The Thames Star. WEDNESDAY, OCT. 31, 1917. OUR WHEAT SUPPLY

Thames Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 18487, 31 October 1917, Page 2

The Thames Star.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 31, 1917. OUR WHEAT SUPPLY

| ®nr ?^ar $totf<r '•With malice towards none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives ua to see the right . . . . —Lincoln

The position with regard to the wheat supply of the Dominion is for from satisfactory. A 1 conference is to be held in Christchurch shortly to deal with the question of providing for the next season's crop. At" this conference the Hon. W. D. £. Mac-Donald, Minister for Agriculture, has promised to submit a luemorand'um (first obtainingl Cabinet approval) for a guaranteed pric« for the 1818-19 crop. He has also gone urto the question as to whether it is desirable .for the Government to endeavour to compel certain land owners to grow wheat, but the conclusion^ he has arrived at is that tarmens require no compulsion if they are sure of a reasonable price. A3 to present needs the Minister has informed the House of Representatives that a> shipment of wheat is expected from Australia, in a few id:iy«.' Mr. Mac-Donald considers •there is no need far alarm, but such a recognised authority a.s Mr. R. K. Ireland!, the well-known Oamara i miller, appears to think otherwise. !In a leaflet he has just issued he fully reviewia the situation and [joints out the urgent) necessity for action, being taken to ensure that sufficient wheat is .sown early in r the New.Year for 1919 requirements. If, he says, we allow our wleat cultivation to gp back we are laying up for ourselves additional trouble. Our financial difficulties have to be faced, a -further amount will have to be provided 1 on account of the war, added to which we shall have to send money -away for wheat which we should £tow for ourselves. Mi. Ireland says it may he contended that if we do not grow wheat we c:-n carry more sheep, but he gives statistics showing that with the aiw in wheat! decreasing tKe number oJ in the South lskod is also de-

creasing, and he thinks it is time this policy of drift should be stopped. He proposes the following scheme to ensure the growth of sufficient wheat for our own requirements. Tiie Government shou d make it compulsory that every occupier of Suitable land in Oautorbury and Otago should! grow a certain area of wheat, in proportion to the area held) making 1 a total of, say, 250,000 acres. A g,uarant-«a as to price should be given, similar to this year, with slightly higher prices to the strong wheats. XL-is scheme would be no hardship to the grower of wheat, a.s it would catch the man who has suitable land, but is at present growing no wheat. To prevent hardship, provision should be made to allow appeals to v<y bofore the district committees appointed by the Efficiency Board. Mr. Ireland desired that necessary legislation in this direction "should- be passed this session, but .nothing! h:is been done, the Minister's assurance that the position is satisfactory having apparently"' lulled members into a sense of false security. We have to face the question of cost of living, and this will become more acme if our -staple food) has to be bought fr*.-m elsewhere, at a far greater cost ihan if produced in the Dominion.