Western Star And WALLACE COUNTY GAZETTE. Published Every Tuesday and Friday. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1921. AN IMPERIAL CHAMBER OF AGRICULTURE.

Western Star, 8 November 1921, Page 2

Western Star And WALLACE COUNTY GAZETTE. Published Every Tuesday and Friday. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1921. AN IMPERIAL CHAMBER OF AGRICULTURE.

Two things requisite to 1 this Do-, minion in order to {promote and maintain material prosperity are—adequate markets ' for our primary products at remunerative and stable priccu . and continuous rural settlement, ’and the development of those secondary industries'which can prosper in open competition without -a high protective tariff, Which tends rather to 'the growth of the big city than to the* development of the country. With the last-mentioned: subject we are not concerned in this | article, hut with the markets for primary products. The result of the handling* of these during and after the war has. shown the great necessity that exists for more Imperial cooperation. For the want of this much of the troubles now facing the Dominion is responsible. During the war period, labouring under the delusion that there was going to be a meat famine, the British Government rationed meat, and put such prohibitive prices on it, that it was held up far too long, with the result that it depreciated in quality. The outcome of this was the creation among consumers of a prejudice against meat from New Zealand and other Dominions which it will, to our loss, take some considerable time to remove. And while, this was being done, meat from Argentina, Which country was more in sympathy with our foes than with Britain, wa9 permitted to come into the competitive market for months before the close of the war, and was placed ■ in the first position entirely through lack of knowledge and ability cn the part of those in control. Then the wool controller, against the advice of expert advisers, instead of allowing the people o'f Britain to obtain the garments which they .much required at a reasonable price, entirely stopped 1 t-hp use of wool for clothing, thus causing accumulations of the raw material, which crippled and is still crippling the industry. These are facts which are common knowledge, and the lesson they teach to prevent a recurrence is that immediate steps should he taken to create ail Imperial Chamber or Council of Agriculture to [ safeguard the interests o’f the incViis-. try in every part of the Imperial Empire. There is an Imperial Chamber of Commerce, and the great primary industry of the Empire would benefit ’just as much from on j Imperial organisation an organisa- ! lion that would be voluntary in character and composed of outslandt- ! in® members of the industry. It j could help to organise the sources of supply, prevent gluts, stabilise prices by systematic regulation of supplies, could divert purchases, of land-pro-ducts from foreign countries to countries within the Empire, aud so lay Hie foundation for the great edifice we should all share to build up-a self-supporting and self-contained Empire, in which alone there is (strength- There is also the very mii portaiit question of Imperial shipping. I At present the' freight* phaygf? f. re i deemed too exorbitant, and if the i Empire i u to be self-contained, all parts must be of easy access, the welfare of the producers and the Empire to have precedence over big dividends. There can be no true development if companies may manage ! these things according to their (own I sweet will regardless of the welfare of the industries which depend so I much for success upon quick and j cheap transit. On this point, an

authority has thus expressed himself: “ Unless some means can be dbvised for cheapening the cost of freezing and transport, New Zealand will not be able to send her products to England. A great deal of tho food awaiting shipment in the freezing work 9 Bad better bo-destroyed where it was. The (shipping people said they were looing money on the present freight rates, but' this was difficult to understand when they were all paying very high dividends.” It is a brief indictment aud to the point-. To meet the exigencies of the present position, which is serious enough, individual and isolated action is worthless. There must be co-opera-tion and organisation, and that should be the producers’ Imperial slogan. The security 0 T the Empire depends upon its ability to be .self-supporting in all its essential foodstuffs which are practically all the result of agricultural energy. The welfare of the Empire depends upon a much larger proportion of the raw material for manufacturens being produced within the Empire than before, and almost all the raw materials with the exception of minerals are the result of agricultural energy, which is therefore the foundation of prosperity. All these foodstuffs can be produced within fEo Empire if an effective organisation and fair conditions can be.established. For this purpose a central clearing house of information in order to bring about Empire coordination in production is essential. Without such organisation overproduction of certain eomnicditicr, will result, while a deficiency will occur in 9 others, with grave consequent danger to all concerned. More exact knowledge cf requirements, together with-close mutual association, will secure t!*e balance of production and distribution without the introdueion of compulsion in any form. The problem is a big one, but it has to be laced. As far as possible successful business men eliminate uncertainties, and an'lmperial organisation could do this with Imperial trade in raw products. If the Empire is to endure it must be united and. matching with tho times. Its greatness to-day must not he a halting place. That means decay. The overscan dominions must develop and prosper, and as they grow and wax strong, so will the Homeland renew its youth, and the Empire gather in strength from year to year to the benefit or the cause of civilisation and the peace of the world. All that is required is organisation, unity, and a right ’policy.