rLegislativeAAssembly

We certainly hear a lot of talk about the plight of the farmers. We realize in a great many cases farmers are hard hit; we also. on the other hand. have a great number of prosperous farmers, and I have great faith in agriculture. It would be an utter impossibility to survive on a small, family farm today, as we knew it a few years ago.

I am looking forward to the day when farm people will organize in sufficient numbers provincially and nationally. I see it as a must today, when you stop to realize that practically all of the segments are organized there is a great interest shown in this respect. Two of them I will mention with regard to marketing of potatoes, New Brunswick and Ontario. Their plight is similar to our own and they are certainly considering seriously what manner or means they can take to try and have these bad years phased out. Just how it is all going to be accomplished may be through national organization. We will have problems with control of production be- cause we can’t overlook the fact that our commodity is still ruled by the rule of the supply and demand. We, being in such close proximity to the U.S., and they have such a terrific amount of potatoes down there—Aroostock County itself pro- duces as many potatoes as all of Canada, and we have production all across Canada. We were in a preferred position here at one time. our seed was highly looked upon, it is still highly looked upon. Someone was making reference the other day to our exports of seed. I made an endeavour to explain the other night what happened in our export trade to the States, but the farmers were in a depress-ed condition, money was loaned to them by the American government to purchase seed and they were instructed, you buy your seed in the U.S. This will better itself, this will be im- proved because as in all likelihood as in previous years their seed does not stand up, and their crop production from this year’s plantings will have a terrific bearing on what happens next year.

Now, Mr. Attorney-General —— I am sorry Mr. Previous Attorney-General — I was quite displeased and surprised to hear you endeavouring to misconstrue the remarks of our Premier yesterday on this assistance to farmers, saying it was a measure to put them in bankruptcy. This is not a true statement. Sir, and I don’t think you should be making it. As far as I am concerned the farmers in Prince Edward Island are a group of individuals that have enjoyed a measure of indepen- dence down through the years. Now possibly this is getting a little more hard to deal with, hard to hold. Fathers, sons, politicians and everybody else have a man- ner and they do try to talk down agriculture and farming all the time. There is not very many in this House, if I asked them to stand up — there is some I know -—- would endeavour to have their son an agriculturist. Not very many. I know there are people over on that side of the House, and there are people on this side of the House that this remark that I am making does not apply to. And furthermore if you talk a thing long enough and get people weeping and wailing for nothing it seems to me that this puts me in mind of a poor lady getting off the street car in Boston. She tripped took the heel off her shoes and maybe she scratched her shin a little, but somebody said to her oh you better get a lawyer and go and look after yourself, defend this case, and sue that company. So of course the lawyer, with all due respect to the lawyers, (Laughter) he defended the poor lady, she had been a good worker so she got a lawyer and went to Court. She was quite happy and she said I fixed the heel on my shoe, we will not worry too much about it, but I was lucky I didn’t break my leg. So anyway they get the poor lady in Court, Supreme Court. And he said this poor, miserable, little woman that raised those six kids and goes around this country scrubbing out floors, and all this on her hands and knees. She said, “I Knew I was poor but I didn’t know I was that poor.”

(Laughter)

And this is what you are trying to do with farming, as far as I am concerned.

Now, Mr. Speaker, I guess I will go on with my Department report. With reference to our dairy industry, Mr. Speaker, which is a very important economy of this province, I may say that total milk production for the year 1967 was estimated to reach 218,000,000 pounds, a decrease of approximately 7,000 lbs. or 3% from 1966. Twenty-two dairy manufacturing plants in the Province are supplied with mllk and cream from 4,200 dairy farmers. A decrease is noted in the dairy population. In 1946 — this is going back quite a ways — there were 45,800 dairy cows in the

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