The Wanganui Chronicle. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1932. THE WHEAT SITUATION.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 258, 1 November 1932, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1932. THE WHEAT SITUATION.

present condition of the world wheat situation is one of chaos. The development of the present condition runs back to the year 1928. It was in that year that Canadian farmers, unwilling to meet the market at prices which they deemed to be below a reasonable level, decided to carry over large supplies. The developments since then have been such that the carry-over of wheat in various countries has depressed prices. Most of the countries of Europe have put up barriers against the importation of wheat, and where importation has to be resorted to, there has been introduced quota methods of restriction. These quota measures have resulted in the exporting countries having more wheat than they can dispose of, resulting in the situation becoming more critical as it moved forward. The outcome, the inevitable outcome, has been that with a large carry-over of wheat in the world, the buyers have been in a position in which they dare not offer increasing prices, for fear that the market will break. The market for futures in Chicago has gone to the lowest level in the last seventy years. This is not at all surprising, and there is small prospect of the way out being found. The Ottawa Conference in this most important of matters was a complete failure. Those who desire the abolition of the wheat duties in this Dominion could hardly ask for such a step to be taken at the present time. The wheat industry in New Zealand has just as much right to protection against dumping, that is selling at less than cost plus a reasonable profit, and unless the advocates of the abolition of the wheat duties are prepared to see protection withdrawn from all industries, there would be no justification for withdrawing it from an industry which stands most in need of that generally afforded protection. It must be remembered that at the present time the world is not in a normal condition and the abnormalities of the situation must be recognised by all practical thinkers.

The low price of wheat is an extreme example of the abnor nial circumstances whieh prevail in the world to-day.