ON THE LAND.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 181, 30 July 1912, Page 7

ON THE LAND.

A TEAK OF PROSPERITY. SOOT' ADVICE FOR FA3____RS. fBOM THE X.Z. UNION PRESIDENT. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, this day. The eleventh annua! conference of the >"ow Zealand Farmers' Union opened at Wellington to-day. The presided, Air .1. I';. Wilson, in the course of his pn sidcntal address, said there was much in congratulate farmers and New Zealand mi during the last twelve months. All .-lasses of those who made a living upon tlie land bad prospered. How i-uiiid it be el-,-, seeing that prices had been --.»..!. though the output had not been c.pial to last year? Probably, the portion of the industry they were connected with, which affect, bene ' fcially the gnat.-si number was dairying. The dairy farmer was in his transition stage. Most of those win) had done well in the business bad taken the earliest opportunity to go out of it, either sell or lease their farms, nr had adopted lie share system of dealing with their land. If they ha. .Id or leased their farms, they were often cut up into smaller areas, necessitating houses and yards on each. The purchaser or lessee had for a time to put up with a make- ' shift yard, and as dairying was only carried out in the moist.. climates, the conditions for a lime were not very satisfactory, but were gradually changed for the better by gentle pressure from the Agricultural rt mm', and in consideration for the milker's own personal I comfort. As more and more land wasj being brought into dairying, this process] as continually going on. It was the! most wonderful instance of a successful I industry he had any knowli-dgo of. It bad been quite a common practice for a I company to start a factory, borrowing almost tbe whole capital from uhe bank, and [or the farmer to purchase land. and pay nothing down: 1 hat was. to lease the farm with a purchasing clause; to borrow money to pay for his cows, or have them purchased for him an.l pay interest, and a weekly sum to pay off the cost: and even to get assistance to nut up the house and yards, perhaps from the nearest storekeeper. Yet, with all these disadvantages, especially those of the "long price." as the Irish put it, both companies and suppliers had been r.blc not only to carry this lead, but prosper under it, but to pay of! their debts. It was small wonder that a man with such a load to carry would, if the opportunity occurred, sell out for a small profit to another man who was prepared to carry perhaps the additional load. 1- was not conducive to good farming. but it was human nature. Truly, it was a wonderful industry which enabled all this to be done. After referring to the pastoral and C-ricultural industries, Mr. Wilson went on to refer to the financial position. Discussing the warning uttered by the chairman of the Bank of New Zealand at the last annual meeting, be said: "1 do not wish it to be understood there was any financial crisis here, for there i was not, but that there was financial stringency everyone knows. Indeed, in j the more acute occasion in IPOfl, the J Government retrenched to the extent it was claimed, of -.30.0-0. Can. then, the f.'.rmers, by their enterprise, foresight iii-.l toil, again, by increasing the output, ring the exports up to the high water mark? I think then,- can. and will. One ill ing is essential for this, and that is encouragementnot the kind of encouragement which consists in adding fresh, burdens far them to bear upon their shoulders, nor that kind which demands taxation of what the townspeople are [•bused to call "unearned increment.' but of which I venture the opinion that it. is (he farmers" very hard earned 'increment.' not that which seeks to set one set of Banners against another, but rather that which will give every farmer security of tenure i.nil security for his earnings: which will say to liim 'go on with your work and prosper." If you are prosperous, the country is the gainer, and the people arc employed and prosperous."' Referring to land values. Mr. Wilson remarked that if prices fell Ibere would he a very serious time. Therefore, if they were wise they would not base prices of land upon the capitalisation of their utmost income, but leave a very ample margin so that in the event of a setback, their income would still be sufficient for their wants, though curtailed. They were yet in a transition stage, and as "new districts were taken in, and dairying became general, land then would rise'to'the dairying value according to the- income derivable from it. and as the product was in a concentrated form proximity to rail was not of so mnch consequence. "You know that T do not desire to speak of party politics." added the president, "but to mc it was must significant that Mr. Mackenzie was cho-ten as leader of the Government in February last in preference to Messrs. Millar and Lauren son—both leaseholders. He was a pronounced freeholder, and litis attended most of our conferences, has even spoken on the freehold question under our auspices, and. again, at last election, he pledged himself to it. He has been defeated in the House. and again a Farmers' Union man is in the lead, a pronounced freeholder: one who has pledged himself up to the hilt (and we know -him as a man of his word), and a majority- of the House are pledged to the freehold—nay more, four men have piven their support on this very ground. who were not previously Mr. Masse? s supporters. It is not fair to assume that our freehold campaign has been successful, although it still requires an Act of Parliament to make it completely so, but this we fully hope will be one of the first measures passed by the new Parliament."