FEWER FARMERS

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 366, 7 March 1932, Page 12

FEWER FARMERS

Land Settlement Not Only Way Out of Slump.

The opinion that the Dominion could do less farming was expressed by Mr L. C. Walker, on Saturday evening, in speaking to members of the For New Zealand Society. His was the second of a series of addresses on the way out of the slump. “The most difficult thing we have to do,” he said, “is to overcome some habits we have. A careful examination

of what has happened in the past will put us on the right road for the future. We have been carried away by farming Yet in thirty-five years we have only settled 7147 people on the land at an expenditure of about £14.000.000. That is* not all. As a result of opening up this land it has been necessary to extend the railways, ‘the roads and public works with the result that* the cost was probably nearer £40.000,000. “I was in the House in the 1907 session when the Hon Dr M’Nab opened a great vista for the future with settlement on the land. Has that been achieved? If that is going to be the only means of development the hope of the average man is small indeed. Arrogance of Farmer.

“I hear protests at the arrogance of the farmer in New Zealand. I have been a farmer myself and I know. There is here a small arrogant type who regard themselves as the alpha and omega of everything in the country. It would be better for you and for the farmers if there were fewer farmers on the land. “The Hon E. C. Macmillan has stated that the farmers are the only people in the country who are producing anything. That is a misstatement and a misstatement that is going to cost you a lot. It happens to be a fallacy that the economists believe. The farming industry has developed disproportionate-

Mr Walker slated that New Zealand secured job prices on the English market, compared with those of other countries, for butter and cheese, and even for Canterbury lamb compared with what was paid for the English product. New Zealand took a second or third place on the markets.