Hon Mr MacMillan at Tauranga

Te Puke Times, 18 May 1934, Page 3

Hon Mr MacMillan at Tauranga

The Hon. Mr MacMillan, Minister of Agriculture, delivered an address at Tauranga on Tuesday night, Mr A. F. Tunks, the Mayor, presiding. Dealing with the position of the dairying industry Mr MacMillan said that Britain had been made the dumping ground for the world’s surplus products with the result that we no longer obtained eWorld parity for the products we '-send to London. from the last report of the Dairy Produce Control Board, Mr MacMillan pointed out that the peak of our prices for butter and cheese was in 1929, when we exported a total of 3,314,732 cwt. of butter and.cheese for which we obtained £20.338,298. For the year ending March 31, 1934, the total quantity exported was 4,705,928 cwt. for which we received £l3, 100,043. In other words we exported 70,000 tons more than in 1929 and received £7,238,255 less. The fact that France, Germany and other countries he had quoted had raised Very severe tariff barriers against the import of dairy produce, had forced other • producing countries to export their surpluses to the Old Country with the result thatprices became so depressed that Britain found it necessary to do something to assist her own primary producers, of whom there are some 12,000,000, about eight the total population of New Zealand. It was claimed, and with every reason, that the British manu- i tacturer had a better market in ; the 12,000,000 farmers at Home, i than the million and a half people i in New Zealand So far as the ] New Zealand farmer was con- < cerned he would be quite prepared ] to let Britain have the increased 70,000 tons of butter and cheese t that he was producing if he could i get for the balance the same t amount.as he reoeiveP in 1929 t .some £7,250.000 more than he was c getting today. Mr MacMillan e then quoted figures to show the t percentage drop in the value of t our butter and cheese exports \ sinoe 1929, and the fluctuations in t value of wool. If other charges s and costs bad fallen in the same £ proportion there would have been s no trouble, but the costs had not t fallen, and the .Government was t compelled to take some action to f afford relief to the primary pro- v ducers. Finding it impossible to b reduce costs proportionately the . Government had decided to ‘peg’ the exchange at 25 per cent., thus materially increasing the return the primary producer got for his products. This had meant to the farmers of New Zealand for the year ending March 31,1934, some £3,275,000 additional in New Zealand currency so that instead of receiving £13.100,043 for their produce they received £16,375,053There had, of oourse. been much > Conflict of opinion as to whether Increasing the exchange had been £ the right oourse, but he claimed that it was a perfectly fair claim . to make on the community gen- r erally, seeing that the prioe at ; which the consumers in New T Zealand were able to buy their 5 butter and cheese was at London r parity, which meant that in 1934 » they were getting it for £56 per f ton lass than in 1029. It was r Solely with.the idea of stabilising j the industry and improving the r position of the primary producers | that the Government had pegged the exchange, j Mortgagors’Relief t To afford further relief, said the * Minister, the Government had appointed Mortgagor Relief Commissioners, who, in cases where they considered it necessary, were empowered to reduce interest, to cancel arrears, and in some instances to allot the farm income as it thought best among the Various interests. In some cases where it considered a man was j wasting the capital asset and it c would be wiser to surrender the s property to ‘the mottgagee, It j Could order that to be done. No j authority, however, had been j given to deal with the mortgage r itself, as the interests of those f who hold the mortgages had to be r safeguarded, and the writing off ( of capital must be left to the in- . dividuals concerned. j Mr MacMillan also mentioned . that the position had become so j difficult that the Government had { set up a Royal Commission to in- ( vestigate it, and a Committee had j also been set up in London und/r . the chairmanship of the High • Commissioner to enquire into the . , selling conditions at that end. Mr M acMillan then dealt with the legislation introduced to bring about interest reduction. It had i been asserted that this would lead ( to a flqw of capital from the , Dominion but this position had not arisen. He also explained , the legislation for Government ! and Local Bodies loan conversion. The latter had also given relief by placing a tas on 100 a l body debentures This amounted to P,opar cent. A reduction io tiia rates of interest had also boon ; hemircd by agreements with the j banks. | . The speaker next referred to the establishment of a Reserve ! Bmk and claimed that as the , profits of the Reserve Bank after ; payings per cent interest on [

£SOO 000 capital went to th people. The people were th owners of the Bank. He als held that the gold taken over froi the trading banks, had been ac quired at its book value whic was its fair value. In establish ing the Bank the Govern men had given a better deal to thos who bad clamoured for a Stat Bank than if it had set up a banl under the domination of tb< political party in power. With regard to prospectivi legislation Mr MacMillan saic the Government would have t( deal with the reports of the Dairs Commission the Monetary Com mission and the Tariff Com mis sion, Dealing with the question ol tariffs Mr MacMillan quoted figures to show that New Zealand’s trade with the United Kingdom was much greater per head of population than any other country. The Stock Remedies Bill, said the speaker, . was necessary to compel those people who offered stock remedies for sale to disclose the ingredients. The Poultry Bill had been introduced at the request of those interested. At the conclusion of his address Mr MacMillan •' was accorded a hearty vote of thanks -B P Times.