. anima.Ts with different diseases. t'»ry have never cured any of them. . Tliev cla*m to have checked the blight in t.l«o irum tree?/ by the introduction of the ladybird into our plantations. Well T don't know a ladybird from a frentieman birrl, except amongst the farmyard fowls, but I venture to say it- was Nature and the elements that <nirpd the bi;<r?it in the gum trees, and not the ladybird. Having shown that ..this enormous expenditure i.«r almost Welres, J T now offer the Government their choice of two schemes, either of which will alter the present ridiculous state" of affairs. The first is, that they build and eqi'ip four flour mills, one in each of the four large centres, with the money spent on the present Agricultural Department for one year. Tliev will tlienh" in n position to enter into competition with those already in the business, in buying our wheat, manufacturing our flour, and sellina it to the bakers at the cost of purchase arul n*nnufnoture. 1. am snre if they do this, the result will be the same as it was wth the insurance business. * where the Oovernment reduced the premiums from life to 8s 8d per £*loo when they entered into competition with the private co»npnnies: and as it. was with the m-TV lending business wlion they octal lislied the Advances to Settlers Office. where they reduced the interest mi money from 10 to 4i per cent. The same good results would follow if a Government- flourniill were- established in Timaru to-day. The consumer would be getting his loaf of bread for less than 6d, "instead of T.id, and the farmer would be getting 4s Gd a bushel for Itia wheat, instead of 3s 7d, as the bulk of it was sold for at the beginning of this season. I would also -suggest xhat the State should establish butchers' shops in every town of any importance in New Zealand, in connection with this scheme, and that they f,~n the meat for the bare cost of purchase. killing and distribution. It *ueh a shop were in our midst, the farmer would be getting threepence 1 a lb for his fat ewes and bullocks, and the consumer would Ik? getting his meat for about the same price per lb, as tlie skin s and fat of animals Slaughtered would nearly pav the State for the cost of "killing and distribution. The Government should also enter into competition with the frozen meat buyers for the purchase of our sheep and lambs tor export, and then*by obtain for us the best possible price for that commodity. The authorities here could commission the H->n. W - Hall-Jones and his- staff to tiud out the I>est market tor our meat at Home, and to superintend the sale ot it, instead of attending banquets and social functions as they are doing at present. There is no doubt if they did this we would get a penny a pound more for our frozen meat than we are getting now. My other scheme is that the State fix every month the minimum of price at which all milling wheat is to be purchased in the Dominion, that they s.lso rix the price every month at which thf miller must sell his flour to the bakers and to the public, and finally that they fix the price each month at which the bakers must sell bread also. leaving both the miller ami baker a fair profit for their labour, the price of the wheat in the first instance to !>:■ governed each month by the price then rifling in the highest market of the World". If it should ever arise through a shortage of wheat here that this Dominion became an importing country, the price of wheat locally grown should not be alowed to go over os per bushel. and as long as we have a surplus for export the State should purchase that surplus at a price based on that ruling in the highest market at the time it is dfered for sale. As in connection with the price of wheat, fleiir and bread, the State should also fix the price monthly per lb at which the butchers should buy the fat stock from the farmers, and also the price at which they should sell it to the consumers. The State should then take charge of all our meat for export, and obtain for us the highest price possible tor that product. Now the Government can adopt either of those schemes if they wish to do so, but whether they do or not I tell them plainly that if they are true to the

trust placed in their hands, it is their dutv to protect tlie people ii'om ihe • freed ami rapacity oi the trusts and combinations with wliicii we ar*j surround.*! on all sides.. The people are powerless to protect themselves, and ill!' S.ate must therefore come to their as- istaiici'. No doubt I will be fiercely assailed for giving public* expression t:> th'se sentiments, but L am sure that for every one who will denounce me there are twenty who will applaud my action in the matter, because if either of those schemes is put in practice it will put an end to all villainous gambling with the nation's foodstuffs. —I am, etc., 0. CASEY. Claremont, May 13th, 1909.