FARMERS UNION CONFERENCE

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 162, 9 July 1903, Page 3

FARMERS UNION CONFERENCE

CROWN TENANTS AND FREEHOLD TENURE.

(By Ttteeraph.— Preae Association )

WELLINGTON, Wednesday.

The proceedings at the .Fanners' Union Conference this morning were in committee, _ This afternoon resolutions were carried as follows:—That all lime for agricultural purposes, including ground lime, should be carried free on railways, irrespective of distance; that the attention of the Government be drawn to the danger at railway level crossings caused by plantations and live fences preventing persons seeing approaching trains; that the Land Act, 1892, be" administered in its entirety, giving the option of three tenures; that the co-operative labour system should be replaced by letting small contracts wherever possible.

•A long discussion took place on the Wellington remit that the right of obtaining the freehold be extended to Crown tenants, provided the conditions of lease have been fulfilled, and that'the price be the capital value of the rental upon aS per cent, calculation.

Mr Phillips said the statement made in the House of Representatives the previous evening, that the agitation for the freehold arose among the large landowners, was absolutely false.

Mr Tansey said he was a believer in the freehold, but he also believed in small holdings. The bulk of the country's prosperity was due to the land settlement policy of the last few years. (Voices: "No, no," and'uproar.) The opinions of delegates on this question W.ere not in sympathy with the great mass of the working farmers throughout the colony. If the delegates were not Tories of the deepest dye—(laughter)— they would not obstruct a policy which gave everyone a chance of going ahead. Mr Reese said he hoped the union would make clear its belief that it would be unfair to allow a man to purchase upon the valuation set upon the land, when he originally leased it. There must be revaluation.

Mr Richards thought if leaseholders were given the freehold the land should be ear-marked as having been Crown land, and should never be transferred to a man holding more than - was allowed by the Act. Eventually on the president's suggestion a resolution was passed that clause 3 of the platform clearly defines the views of the union on the question. It was decided that the attention of the Minister for Lands be drawn to the very unsatisfactory way in which the ballot system of disposing of land results, especially when sections have been grouped. A deputation from the Wellington Employers' Association waited on the conference, and stated that they would willingly co-operate in resisting compulsory preference of employment being given to unionists. ,