Edition Bobbett1. Texts by Elizabeth F. Bobbett: 1.1.3. Correspondence, Letters to newspapers

1939 Elizabeth Bobbett: Letter to the Irish Independent, 24.08.1939

Plight of the Farmers

Elizabeth F. Bobbett, general secretary, Irish Farmers’ Federation, in the course of a letter writes: Most Rev. Dr. Browne, Bishop of Galway, when he formally opened Muintir na Tíre Rural Week at the University College, Galway, urged the farmers to organise, and adopt newer and better methods of production.

In 1931 there was a world slump in agriculture and the countries which to-day are pointed out to us by everybody as a headline to follow are Denmark and New Zealand. In Denmark, Government assistance bringing in laws providing for moratoriums, the reduction of interest rates on mortgages, alleviation of property – taxes etc., and excise duties on butter and margarine were provided by the Danish Government, to help agriculture, and in that country in January, 1933, a further devaluation of the Krone assisted in easing the burdens of the farmer to some extent. The tendency generally there was to relieve the countryman of some of the expense borne by him and to transfer it to the townsman. The cost to the latter may be high, but if the farmer again attains stability and a spending power it cannot fail to confer benefits on all classes of the community. It may be a highly desirable consummation.

Example of New Zealand

Quite recently Mr. Walter Nash, Minister for Finance for New Zealand, visited Dublin and had interviews with our Ministers of State, and it was reported in our daily Press that New Zealand had taken control of the credit of the country, and had greatly improved the position of the agricultural industry there. It appears that our Government of Eire has no control over the currency in Eire or, if it has, refuses to use the currency to the advantage of the farmers.

Following the five years’ economic war came a disastrous harvest in 1938, and the outlook for the 1939 harvest is not hopeful. The farmers bore the whole burden of the economic war, leaving them without capital, stock or credit, and many of them steeped in debt to banks and accumulated arrears of rates and annuities which they are unable to pay. In these circumstances, how can we produce more? While our agricultural prices were reduced to one-third during the economic war, the rates on agricultural land soared in some cases up to three hundred per cent. and our cost of production was doubled. The Irish farmer is willing to produce anything on his farm that will show him a moderate profit, but in the present state we cannot produce at a profit.