APPENDIX VIII.

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REPORT BY THE NALKAIN BRANCH OF THE FARMERS AND SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION,TO BE PLACED BEFORE THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON AGRICULTURE.

Farming in this district for the small man, and with rare exceptions the man in a bigger way, has shown for the last five years a dead loss. In the glowing pamphlets issued by the Western Australian Government at Home to intending settlers, they say droughts are unknown in Western Australia; we in the last five years have experienced two complete failures and one poor season, and the present one is nothing to boast about. Owing to the droughts, high freights until last year, long distance from railway, high cost of living, and high prices for everything a farmer uses to carry out his operations, many farmers have become so involved in debt that they have thrown up their holdings in disgust, and those that remain cannot see how they will ever pay off the accumulated and accumulating liabilities under present conditions.Farming has proved so unattractive, the life has been so hard, especially on the women, the houses settlers have been compelled to live and rear their families in are for the most part totally inadequate and unsuitable for our hot climate, and with no modern comforts or conveniences, and settlers find that after battling for five (5) to seven (7) years they are still unable to build a decent house, and as far as they can see will have to put up with their make-shift hessian humpy for years to come. When we say farming does not pay, we are satisfied that, although it does not pay the farmer, it pays the other fellow and the State extremely well. Almost any money that reaches the State Treasury, if it is traced back far enough, will be found to have originally come from the primary producer of one kind or another. The town merchants, bankers, insurance companies,etc., do not actually produce wealth, they simply handle the wealth in one form or another which has been brought into existence by the primary producer, and so much of it sticks to their hands in the process that there is little or nothing left for the producer. Unless the cost of production is lowered, not only by the farmer, but by those supplying him with what he needs to carry on his business, and by the Government practically abolishing the tariff on his tools of trade,etc., by lowering railway freights on agricultural implements, carrying super at a nominal figure or free, opening up deposits of phosphatic rock, lime, etc., which are in this country, and in every way possible fostering the industry in a just manner, and if this is not done and done quickly, the town population and the Government will wake up one day to the fact that they have slowly strangled the primary producer and that he practically ceases to exist. The drought of 1914-15 gave the towns a taste of what that would mean, and where would the State be today if it were not for the bountiful harvest of last year, and yet we see the Government handling the wheat of that harvest in such a way that there will be tons and tons of wheat lost and destroyed, and perhaps there is some excuse under the abnormal state existing owing to the war, but we cannot see that any special effort is being made to handle this coming harvest which is close upon us in a more up-to-date manner, and it is the farmer that has to pay the piper every time, although he is never or seldom allowed to call the tune. As an instance of high freights. The freight of a harvester, approximately one ton, from Perth to Nalkain, 150 miles, was £5 6s.,or nearly 8½d. per ton per mile. We were charged 5½d. per bushel on our wheat from Nalkain to Fremantle. The freight on a case of oil is 6s, and other things in proportion. Everything we use is soaring in price, and we would like to point out that it simply cannot last, and unless some drastic alterations are effected the outback farmer will have to retire from the struggle beaten. We have heard a lot of talk about mixed farming, etc., but for the most part we are not far enough advanced in our improvements to go in for mixed farming; this country will not carry stock until it is cleared, and then water has to be conserved, and our boundary fence has to be made vermin proof before we can think of keeping sheep. Pigs are in like case, as they do not pay if kept in altogether and hand-fed, and dogs will kill pigs as well as sheep if running loose. Many of us have not been able to get enough land cleared to go in for fallowing. We are quite satisfied that mixed farming and the three years' rotation are the proper methods to follow, but how to reach that desired position is what has got us down; wire netting and galvanised iron have soared to a prohibitive price, and are likely to remain so for some time. In this time of trouble we do not expect much, but we want to see the industry put on a footing where at least it will return us a living for our hard work and capital invested and not simply be an avenue for collecting and accumulating debts. The farmers, especially those outback, are hopeful that on the evidence collected this Commission will be able to point out the means that should be adopted to place the agricultural industry on a sound and prosperous basis for the good of the individual and the State. Suggestions arrived at by a Committee appointed by the Nalkain Branch of the Farmers and Settlers' Association, for the Royal Commission on Agricultural Industries:— The following are a few suggestions from our point of view that would help the farmer to make good: (1.) Bulk handling wheat. (2.) The tariff on farmers' tools of trade and all requirements used in his business free or drastically reduced. (3.) Rebate of tariff on our jutes. (4.) Reduction of freights on agricultural requirements. (5.) All wheat to be railed to Fremantle and then stowed in bulk in temporary silos and bags returned to farmer; we feel sure that this is quite possible, as the timber necessary is grown here an the Government has mills ready to cut it up. (6.) Sheep and rabbit proof netting to be supplied to the settlers on extended terms by the Government. (7.) Local request: We believe that the P.W.D. can only claim working costs on freight, the balance being paid into revenue; if such is the case we think that the settlers on the Mount Marshall extension are entitled to a substantial rebate. The freight collected on approximately 2,000 tons of wheat railed from Nalkain Siding to Wyalcatchem, 11 miles, was 4s. 6d. per ton—P.W.D. charges £450 more or less.