THE AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL INDUSTRY.

Marlborough Express, Volume LI, Issue 84, 11 April 1917, Page 3

THE AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL INDUSTRY.

[to the editor.]

Sir, —On reading the utterances throughout the country of Sir James Allen and the Hon. Mr Mac Donald on various!" agricultural and pastoral problems, one cannot fail to be struck with the fact that neither of these gentlemen seems to realise the true state of affairs.. In the Weekly Pfess of March 21st, Sir James Allen is reported to have .said that.it seemed to him a ilational necessity at the present time to keep all farms going at their . normal stock-carrying • and grain-growing capacity*, in order to maintain fhe Dominion's output ' of foodstuffs, and he urges farmers riot to- allow their patriotic sensitiveness to debar them rrom appealing to the Ivlilitary Service Board for exemption Yvhwn it is necessary to do so. I. The Hon. Mr Mac Donald has been, I with characteristic energy,touring' the i ceiuitry, trying to induce farmers to |»pnt in 250,G00 acres of Ayheat, and appealed to their patriotism to do so. Following on Mr Mac Donald's address to the A. and P. Association's annual meeting in Christchurbh on March 22nd, I'pointed out'toliim that it was not a question of /patriotism but of ability, and that the farmers were unable to put wheat because they" could \iiot get the necessary labor to do so. I also stated that, in my opin-' ion, not another agricultural laborer should bo. allowed to leave the country, and all the speakers after me endorsed, my views. Mr Mac Donald, in replying, said that so long as 'a. farmer gave a definite assurance that a iiian was wanted to,, grow wheat, that man would be exempted, showing cloai'ly that he utterly failed to grasp the' ; 'Fii'stiy, in the name of all that is wonderful, how can\ a farmer apply for exemption for a man if he has not got one? Secondly, M^ Mac Donald will nbt exempt any farm laborer unless for wheat-growing. What, then", az*e the other farmers to do for labor, who have no land suitable for growing wheat P^ Sir James Allen very sensibly says (as before herein quoted1) that he* considers ifc a natioual necessity to keep up the production .of the country to its .■normal condition. Mr Mac Donald refuses to allow the farmers any men to do so, arid Sir James Allen acquiesces! In the last three weeks, or so, both Mr Lloyd George and 'Mr Bonar Law have, in the House of Commons, emphatically stated that in the present state of things the supply of produce to the Empire was of more importance than men.

In a letter to the Press dated August 3rd, 1916, I pointed out that several'of the leading papers in Eng-r land had stated that they considered the Colonies had sent enough men to the front, and that they would do more service to the Empire if they kept the men at home and increased their output of produce, as the few 7Tieri they could send would 'be more than compensated for by the increased supplies of produce. I stated that the time had come when sendino' -more men woxild be at the expense of production, and I prophesied that if proper steps were not taken the production of the country would, seriously deteriorate. This prediction has bec-n verified. (See Dr Newman's address at the oponing of the Marton A. and P. Show early in March). Now, I venture to say most emphatically that if drastic steps are not taken by the Government immediately, the production of this Dominion will fall off in the ensuing year in a far greater measure than last year. The people of this Dominion will suffer by the increased cost of living, and Britain and her Allies will suffer from the decreased supply of produce to a deplorable extent. . v ,The Government; of "this country should wake tip and, face the position ■with energy and coirimori sense. It. is no good going in for "wild-eat" schemes such as* .supplying farmers with traction ploughs, one farmer helping another* arid such like nonsense ;by the time they can get out traction plants the seeding time would be gone, nnd as for farmers cooperating and helping one another, little good can bo don^ in that way. It is computed thnt 13,000 iiioh of military age have been enlis+ed from the agricultural community,, and about thp same numbor from the pastoral. It is also'• calculated that it

requires one man for the working of every 67 acres of crop; therefore, to put in the 2-30,000 acres of lyhoaii that ' Air Mac-Donald states the country - rej quires, would take 8700 men alone. The number of. laborei's employed in agricultural labor (of military age) in 1 1911 was about 28,700. Or" these about, 13,000 have been enlisted, leaving about 10,700. It does not there-, { fore take one long to realise what j an enormous loss in production must | take place this year if something is not done. The Government will say probably that they have set up a National Efficiency Board to look after the whole matter (and it is a very admirable body), bub it comes

about two years too late, and before 'it can collect and boil down the mass |of evidence it will receive, ifc will be I too late to be of use this year. The j time for putting in.cereals is the next I three months, and every week that j the dearth of labor goes on, means i a .loss of hundreds of acres of cereals jto the Dominion, and the same applies to green crops for feeding sheep. Where is the food for fattening sheep and, lambs to come from next year? But it is no use particularising; the shortage of .labor applies to every part of the agriculLural and pastoral industry. In order to mitigate (I don't say save) the disaster that must ensue to the Dominion and the Empire, the Government must not only not- enlist, any mure men from the agricultural and ipastoral community, but must ve-j turn to the land all the agricultural and pastoral laborers now in camp. In this connection a Christchurch paper of March 23rd-, in a sub-leader, has,a suggestion which I beg to oommend N to the consideration of the Government. It says the military authorities might very well give ploughmen and teamsters now undergoing their training extended leave so long as they were .doing farm work. I would add that the rate ef wagers should also be fixed by the Govern-

ment, and that the principle should be applied to all classes of agricultural and pastoral laborers. There is no more vital and important question at this time for the Empire or the Dominion than the pro-* auction''of produce, and it is a'question which must be faced at once, and quick and Jively, or disaster must inevitable ensue.

Sir, if I have seemed in this letter unduly to criticise Sir James Allen and Mr Mac Donald, or approach the subject 'in a spirit of cavil, J beg them to accept my assurance that it was far from my intention. The whole country realises their colossal energy and patriotism, and in writing as I have, I have been inspired by the hope, that I have been able (as ;i farmer of some 50 years' experience) to place the situation before the Government clearly and in a light which I am "inclined to ""think they have not quite realised, and the gravity of the subject must be my excuse.