DAIRY INDUSTRY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 19943, 30 October 1934, Page 11

DAIRY INDUSTRY

SCHEME FOR RELIEF By Telegraph—Press Association STRATFORD, October 29 A large meeting of farmers from all parts of Taranaki, under the auspices of the Farmers’ Union, was held at | Stratford. Mr W. J. Poison, M.P., In j response to an invitation, explained j the Dairy Bill, and urged the necessity for the reorganisation of the industry . to meet the changed conditions. He | stated that the proposals did not go 1 far enough. The desperate condition \ of the Industry demanded immediate i relief. He urged the issue of credit in j the form of repayable advances through the factories to suppliers. The Commission’s report suggested I that with reorganisation the Industry j might carry on at lOd. Assuming that j this was correct, the average price for I many years had been well over 1/-, j while the present price level repre- { sented Bd. If the credit Issued would | make a payment out of lOd, and prices i subsequently rose over such a figure, | the advance (which would be Interest ' free because the credit would cost only ! the printing of the necessary notes) I would be gradual. Mr Poison proposed that the Gov- j ernment should utilise the Reserve I Bank for the purpose of credit to be i paid out to suppliers through the fac- ; torles. As the industry would be completely controlled under the new j scheme, the Government would auto- ! matically recoup itself when the price j rose above lOd, or whatever was fixed ! as a payable price. Tire suggestion j that the plan meant inflation would j not frighten him. The Reserve Bank’s i issue of notes was far. beyond the trad- j ing banks’ figures, and had not 1 created any inflationary troubles, be- I cause of the solid credit State beljind it. The present plan would have the same backing and the same result. He j emphasised that it was not a subsidy l; from the Consolidated Fund, but an advance. A long, heated discussion followed, j Severe attacks were made on the Gov- 1 ernment by a section of the audience, during which a resolution was moved calling on the Government to resign. After Mr Poison had replied, strongly defending the Government and supporting the provisions of the Bill, the motion lapsed for want of a seconder. A resolution was carried: — “While agreeing that the reorganisation of the industry is necessary to meet the changed conditions, this meeting, representative of the whole of Taranaki, conveys to the Government disappointment that the proposed Bill contains no definite plan giving financial relief to enable farmers to tide over the present crisis, which is the crux of the whole question.” Mr Poison’s pi an of a repayable advance was favoured.