FARMERS MUST ORGANISE.

Waikato Times, Volume 109, Issue 18247, 7 February 1931, Page 10

FARMERS MUST ORGANISE.

NEED FOR UNITY. REPRESENTATION IN PARLIAMENT. EQUITABLE TREATMENT DEMANDED. An appeal to the farmers of New Zealand to band together and to stlok together for the furtherance of their own Interests, and to see that they get adequate representation in Parliament, was made by Mr W. J. Poison, M.P., Dominion president of the Farmers’ Union, speaking at Matamata yesterday.

Mr D. B. Higgins, president of the Matamata branch of the Union, in Introducing Mr Poison, said there may be those present who considered that the Farmers’ Union should keep out of politics. That meeting was, however, not one of members of the Farmers’ Union, but of farmers generally. The farmers undoubtedly needed” adequate representation in Parliament, and it was due to them to organise in their own interests, with the object of ensuring that they adequate representation and equitable treatment. At present they had neither

Mr Poison said it was necessary ' for the farmers to regain their economic balance. It was absolutely essential In this crisis, for the whole of the farmers of New Zealand to pull together and to present a united front to Parliament and state their minimum requirements. They should also show the townspeople that the things the farmers were seeking were not merely for their own benefit, but for the benefit of the whole Dominion. Many people regarded the farmer as a selfish individual out only for his own gain. It was necessary to dispell this impression and to gain the good-will of other sections _of the community in their fight l'or fair treatment. If they could make it understood that if the farmer was prosperous, the townspeople would prosper also, they would go a long way towards laying the foundation for a sound recovery. There was a feelthroughout the country that the farmer should play a bigger part in politics than in the past, but doubtless, other political parties would look askance at the proposal of a farmers’ political P The speaker said he was hopeful that what he was going to say would be a forerunner of what Mr Forbes would say in his promised statement on the economic position. Bulwark Against Bad Times. •It was aulte obvious, said the speaker, that it was impossible to collect £27,000,000 in taxation withoui beggaring the community, but a very considerable measure of prosperity could be restored, if policy of the farmers’ Union were adopted, lie felt they had to provide a bulwark against the bad times. They could do this by adopting several important principles, one of which was to gi\e equal opportunity to the farn \ er ,' Q °Hhp sections were sheltered, while t e farmers were comparatively unshelt - ed in the matter of tariffs. The farmer had suffered under customs tarins, wages awards and subsidies, which had been imposed without due regard to economic principles. The speaker showed by means of a chart the movement of production and costs from the year 191 a, untu the present time, until now the values of our primary products were lower than they had been for 15 years, whne "'the costs were higher than ever in that period. Until costs could be got down to the mean level, the farmer would not get a fair deal Taxation had to be so readjusted that it would fall equally on the shoulders of all. A definite understanding had been made with the wheat growers that If costs could be got down through the customs, the wheat growers would consent to lower protection. Throu p h a readjustment of the customs duties It would be possible to bring down production costs. Wages would haws to fall materially. This, he was sure, would not be objected to by 'Laboui If it could be shown that the costs of living had also come dowm H we oould reduce the customs duties 1 „ £2,000,000, a reduction of 10 per cent would automatically occur in the cost of living. He advocated a luxury taxation as a substitute for taxation through the tariff. He also advocated a revised income tax based on ability to Day. He would steepen the grade of this fax so that the man with a high Income would pay on a higher scale. Thus would the swing of the pendulum be brought in the right direction. As the price of goods \was regulated to the tariff, there was a gradually shutting out of British goods. A readjustment along the lines suggested-' would widen the field for British goods. After all, who was New Zealand’s best customei . We were bound up irrevocably with Urn nrosneritY of Britain. The greate. assistance we' gave to Britain in the way of tariff relief, the greater would be Britain’s ability to purchase Dominion products. The Greater Speotre. The speaker went on to say that Labour had nothing to fear from anything that would assist in the restoration of prosperity. A greater spectre than reduced wages was the prospect of the loss of a job. If the working man could be assured of reduced living costs with a steady job at reduced wages, he would be much better off The speaker 'condemned the Arbitration Act and said conditions today were such that a drastic revision of the arbitration laws was needed. The whole of the arbitration machinery should stop and a readjustment should take place until the present crisis was passed, when they should resort to compulsory conciliation and optional arbitration. The restrictions of arbitration were even more cnpplin 0 than the fixation of wages. Ihese restrictions had added enormously to oosts and the major industries were handicapped tremendously. R was desirable that Labour itself should recognise that there were serious anomalies in the Arbitration Act and they should seek, to have them remedied. ... ~ Criticising railway expenditure Mr Poison said that since 1921 the reduction In passengers had been 3,800,000 and last year the drop was half a million. The drop in revenue as a result had fallen by £738,000. Last year the fall was £178,000. Despite this reduced number of passengers and reduced revenue, there were now 5000 more railwaymen to do the " The speaker mentioned that there were no less than GO Under-secre-taries of State in New Zealand, each adding yearly to his staff and. increasing the importance of his position. \ drastic curtailment of the expenditure of the civil service was advocated by the speaker, who indicated a number of useless departments of State that could be reduced.

