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UIie Uaest Austraha.
VIGILANS ET AUDAX.
PERTH.
One Hundred and Thirteenthl Year
of Publication.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20. 1945.
BRITISH AGRICULTURE.
There is food for a very great
deal of Australian thought in the
statement on British agricultural
policy which was made by the
British Minister of Agriculture 1
(Mr Tom Williams) in the House
of Commons on Thursday and I
published in "The West Austra
lian" yesterday. The policy is not
altogether new, but follows very
closely in principle the post-war
agricultural policy adopted by the
National Government which was.
referred to by Professor Copland =
in his "Report on Economic Con-1
ditions in 'the United Kingdom,
United States and Canada" pre
sented to the House of Repre
sentatives early in the year and
issued in printed form last
April.
Spealking of the policy of the
former administration, Professor
.opland said that it was the in
tention of the Government to
maintain an active agricultural
industry, but in doing so to em
phasise the production of what
are known as the "protective"
foods, namely, dairy products,
meat, poultry, eggs and fresh
vegetables. The experience of
nutrition policy during the, war in
Britain had emphasised, he said,
the importance of the protective
foods in the national diet, and, in
general, British agriculture could
compete more effectively in these
products than in wheaj and other
crops. The guaranteeing of prices
was, therefore, not merely a
general support of the agricultural
industries, but it was alson means
of encouraging the development
of certain types of agriculture.
There are, of course, three prime
considerations- which must enter
into the compounding, of British
agricultural policy. The first
essential is national defence. That
consideration will force Britain to
maintain at least in skeleton form
certain basic industries such as
cereal and sugar beet production,
notwithstanding that Britain
ought to be able to buy overseas
wheat and sugar more cheaply than
she can produce them from her
own farms. With the experiences
of two wars still in vivid memory,
Britain cannot be expected to
allow these industries to fall below
the level from which in times of
emergency she can organise a
rapid expansion. The other con
siderations for British statesmen
are the prospective dificulty of
paying for imports of foodstuffs
on a scale corresponding to pre
war imports, and, lastly, the point
emphasised by Professor Cop
land, the need to promote public
health.
As to the Individual items men
tioned by Mr Williams, there can
be no valid Australian complaint.
It is only surprising that fresh
vegetables other than potatoes
and the soft fruits which England
can grow to perfection did not
receive a specific mention. And
in the references to dairy products
the Australian dairying industry
would have been pleased to hear a
stronger emphasis placed on whole
milk. There .is no doubt that
British nutrition would be im
proved by a more liberal consump
tion by children of fresh milk,
leaving the coast clear for heavier
importations of butter and cheese.
Some indication of what can be
done was afforded by a message
cabled from London last week
which recorded a United Kingdom
wartime increase of 300,000 in the
number of milking cows, of 400,000
other cattle, of 300,000 -tons
of fruit and 1,000,000 tons of
vegetables. Poultry declined by
19,000,000, probably owing to the
difficulty of feeding them.
What the United Kingdom does
in the way of food production will
be dictated largely by necessity
and Is within her own legitimate
discretion. Australians have no
alternative but to look at the ques
tion from the British point of
view, remembering always that it
has been the British, not ourselves,
who have been under threat of
starvation twice in a .compara
tively short lifetime. What Aus
tralians are entitled to ask are
clear definitions of the future aims
of British policy and we may rea
sonably hope that the strongest
emphasis will be placed on the
production of such commodities as
cannot be easily transported fresh
over long distances or stored for
considerable periods without
deterioration. Until these aims:
are revealed (for adjustable prices
must be intended to achieve some1
goal, or goals, of relative produe
tion) it will be impossible for Aus
tralia to give whatever twists may:
be required to Australian agricul
tural policy. The British market
had come close to saturation point
for almost every article of food
stuffs that we exported in the
years immediately preceding the
war, and, even allowing for some
Increase in British consumption,
it is immensely important for
Australia to know whether it is
now the aim of British policy to
add, say, 50 per cent to the Bri
tish production of meat or butter,
sugar or eggs.
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