MINUTES OF EVIDENCE. 



67 



12 August, 1919.] 



THE HON. EDWARD STRIJTT, C.ET. 



[Continued. 



1556. Is tho 15s. arrived at by estimating 5 per 

 cent, as the rate of interest on 15? That was the 

 idea. I put it in because the wheat cost roughly 

 15 an acre to grow. It was a round figure and it 

 cost so much less before. That is the reason. 



1557. Now may we deal with your point that the 

 capital has been doubled? If you take the whole 

 farm, it has doubled, not for growing wheat only. 

 If you take the stock, it has more than doubled 

 cows, horses, and so on. 



1558. Store stock has not doubled? Cows have 

 more than doubled. 



1559. Have you not completely replenished the farm 

 since the war as regards cows ? Undoubtedly ; every 

 four years I replenish my cows. 



1560. What have you done as regards implements? 

 We have not bought so much as we ought to have 

 done. We could not get them, you see. We have 

 replenished a great many, but not all of the imple- 

 ments, but the cows we have quite. 



1561. If you had a certain amount of mechanical 

 equipment of 1913 and 1914 value, you must have 

 doubled its pre-war value to arrive at its present 

 value? I do not think I have quite. 



1562. I thought you said tho capital had been 

 doubled? So it has on the farm. I have got double 

 the capital on the farm to-day that I had. 



1563. Arrived at by this method of doubling pre- 

 war values or by actual expenditure? By more or 

 less actual expenditure, except in some cases it is 

 not always by actual expenditure, but I should think 

 it is pretty well by actual expenditure now. The 

 reason I do not want to talk about the profits on 

 these farms is because there is a lot of Dutch cattle 

 on them and Frisian cattle, nothing to do with 

 ordinary farming at all. My son was very clever and 

 went in for some Frisian cattle, which have increased 

 in value very much, but that has nothing whatever 

 to do with the ordinary English farming. 



1564. Leaving aside tho cattle, could wo not have 

 a statement with regard to wheat, as to which you 

 have not pointed out any exceptional circumstances? 

 It is difficult to get that, is it not? I do not see how 

 you could get it very well. 



1565. Your position is that you show us your in- 

 creased cost and use that as an argument for asking 

 the public to guarantee a price to farmers, but you 

 will not show us any changes, cither up or down, 

 in your profits? I do not see how that affects it. 

 I am sorry, but I do not understand the point of your 

 question, or what you mean. Of course, this farm 

 which I am quoting is one of the most favourable 

 farms for growing wheat in the whole of tho country 

 of England, I suppose, and it is no sort of test of 

 the cost of wheat growing generally all over the 

 country. 



1566. Could you trust this Commission to use fairly 

 any evidence presented to us with regard to this 

 particularly exceptional farm? Yes, I have no 

 doubt I could trust the Commission, but it does mis- 

 lead rather if you take one of the best wheat-growing 

 farms in England as an example for tho whole of tho 

 country. This is one of the most suitable farms for 

 growing wheat that there is. 



1567. Do you suggest that the Commission would 

 use the information in a misleading manner? If I 

 had any figures of other farms which were not so suit- 

 able, I would be glad to supply it. Of course, I do 

 not suppose that the Commission would do anything 

 unfairly. I think I ought to say that we are here to 

 ascertain tho truth, not only on one side, but on both 

 sides. 



H. Chairman: Are you willing to produce a profit 

 ;im] loss account of your farm? I am not asking you 

 to <ln it; I am only asking you if you will? I have 

 a lot of Frisian cattle which have gone up in value 

 very much they have doubled or trebled in value 

 owing to the skill which my son has used in that way. 

 1. r >')9. If you were to exclude the profit on the 

 Frisian cattle, would you be willing then to submit 



Mitt 



a revenue account of your farms, showing the ex- 

 penditure and the receipts? It would be very diffi- 

 cult to show it. 



1570. Do not take it that I am asking you to do it, 

 because I ought not to ask you to do a thing that you 

 exhibit any hesitation to do; but I know the Com- 

 mission looking at this expenditure would place upon 

 the further evidence of the income in addition to the 

 expenditure very considerable weight. But if you are 

 disposed for any reason whatever to say that you 

 would rather not do it, then we must proceed without 

 it? Well, Mr. Chairman, I feel this, that the past 

 does not apply to the future. The accounts for the 

 year 1918 will not be any guide for the year 1919, 

 because the expenses will be much more in 1919 than 

 they were in 1918. It would be no guide therefore to 

 you after you had got it. 



1571. I do not know what use it would be, but you 

 have heard questions from Mr. Ashby, and no doubt 

 other members of the Commission will feel as he is 

 feeling, that only half the story is here that is, the 

 expenditure- and the other half of the story, which is 

 the income, is not here, and it might be that the 

 Commission would bo happy if it had the income. 

 But I am sure the Commission will agree that we can- 

 not ask you to do anything which you regard as un- 

 reasonable, but I invite you to do it, and I am sure 

 we should appreciate it very much indeed if you can 

 see your way to do it. But, on the other hand, we 

 cannot go further than that? You see, Mr. Chair- 

 man, everything has been rising in value during the 

 last few years. If you bought an animal at any time 

 during the last few years, it has always been worth 

 more money than you gave for it, so that, of course, 

 the farmer's profits are larger on account of that. 

 Now the view is that probably things are going dovm, 

 and, therefore, what has been done in war time will 

 not have the slightest influence on the future in the 

 least, and any figures I may give you would be ab- 

 solutely misleading altogether. 



1572. I understand you would rather not give your 

 revenue expenditure and profit and loss accounts of 

 the farm? Yes, because I think it would be abso- 

 lutely misleading for what you are out for. 



1573. Mr. Dallas : In some questions, especially 

 about the efficiency of labour, you will agree that the 

 war time has been a very trying time? No doubt it 

 has. 



1574. Especially in the county of Essex. Owing to 

 the continuous air raids and that sort of thing it 

 must have had a considerable effect upon the workers? 

 Yes. You think it has made us excitable and tired? 



1575. Yes, it gets on people's nerves. You know 

 your own district, and I know it well, too, and the 

 period that they have gone through has not been one 

 during which people would be likely to do their very 

 best? Yes, I quite agree with you, and I hope it is 

 not going to be a permanent thing. 



1576. Would you agree also that there is room for 

 better organisation of labour? Yes, I think there is. 

 Talking about my own farm, I think I could do better 

 than I am doing. I do not say that farmers generally 

 are not organising well. 



1577. We know that you are organising your labour 

 very well, and you say there are rumours of other 

 people also organising their labour well? I do not 

 flatter myself that I organise it well, but I do the 

 best I can. 



1578. Is this disinclination to work overtime that 

 you refer to a general thing? No, it is not universal 

 at all. In most cases they will work overtime, but 

 in one or two farms they do not appear to want to. 



1579. You would not be surprised if I tell you that 

 farmers in your district tell me that in many cases 

 the men are rather anxious to work overtime? Oh, 

 no ; not at all. 



1580. A point was ra : sed about a universal rate of 

 pay. A universal rate of pay does not prevent em- 

 ployers from paying men with special skill more 

 moiiey if they wnnt to? No, but of course farmers 

 cannot help feeling that wages have gone up enor- 

 mously already, and I am afraid that is the view one 

 must take. 



E 3 