Cost of Money Too High. The cost of'money was, 100 high and must be reduced. The Farmers Union'had a plan for an agricultural bank which might be of great use at the present time. The Farmers’ Union was demanding the derating of farm lands. The farmer at present was carrying the burden of Hie motor taxation. The whole rating system was wrong, it was as fair to ask the farmer to carry the burden of railway taxation as it was to ask him to carry the taxation of the'roads. Other countries were recognising that the basis _of taxation was wrong and were derating farm lands. Last year New Zealand lost one and a quarter millions sterling on its railways and this year the losses would be greater still. All of this had to he borne by the people. Every penny taken 'by way of land taxation absorbed portion of the capital value of the land. Cities got benefit from land taxation by . way of public services, but in this country the whole principle of land valuation was being upset by it. New Zealand’s competitors had abolished land taxation —Argentine, South Africa, some of the Australian States, Great 'Britain and Canada, yet in New Zealand, whether making or losing money, the farmer was asked to pay a yearly heavy tax. The system was a menace and always would he to farming prosperity.

Speaking on the question of unemployment Mr Poison said the whole House had realised the Government’s great responsibility in dealing with the problem. Parliament, as a whole, was responsible for the passing of the Unemployment Bill. The whole position rested upon the attitude taken up by the Unemployment Board. The Board set out to put Its imprimaturs on a wage payment of 14s a day. The Prime Minister had intimated his intention of upsetting this and the speaker agreed with the Prime Minister that Jt was unwise to have set 14s as the standard. The Board should have said “the situation is so serious that we are not going to fix any wage at all.* We must devote ourselves to finding work and to keeping the people fed.” In conclusion Mr Poison felt sure that the plan set by the Farmers’ Union would, if understood by other sections of the community, be sympathetically received and put into operation.

The following resolutions were carried by the meeting:— ” This meeting demands drastio decreases in all Government' expenditure, beginning at the top and extending in equitable proportions through all grades of the publio service to the extent of not less than £2,000,000 or such greater sum as will balance the Budget.” The mover, Mr Zlman (Cambridge) said Government expenditure had of recent years exceeded all bounds. It was very easy, in response to public demand, to increase enormously public expenditure. It would be just as easy to curtail it If the position were tackled with a will. Essential to Cost Reduction. “This meeting declares its conviction that the first essential in reducing costs is to so readjust taxation that the necessities and tools of production may be lowered in price by means of a £2,000,000 reduction in the customs tariff, the difference being made up by increased luxury taxation as well as income tax.” The mover" Captain Colbeck (Morrinsville) estimated that the taxation on the tools of production and means of life amounted to £4,500,000. While the farmer was compelled to sell at export parity, ho was also compelled to buy at import parity, between which there was a very wide gap. Unless production costs were brought down there was going to be more unemployment and more taxation. He was in accord with the demand for an immediate calling together of Parliament to deal with the problems. (Applause.) He knew of men at the present time who had not enough money to pay their grocery bills. What were thousands going to do in a couple of months’ time, when the milk cheques stopped? With taxation down, the secondary industries, which feared they would be crippled, would be able to manufacture just as well on the lower costs as they were able to do on the higher. The speaker felt that by the reduction of £2,000,000 in taxation the people of the Dominion would be saved £5,000,000 or £6,000,000 in the cost of living. He hoped every farmer in the Dominion would insist on being allowed to buy as he sold.

