RELATED TOPICS 255 



of agriculture. There is also the greatest need for sound 

 information on rural economics, and, in part, on social 

 and economic questions generally. The discussions on 

 these questions throughout the whole community show 

 that a clear grasp of the principles involved is almost 

 entirely lacking. 



There is an ever present tendency for the policy of 

 such a Union to become narrow, and confined too much 

 to class interests. This is quite a natural tendency, and 

 is scarcely reprehensible, for such a Union can scarcely 

 exist without a strong class bias. The Farmers' Union, 

 however, has special opportunities to rise above this. 

 Connected as it is with the greatest of our industries, 

 the very foundations of our national prosperity, it can 

 exert an enormous influence throughout the whole 

 community. Perhaps the most important task it has 

 before it is to develop to a fuller extent genuine public 

 spiritedness throughout the rural community. Greater 

 toleration coupled with more self-reliance would be 

 valuable assets to our farmers and to the people of the 

 Dominion generally. 



3. Protection for the Wheat Industry. 



(a) Protection in New Zealand. There are two 

 reasons for discussing this problem. First, the subject 

 is of the greatest interest to New Zealand. The fiscal 

 policy which the Dominion adopts will re-act on her 

 economic development, and is usually connected with 

 her prosperity. Secondly, the "War has brought the 

 question before the public again in a new and somewhat 

 misleading manner. The outcry against German goods, 

 the alleged attempted economic domination of Germany, 

 the supposed superiority of protected countries, are all 

 powerful arguments to the average man. At a time 

 when popular sentiment on these matters is running 

 high, the danger that ' ' partial and incomplete reasoning 



