APATHY AND EXPORT

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 59, Issue 121, 24 June 1930, Page 6

APATHY AND EXPORT

The apafchy of the sheep-farrners of Hawke's Bay passes all comprehension. In. the lengtb and breadth of New Zealand there is possibly no section of the community less alive to their own interests, than hthose men on the land in this province who are engaged in the growing of wool and the raising of sheep for the export of mutton. The reason for this is difftcult to understand. Practieally every other important industry throughout the country is str-ongly organised and under capable leadership is meeting with a measure of success in fighting for the righfs and, in many cnses, privileges those associated with the* rospective organisations enjov. Certainlv we have many useful institutions in the province conneote'd with the breeding of stock and the improvement of farming generally, but what Hawke's Bay lacks more than anything else is an organisation that will capably handle the , requirements of the sheep-farmers of the province in the marketing and export of our primary produce, particularly meat; and wool. In the days when pnces for these products soared to levels that gave sheepfarmers handsome remuneration for thcir efforts in producing meat and wool lor export there was possibly some justification for the apathy that has for so long bem displayed in conuection with this industry, for the wealtb that poured ' into Hawke's Bay undoubtedly created a feeling of contentment amongst our pascoralists and a desire for allowmg the existing order of things to rertiain indefinitely as they were. To-day the sheep - farmer of Hawke's Bay is up against a serious proposition. He finds that on all hancts his costs of production have risen. He discovers that boorn prices for his products have inflated the value of his land beyond a reasonable margin. And, what is more to the point, he has now to accept rates of remuneration that do not in many cases give him adequate reward for dtie energy he has displayed, for his ent'erprise and for the outlay involved in producing these high-grade products. Lowered prices for these goods must of necessity be met by lowerecl costs of production, and it is here that every iarmer is met with a problem that he fmds difficult to overcomc. In many cases it is not possible to reduce by one penny the various costs that are associated with the production of both meat and wool. Materials used are still based on the same figure. Babour charges have not altered in any way, nor is it likely that a reduction will be effec'ted here. All other charges have remained at^thp samo level as before. Yet the sheep-fariner goeg contentedly on his way.- He crrumbles. but that is all. One of the fruits of his apathy is tho systein which has for years pertained at the port of Napier in the export ot his produce. For twenty years the harbour situation here has been at a standstill. For twenty years the district has been led along lines all experts and engineers worthv the name have advised it ;not to go. For twentv years the whols of the meat and wool of Hawke's Bay has been loaded *via lighters on to vessels in the Napier roadstead.' two miles out from the port, at an additional cbarge — above all other charges such as wharfage, etc. — of from 15s to 18s per ton. In the course of that time the sheep-farmers of

Hawke'a Bay 'have paid out to the. lighterage cnmpany hundreds of thousands of pounds, the whole of which has no doubt been adequate remuneration for the service rendered, but the- big proportion of it has been absolutely needless expenditure.. There is not the slightest reason why the out-of-date and costly method of lighterage was not abolished twenty years agd. There exists at the Napier Breakwater herths . for two ocean-going liners, besides which there is a tbird berth for coastal boats and coal boats. The major berths will accommodate two big vessels, even in their present state, and a little expenditure would greatly improve them to take larger ships. In the twenty-years referred to actually hundreds of such vessels have worked at the berths and hundreds of thousands of lons of goods, mostlv from. American and Canadian ports, have come into Hawke's Bay over the Breakwater wharf. Yet those coutrolling the export of meat and wool, grown in Hawke's Bav for export, will not use these berths. Why? There is only one answer: Because of the abjecfc apathy of the sheep farmer of Hawke's Bay! Had the sheepfarmers demarided wharf loading

during the past twenty years they could have enjoyed it during the whole of that period and thus saved themselves the hundreds of thousands of pounds that have been needlessly expended in this direction. Blsewhere in this issue we publish a picture of the big eargo vessel Waihemo berthed at the Napier Breakwater wharf. This steamer came direct to Napier from America with 10,000 tons of cargo, a considerable portion of which is for Napier. She came straight in withoub any trouble, and has since been unloqding. If vessels like this can come into the wharf with 10,000 tons of American goods — they have been doing it for the past twenty vears — why cannot our meat boats and our wool boats load from the same point? There will be no export trade over the Napier Breakwater wharf until the sheep-farmer of Hawke's Bay awakes to a full realisation of the vast savings and enormous possibilities awaiting him in this direction.