Mr H. Rollett moved: “This meeting records Its emphatio protest against the continuation of the payment on relief of works of 14s per day to single men without dependants, for the reasons that at present the farmers are unable to obtain labour at reasonable rates and the taxpayers are bearing an increasing burden.” The mover said it must be apparent that it was fallacious to pay standard rates of wages on relief works. It would have been a far safer policy lo have reduced the standard from 12s than lo have raised it. Many of the relief works were unproductive, and they were an inducement, at 14s a day, to men to leave productive work on the farms. It was certainly impossible for a farmer to pay men Lis a day. Providing Financial Assistance. Mr 'Poison moved: “That this meeting, realising that Die primary industries of the Dominion cannot bo maintained under present conditions unless finance for fanners at reasonable rates and in sufficient amounts can be made available, urges the Government to give effect to the recommendations of the Unemployment Committee of the House of Representatives, and afford similar support to the bonds of the Rural Intermediate Credit Board to that which it gives to the Rural Advances 'Board; also that special provision be made for relief in urgent and desirable cases along the lines proposed by the Farmers’ Union." The mover said the system of rural finance existed in almost every country in 1 lie world in some form or other, and the Commission that went abroad a few years ago endeavoured to incomorate the best points of the whole

of the systems in the plan it had proposed. They must keep on fighting lor the establishment of this. Mr Feisst (Cambridge) moved: “That all Arbitration Court awards be temporarily suspended, and that it be legal for employers to pay and for employees to accept such wages as the industry can afford." The mover contended that the Arbitral on Court awards were causing more trouble, si rife, unemployment than anything else in the country. White Ihe abolition of arbitration would be opposed by Labour, lie believed the best interests of Labour would be served by a drastic revision of the arbitration laws.. It was . only the leaders of Labour, for political purposes, who opposed the reduction ol wages. There were two ways of increasing purchasing power—by increasing production at lower costs, and by the reduction of wages, which would” lower the costs. There must be no obstruction to wages ilucluating according to the laws of supply and demand. Mr W. Boyd (Matangi) moved: “This meetinig, realising that rating for roading purposes, is no longer a fair burden upon the primary producer, Inasmuch as the roads are carrying national traffic in competition with the railways, demands its abolition, and the substitution of petrol and other taxation.” Mr Boyd said the farmers did not consider they were asking for any special favour in requesting the derating of lands. The upkeep of the roads was being increased annually, and if an increase in the petrol rates could he imposed, the man who used the roads would he compelled to pay accordingly. ■Mr D. B, Higgins (Matamata) moved: “This meeting, seeking equal opportunity for the farmer, pledges itself to stand behind its leaders and do everything in its power to place in Parliament those candidates who 1 , Irrespective of party pledges, will support the platform embodied in the resolutions passed by this meeting, the Union to be satisfied that the pledge is given in good faith.” The mover said lie would like Die meeting to go even further than the resolution, and say they would support a Farmers’ Party. (Applause.). He was prepared to sink his own feelings in this matter in deference to the opinion of others, so long as it got them some distance towards the goal they were making for. Farmers to Represent Farmers. Mr liardwicke (Palatere) asked Mr Poison if lie could say how many pure farmers there were in Parliament, who were dependent upon the pioceeds of their farms for their livelihood. The proportion of such, lie thought, was very small. There were any number of farmers of high integrity and great ability who would be capable and worthy representatives of the farmers in Parliament, but who were debarred from entering the political field owing to financial difficulties. He suggested a central fund to assist farmer candidates. The speaker quoted the words of Lord Macauley: I “Then none was for Party, Then all were for the State, Then the great man helped the poor, Then the poor man loved the great.” The speaker moved an amendment: “That a central fund lie established for the purpose of assisting purely farmer candidates." Mr S. Miles (Walton) asked what the electors would be expected to do in the event of there being three candidates—United, Reform and Labour — who were all ready to pledge themselves to the farmers’ platform. “We would be splitting up our vote and defeating our own object. Let us,” the speaker remarked emphatically, amid laughter, “stick to Rusliworth, and to hell with the rest.” Mr Harbutt (Cambridge) moved a further amendment: “That parties in politics be abolished, and that candidates be independent, and be asked to subscribe to the motions as passed here to-day.” The mover thought the only way the farmers could achieve their aims was to discard party altogether. They could not ask men who were pledged lo party to desert, their party when the whip cracked. The original motion was carried. Mr W. Boyd (Matangi) moved: “That, believing it is of vital importance to New Zealand not only to main tain but if possible to increase primary produceion, and the national income, and as fertilisers are essential to the income of the country, this meeaing urges the Government to take steps to arrange for a substantial reduction in the price of fertilisers, even If it is necessary to provide temporary assistance during the period ot depression.” . The motion was carried unanimously.