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.. X-3593 EXTRACT FROM MONTHLY REVIE;;r OF ST.AND.A:r.ID BJ.N?.: OF SOUTH AFRICA.1- OCTOBER 31, 1922. THE AGRICULTU11AL POSITION \Vhile a considerable improvement in the a~ricultural pacts of the country generally has taken plac0 during recent pros- montn~, it would. be idle to d any th.;;L t th a po s it ion of rna.ny mamba rs of the farming community in the Union and Rhodesia iv still difficult, and, ina.eed, in some cases critical • this h not far to seel~, ~xtremely .And the cause of for probably no section of the industrial community has suffered more sever,ely from the unstable conditions that have ootained during the l~st two or three years than the farming interest. Vfuen considering the position today, however, it is neeessary to bear in mind tha fact that this industry was the first to profit by the new economic situ~tion called into being as a result of the outbreat of war in 1914, for, owing to t.ne witr_drawdl for war service of large numbers from the work of production, raw mat->rials of almost every descril)tion vary soon apprecLted in v 1lue, the .;;ff .:>ct of -.vhich was in due course .reflected 1n incraaseci. wages of those en- cost of living. sequent ...;_fter tha conclusion of th2 .Armistice and. the sub- ~rrangemant of terms of paaca, th.Jrd cJmz ~bout, as the. result 6f many causas--chiaf of -Jhich N<3ra th.J curtailment of Govarnment ·oxpendi tura and the restnction of credit--a marke..l diminution I . ,. - ~ ~ - . .X-3593 in the purchasing powar of the worlu., one effect of vhich is seen in the return of most raw materials to approxim~te While wages in other industries continua 'highast war~tim3 rato~, pre-war values. today, if not at .the at least at levels which exhibit considerable inflation when compared with the pre-war basis, it follows that the farmer is at pros ant Lc.borine; under a considerable disadv~,ntage, inasmuch as he is compelled to pay, for necessary goods and materials, prices inflated by high wages paid for their manufacture, whereas he is receiving a return for his own produce on a basis of pre-war value. The problem is not pectlliar to South Africa, but is of wor~~-wici.e application at the prcsant day. A recent pres;.;. cable states tha.t in Great Britain farmers of all classes and in all districts are in serioua financial straits, anQ that failin6 rnaans of adJusting outlay to revenue, lart;Se numbers ovill be driven out of bus il:1a sa • In the United Statas of Arr1erica, also, the matt8r has been undor invest1gation by a Government Commission. be g.anerally recognizad, ho'Never, that the si tu..1tion is not one calling for Govarnment intarvantion, unlas;;;, indecid, ;:;oma alleviation w.a.y ·oe afforded by way of furthar reduction of railway portJ.tion of :1e;ricul tur~•l produce, or r~tas for tha trans- in some oth . ~r similar rrB.nn:or. Ad;,ustrr.ant will ul timataly coma ..1uout through tha ngular operation of econorrdc fore as, 'N1nch ara not d.t pr..:;sant functioning in a normal mannar owinb to t113 continu2d worl.:l--Nl·J.a financial disorganization. of agricultural servic3s. will assume t:1air _b)ropar reL:.tionship in . ,. X-)595 - 3- the l'!'.arkets of tho world to th.3 value of ina.ustria:l servi.ces, and abnormalities such as noN exist will disappear. hasten :::;Uch c,d~ustrr;:mt 'py legislative measuras will, it is thought, probably have tho opposit2 effect to that r .Any attempts to desired~
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