FARMERS AND EXCHANGE.

Waikato Times, Volume 112, Issue 18806, 30 November 1932, Page 9

FARMERS AND EXCHANGE.

(To the Editor.) Sir,—May I, as an old farmer, protest against the attitude now being taken by the city people upon the question of increased rates of exchange on the London market? Nowhere at any of the Auckland meetings is there any mention of the heavy burdens and responsibilities that the farmer carries or the vital position in which he stands in respect to the future of this heavily-mortgaged country; and yet it is to the farmer, and him alone, that we must look for our deliverance from the present deplorable economic position. What do the cities, with their palatial buildings, large populations and busy streets, send to the Old Country towards paying the interest and sinking funds of the numerous large loans that have been expended to a considerable extent in their centres? Practically nothing. No local manufactures can be exported. The Arbitration Court and zealous unions have seen to that. So It Is the farmer who has to do it all. There is no escape. At one time there were other valuable sources of national revenue—such as the export of gold and silver, timber, kauri gum and flax, that, helped materially towards paying the overseas annual charges, hut these have failed, and are now practically nonexistent, with no hope of ever being reinstated. It may also be said with trutli that every penny the dairy farmer receives is also received by every member of the community, for no class distributes its earnings more quickly and widely than he does. The monthly cheques usually disappear in a few days in the purchase of necessaries to maintain the fertility of his land and the comfort and happiness of those who are working with him.—l am, etc., E. C. SHEPHERD.