(IS 



17 Sejitrb<r, 1919.] 



OMMI8SIOIJ U.IJK I I.TI i;i . 



Mi: II AltM.Ti: and Ml;. <!. (',. Mi i 



[Continued. 



question or two about. I understand you said that 

 you had the figures of the outturn to you of the 

 revenue as against the expenditure, but that you do 

 not like to produce if No, 1 do not agree to pro- 

 duce it. 



11.106. That is our difficulty; that we cannot get 

 the farmers to produce them. 



Chairman : He said he would produce it if othi-r 

 farmers would do so. 



11.107. Mr. ./. M. llcndtrson: Could you state in 

 us what was your total income without giving details P 

 I nm not prepared to answer that question 



11.108. Then I must leave it at that. I see from 

 figures here thai you reckon that the cost for wheat 

 ..uld be 58s. P Yes. 



11.109. So that to make you secure, you or the 

 Chamber of Agriculture would require a guarantee of 

 80s. P Yes. 



11.110. Having got that guarantee of 60s. for three- 

 or four years, let me see how you reckon it would 

 work out. You spoke of prices 'coining down to the 

 old prices. Let us say, for instanc, i!i:it the world's 

 price fell to 40s. in the fourth year. That would 

 mean that the Government would have to pa-, 



90s. a quarter? That is so. 



11.111. Can you tell the Commission what is the 

 production of wheat in this country in the number of 

 quarters? I am sorry I cannot give that. 



11.112. Do you know how many millions it is? I 

 will take your figures for it. I <lo' not know. 



11.113. I have not them; but it would be just so 

 many millions on to the compensation? Yes, 1 quite 

 agree. 



11.114. And if it dropped to 30s., it would be 

 another 10s. moreP If the present conditions, present 

 expenses and present wages were to be maintained 

 on a 40s. per quarter for wheat, there would be no 

 wheat grown ; so whether the country would be better 

 to get the wheat or not, it is for them to judge. 



1 1 . 1 1 ">. Let us take it at that. In the meantime 

 you say barley can be produced at 60- 



11.116. You know that barley is being sold at 100s. 

 and over P Yes. 



11.117. That is 2 a quarter profit? But I am not 

 asking any subsidy in these prices. 



11.11*. No: Imt i>or)inr*< the public may have some- 

 thing to say to that. What I mean is this. Cannot 

 part of that 2 profit a quarter be put by to meet 

 any deficit in the future:- Hut how long has barlev 

 been at over 100s. P 



11.119. To my knowledge it has been the last two 

 months? Over a month in Scotland, and I have not 

 got any of it yet. 



11.120. Two months ago that was the price being 

 demanded in the North of Scotland: 1 Tlu'ii I am 

 sorry I have not got any of it. 



lf.121. I see it is quoted at 110s. What I want 

 to get at is the view, if you can tell it me. of the 

 Ohnmber of Agriculture of Scotland as to what the 

 future should be. I suppose you will admit that if 

 yon once ^el a minimum price when prices are 

 very high, there will bean overwhelming demand for 

 a minimum -price when price' lii-gin to get l< 

 that Mould posxihly follow. 



1 1.122. So that what you are really asking for, or 

 what is in your mind, is not one year or two years, 

 but a continuous minimum to give the fa> 

 insurance that they are not going to lose on tlirii 

 trade at all?- That is so. 



11.123. One word about the school boys. You know' 

 that the Ail c,i\c. a n-itain iiumlier of hours in the 

 year? Yew, 320. 



11.121. That 320 can be more than half worked off 

 in the winter time, can it not - llmi do you know - 



11.126. We all know that that used 'to ho what 

 Scotch people did? That is the hu.je-t time on the 

 farm. All your stork has to he fed. Heally the only 

 slack time we have on the farm, if there is" any Klaek 

 time at all on a form, is when there are tho vacations. 

 when tc.-i'hcr.s and hoys are all out nt play. Hut in 

 the winter time it is about the busiest time of the 

 ft* we have all the rtock in the house. 



11,126. That is for can In:- (it course the hours do 

 not remit it it is alter 7 o'clock at night. Jt must 

 be before 7, and you liavo to let them away from th.t 

 farm. I am not grumbling at all. hut I am only 

 saying that will add to the cost of production. 



ll.lL'7. Yes, but I am saying it will not be so hard 

 as you are trying to make out with regard to delay 

 of your work. You were speaking of farms being sold". 

 Is it not a fact that for yearn pa.st when a farm has 

 been to let in Scotland t a c ei tain si/e. there has been 

 more than one or two or three or tour farmers at 

 11 :- Certainly. 



11 . 1 28. Does not that seem to show tiat there is not 

 Mioh a fearful risk in farming as you would make 

 out? It goes to show that there is a scarcity ol 

 land, and there are more farmers than there i lajid 

 to go round. There are plenty of people who go and 

 take a farm and never look to see whether it is 

 going to pay or not. They want to get hold of the 

 farm. But with regard to selling farms, I know 

 that in the Lothian* three of the best farms ha\ . 

 been just now sold, and there is not one of the 

 tenants bought them. They thought them too dear; 

 but other people hare gone and bought them. 



11.129. Other farmers? Yes, I think they are 

 other farmers. 



11.130. Did they hope to make them pay? They 

 had an inclination to get into a good farm, and the 

 only way they can get into a good farm is by buying 

 it. 



11.131. I suppose you call a good farm a farm that 

 will pay? Yes, a farm whore there us the possibility 

 of payment. 



11.132. Then you do not think the farmer goes into 

 a venture like any other commercial man, pretty 

 confident that he will make the thing pay? You 

 think there is & totally ilitferent feeling amongst 

 farmers, do you? I think the farmer goes into hi* 

 farm very much with the idea that the State cannot 

 allow farming to go down altogether, and tli. 

 must be somo way out of it. 



11.133. You said that the farmers would prefer 

 to be left alone? It was Mr. Mercer said that. 

 That was in regard to the Corn Production Act. 



I'hiiirimin: What ,was said was that in ISI17 

 they would have preferred to be left alone; but a 

 present circumstances had changed, they were desirous 

 of having guarantees. 



11.131. .Ifc. ,/. M. Hi in/i ;.MI : I do not want to go 

 over the same ground, but I want it fixed. Would 

 you now prefer to be left alone without a guarantee? 

 I do not see how it is possible that the State 

 cannot take into consideration, under the present 

 ci re u instances, the position of farming. 



11.I3T>. Then your position is this: that in. 

 the State intervenes to subsidise or protect you and 

 assure you your guarantee, as you call it, you 

 cannot see your way to go on? We think that we 

 f-liall meet disaster. 



11.136. During the next three or four years? 



Ve<. 



Chairman: Mr. Parker desires to put a supple- 

 mentary question. 



11.137. Mr. Ptirki'1 : Mr. Lennard a.skod yon 

 several, questions with regard to the nature of ill. 

 guarantee to give the farmers necessary confidence 

 to keep their land under the plough, and Mr. Hen- 

 ilorsou lias just asked you on the same subject. 

 Would you tell mo whether you think one year's 

 guarantee of an actual price, to vary from year to 

 \car in proportion, up or down, a.s the c^st of farm 

 lequieites and ]al>our vary, would give tho farmers 

 the required confidence - I do. 



11.138. And the methods t<i he. continued would lx> 

 the four-course shift *i 



11.139. That is the kind of guarantee you think 

 would give tho confidence required? Yes, T think so. 



t'li'iirman: We are very much obliged to you for 

 sitting for such a very long examination, and for the 

 evidence you have given. 



(The WHnr**r.i ir/f Mrr.r. l 



