MINUTES OF EVIDENCE. 



' 79 



2 September, 1919.] 



MR. R. COLTON Fox. 



[Continued. 



the Government Department and not on that which 

 he actually receives, an increase of the rents of the 

 various holdings in accordance with the Government 

 valuation is both fair and reasonable. We have 

 therefore to inform you that after the llth November 

 next, 1919, your rent will be raised to (blank) pounds 

 l year. We shall be glad to hear from you that you 

 agree to pay this amount in future." Then a subse- 

 quent letter bearing on the same point reads as 

 follows: " Referring to our letter to you of the 18th 

 ultimo, in which we informed you that the Govern- 

 ment valuation of your farm was based on a rental 

 value of 240 a year, and saying that we must ask 

 vou in future to pay that rent from November llth, 

 we have no wish to hurry you in coming to a decision, 

 but we have just received an offer to take your farm 

 at the increased rental should you wish to give it up. 

 The applicant, who is anxious to take a good farm 

 in your district, would like to hear of one as soon as 

 possible. We should be glad, therefore, if you would 

 let us hear from you within the next week or so." 

 That indicates that rents are being raised in other 

 counties if not in yours? -I should like to say this, 

 that our landlords are some of the best in the country, 

 and they do not make a practice of raising the rents 

 of existing tenants. 



7547. So that when you said the rente were not 

 raised, you intended it only to apply to your particu- 

 lar district? Yes. I cannot tell you of the whole 

 of England, because I know nothing about it. 



7548. Would you be surprised to know that on this 

 letter which I have read, a small holding was raised 

 actually 2<)0 per cent, in rental? Well, I should 

 screw the landlord's neck. 



7.549. From sav 50 to 150; and another small 

 holding previously rented at 54 12s. was raised to 

 100; and anotHer small holding has been raised 

 30 per cent. If those facts are true that I have re- 

 lated, then the Act of Parliament does not prevent 

 the raising of rent? It is supposed to. 



7.>jQ. Mr. Prouer Jones: You told Mr. Langford 

 that you had one of the best landlords in the country? 

 Yes. 



7.V51. And you told us you had made very little 

 profit during the last couple of years? Yes. 



7552. Is it not likely that if you had been making 

 large profits your landloij would also coni<> alon^ 

 and ask for a little more rent. Would not that be 

 natural? Of course I farm my own land. 



7553. But would not a man cbMrge more rent 

 against these accounts even if he had been paid well 

 on the farm. If you could have shown a good balance 

 sheet, is not it likely that you would have increased 

 the rent against your balance sheet? No, I would 

 not have increased the rent of any man ; in the 

 past rents were forgiven altogether. My neighbour, 

 Ix>rd Midleton, forgave the whole rent for one year. 



7.V>4. From your evidence in your precis, one would 

 be led to believe that you take a very gloomy view 

 of the future as far as agriculture is concerned. Is 

 that so? Yes the uncertainty. 



T.VM. What number of men do you employ on this 

 farm of 300 acres? I employ 4 regular men. 



T-ViO. What is the minimum wage in your district? 

 41s. for labourers, and 47s. for horsemen. 



7557. Do you pay anything beyond that? No, 

 nothing beyond that. 



7558. So that you are compelled to pay that? We 

 are all compelled to pay that. 



7559. Do you find the efficiency of your men equal 

 to what it was, say before war time? I do not find 

 the efficiency the same. Do you mean the standard of 

 work? . 



7560. Yes? No. I do not. I consider it has 

 dropped. 



7561. What age are the men you employ? 36 to 38, 

 and 42 or 44. 



75<J'J. You have men of military age? Yes. 



'*. Were they in the Army? No. During the 

 war I had 2 horsemen and a foreman, and both th 

 horsemen were exempted on condition that they re- 

 mained with me, 



MM 



7564. Would you mind telling us whether you 

 bought this farm in the open market or whether it 

 was. by private treaty? I bought it in the open 

 market. 



7565. On 20 years' purchase? Yes, at 25 an acre. 



7566. Does not the fact that you bought this farm 

 go a long way to show that you do believe in the 

 future of agriculture, and that you have some faith 

 in it after all? No, because I have never been an 

 arable farmer. My heart has never been in it. I am 

 a stock breeder. I was told that for 4 years on the 

 corn land on existing prices at which I bought the 

 farm I should lose money ; but my heart is in short- 

 horns, and if I lose on the swings I' will make it up 

 on the round-abouts. 



7567. Mr. J. M. Henderson : How many years have 

 you been farming altogether? I have been farming 

 8 years. 



7568. What was your experience before 1915 : were 

 you a stock raiser ? To tell you the truth I was farm- 

 ing at a rent of 35s. an acre ; and as I lost money 

 in those 4 years I destroyed every account I had for 

 that farm, but it was proved that I lost money. I was 

 a tenant. 



7569. And now you are making money on this farm? 

 I am going to try and make it. 



7570. You have made it? I have been making it. 

 As this gentleman pointed out, for 4 years my average 

 returns are too small for my outlay. 



7571. According to the actual cost per acre and the 

 value per acre, you are losing on these acres 

 11 17s. Id.? On 26 acres. 



7572. It is more than that ; it is on 98 acres. De- 

 duct the profit that you make on the one, and add 

 them up, and you make 2 Is, Id. on one lot, 

 1 Os. 8d. on the other, which makes 3 Is. 9d., and 

 there is a loss on the other side? I have not worked 

 those averages out. 



7573. You make out a loss here of 15 Is. lOd. against 

 a profit of 3 Is. 9d. That will never do. According 

 to" your own precis, you lose 11 17s. Id. Why go on, 

 if all these years have shown you such a disastrous 

 result? Because I am building up a herd of short- 

 horns, and I expect this spring to sell 7 young bulls. 



7574. You want to make it on the breeding? Yes. 



7575. And you use the farm merely as a pied de 

 ti rrr, something to hang on? Yes. 



7576. Therefore, as you say your heart is not in the 

 growing of cereals, you really do not care very much 

 about it. In answer to Sir William Ashley, you said 

 that you credited something for the produce you 

 consumed in the house ? Yes ; that is all shown in 

 detail, net here, but in the details eliminated by the 

 Income Tax Surveyor. 



7577. I do not want you to produce your Income 

 Tax Surveyor's return ; but how much do you make it? 

 This last year it was somewhere about 80. 



7578. Which you credit to the receipts in respect 

 of what you used in farm produce and fowls in the 

 house?- -Yes, it was 80 and so much. 



7579. Would that include what you handed over to 

 the workmen as perquisites, such as milk, and so on ? 

 It includes all stuff consumed in the house. 



7580. Do you sell anything outside, such as fowls, 

 or anything? If there is any, it comes in the dairy 

 produce and poultry income. 



7581. But 63 is all you have for 1915? Yes. 



7582. You suggest, although you do not want it 

 yourself, a minimum guarantee of 90s. ? I qualified 

 it, I think, and said, dismissing the calculation on 

 heavy land, I should say 70s. 



7583. What do you think would be the effect of 

 the guarantee in keeping up the world's prices? The 

 guarantee would have no effect on the prices as they 

 were. 



7584. Why not? Because there are other buyers. 



7585. But you know we import five-sevenths of our 

 wheat, and at the best we can only produce two- 

 sevenths. If we have five-sevenths to buy, and the 

 sellers of those five-sevenths know we must have it, 



F 



