CONFERENCE OF FARMERS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIX, Issue 126, 28 May 1918, Page 2

CONFERENCE OF FARMERS.

OPENED IN TOWN HALL. BUSINESS DONE LAST EVENING. Th<- annual conference of members ot t «i FarmerS ' Lnion in Auckland and its affiliated branches wad opened early last evening in the Town Ha.ll. There wae a large attendance. THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECH. The president of the union, Mr. A. A. Ross, who had returned from abroad just the afternoon before, addressed the meeting. He said he had been absent six months, and had been out of touch with the affairs of the union. Therefore he could not report progress. However, he had learned that the Bub-pro-vincial scheme had been moving onward steadily, and now covered a large area of the North.

He impressed the desirability o f using every endeavour to enrol farmers in sufficient numbers to enable them to nave a decisive influence in the councils of the Dominion. The BUb-provineiaJ scheme provides a means of doing this, but it seemed to him from information he had gathered, that the financial aspect of the question will have to be carefully watched if the Central Executive is to be kept in a strong enough position to perform its functions. He congratulated the farmers and the Dominion upon being able to obtain sufficient shipping to carry on through the season just i-loeed. The shipping position throughout the world was a very grave one, but owing to the amount of shipbuilding that is going on, he would not be surprised to find that the position had improved considerably before next season is in full «wiug. The question of closer linking up ot co-operative companies had been the subject of several conferences. A strong protest against the return of any of the German colonies to Ciermany after the war had been supported by the Executive.

It wae somewhat disappointing to find that nothing seemed to have been done towards making a trial of the scheme approved by the 'Executive for systematic soldier settlements. It \va? placed before Mr. Masscy during the last Dominion Conference, but appeared to have been lost eight of. This was one of the most important matters before the Conference, as the proper settlement ol our unused land was going to be a vital matter in the. near future.

The food situation in the whole of the Northern Hemisphere was very serious. But the very large increase in wheat lands in Europe would decrease its meatproducing capacity, and for many years there would be a greater demand'than ever for meat and its by-products, hides, fats, and wool, and also dairy produce. That was where New Zealand would come in, and it was the duty of the farmers, in their own interests and in the interests of the Empire and civilisation, to maintain and improve the productivity of their lands, and to see that live stock was kept up to as high a level as possible. The meeting then went on to consideration of the remits, of which there were 105. Addresses on any of tho question.- - ■brought up were strictly limited. CO-OPERATIVE COMPANIES. An Executive remit suggested that purely co-operative companies should be enabled to maintain the principle permanently, and to this end they should have tne right to resume thei. , own Shares as provided in the Dairy Companies Act. This was carried. ENDOWMENT LANDS. A little discussion iame before tl;c. adaption of the resolution, "That occupiers of National Endowment 1ar.,1 !ie granted the option of purchasing tl'c freehold, and all be thrown open on those terms as required, provided that the proceeds from the sale of these lands he reinvested for the object* for which they, had been endowed.'' AFFORESTATION. A remit urging the Government to' take up an active polity of afforestation was moved by Major I.usk, and carried :, another requesting Government to pro-t ceed with its scheme for harnessing Dominion water-power was al=o carried, and before the meeting adjourned till two o'clock this afternoon there wa« an extended discussion of the Parliamentary system.