THE WHEAT PROBLEM

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19750, 17 March 1934, Page 15

THE WHEAT PROBLEM

POSITION IN AUSTRALIA. In the course of an editorial article entitled “The Tragic Farce of Wheat," the Sydney Morning Herald quotes Professor Wadham, of the University of Melbourne, a noted authority on the subject, as follows:—“Many paradoxes are recorded in the pages of history, but probably none lias ever been more farcical, yet more tragic, than the present position of the world“s wheat industry. Some countries, by paying bounties to their farmers on the wheat they have grown, are fostering production at a price level which is definitely unprofitable. Others, working on the opposite plan, by keeping foreign wheat from crossing their boundaries by high tariffs, are raising the price of foodstuffs to their people . . .An absurd position, yet when it is analysed from the standpoint of any individual country it seems quite logical, and practically unavoidab.e, as long as presentday political systems and ..ational fears and jealousies T-rsist.” Britain, of course, foresaw the impasse, and tried to cling to her traditional and commonsense policy of Free-trade, open markets, and sound economic price levels, remarks the newspaper. But such a policy could not be carried out as a lone hand. And so, first there was Ottawa; now there is a growing demand in England for protection for the home farmer. The vicious circle widens. There seems to be no magic charm which can break it. World agreements have been in vain.