MR LAURENSON AND THE FARMERS' UNION.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 11151, 18 December 1901, Page 5

MR LAURENSON AND THE FARMERS' UNION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRESS. Sir. —Mr Laurenson is evidently anxious for someone to .tread on tfhe tail of his coat, and is endeavouring-to obtain cheap .notoriety by his gross misrepresentatione of the •objects and. aims of the Farmers' Union; and of legislation and matters*'affecting the interests of farmers generally. I cannot 'Umdlerstand Mr Laurenson's newly-Be-gotten* enthusiasm in the'support of *he Government, of which Mr Seddon is the hsad. - It is w>t so long since the made & special" journey to Woblstan to deliver a speech' in opposition to Mr Laurenson's candidature for the Lytteltoa electorate, and at that time Mr Laurenson/s estimate, of Seddonian Liberalism was notvery high. It is not until he appears before an Ashburtonf audience tkat he comes out in defender of the ■ Government. Why, Sir,, in his -jfitfdtess to his constituents, 1d& (Mγ Laureneon) exhausted all his powers of invective and innuendo ,'m denouncing the Government policy. He, in, as- clear a manner as possible, branded the Government as.weak and corrupt, and'as the champion of political party,. !he - was going *o leave, no stone unturned until some of its corrupt- legislation had Ibeen repealed. He also strongly opposed/the Jand policy' of- the present Government, aand showed , how it d 3 dealing with the public estate in manner which, in his opinion,- was a departure from tie policy of the late Mr Ballanbe, and _ opposed to the best interests of the people. Did "{Mr,.- Laurenson - then mean what \t& said/or was his'speech' mere empty vapouring, his glib tongue ruining before'-'itfs thoughts? lam afraid this is a weakness of"his, which, is* borne out -by the-speech , delivered egaiast the Farmers' : Union at Ashburton.' ' With you-r." permission; Sir, I will briefly notice a few points of that ad-diress: —

(1) His first charge is that -the Union ie. sailing. irad'er false„ colours, Tand while professing to be a ©on-jwlitioal union, is an active political organisation. ' I would , ask, ( when or* where dud the .Fanners' j Union, profess to be non-political? - . Why, \ Sir/, you. have /rightly pointed but tlAttJ the. agriculturists' interests are inseparably ; bound up with the politics of their country, and no section of the community should , " take a more active interest in the political ! questions of' file day than the' farmer. What the Farmers' Union keeps out of its platform as-party politics- its*! memlbers to .support measures, not men, and to support no man whose only trecomxnencUctJon is that he will support a political head. Has not Mr Laurenson etfoiig-" ly opposed party in politics, and supported the Elective Executive -Billy-with a view - to -remedying existing state of things? If Mr Laurenson is consistent j he should in thie connection work /with thte Farmers' Union. It- is worthy of note that while .the premier Jias changed his tone in speaking of the Farmers' Union, i and now refers approvingly to the work it is doing, yet tfaie objects of "the Union, as set forth in its platform, have not changed, and have been adopted by every provincial conference held, , ami will no doubt be confirmed by the Conference, to be held in Wellington next year. (2) His statement that there are twentyBix farmers and ' squatters representing farmers in the House, is one of those statements which h<B indulges in making, and which no person desirous of expressing facts would make. I am surprised, however, when he gives a list of Acts, which., he cays, have been passed by,the present Gov r eminent, for the benefit of the farmer, which shows he either wished to mislead his Ashburton audience, or was not himself acquainted with facts. Take, for example, the Stock Act. I suppose ever, since Mr Laurenson illuminated this mundane sphere by the light of his presence, we have had a Stock Act on the Statute Book, which has been amended from time to time as circumstances demanded. . What the present Government has done was to pass a Consolidating ami Amending Bill, and no special merit. attaches to it for this. Mr Laurenson overlooks the fact that the Stock Act is a special taxing measure, and through it about £20,000 per annum are collected as sheep tax. Many of the Acts Mr Laurenson refers to as passed by the present Goyern-" ment as beneficial to farmers show that he has but a very superficial acquaintance with them. They have been passed without any special referenca to the farmer, and he only benefits, or otherwise, as a section of the community. Space will not.permit going into these matters in this letter, but I cannot pass over his eulogy of the Government for the concession and reduction made I in railway freights, as Mr Laurenson puts lit, for the benefit of the farmer- INow, while the Union recognises that tbe management of the railways, by ..the Government iat on the whole highly credita-ble, and shows', a desire to foster and extend the business of carrying, yet most of the concessions made have btm forced upon the Government. Before ths reductions were made, traction engines and waggon teams were competing successfully with tie railway, and en the Fairlie and other lines you would see the trains nearly empty, and the pro-

duce of the country going by read, with a railway' running , alongside. It was competition that was a patent factor in obtaining concessions in railway rates. .Before the reduction in the charges for carrying I stock, if paid better to take the road, and the railway lost profitable business. lne i increase •in the number of, stock earned i shows that it was in the -interests of the 1 railway revenue that these concessions were made, "and not for the special benefit of the farmer.- 'I would ask Mr Laurenson how it is that when the farmer cannot help himself the -rates are kept up {as in Ins own electorate). . The bulk of the farm produce of Canterbury must pass over the Gh'rist-cliureh-Lyttelton line. Yet Ido not think Air Laurenson will contend that the rates on that line have been reduced for the benefit of the farmer to the lowest payable point. lam afraid, sir, Mr Laurenson. must i>a troubled with an abnormally developed iittaginative'faculty, and can see, an analogy in everything he* desires to. I am convinced that he could (if he so desired) have pointed out the wide divergence of the platform ' and object of the Tanners , Union froiii tbe long-since-defunct National Assofciation." His attempt to show an analogy is. a piece of the most puerile sophistry I have read for a long time, and shows what a .person suffering from swelled head may 1 come to.' I suppose Mr Laurenson .will admit that Mr, Field, the member for Otalrij is as true a.Liberal and as strong a supporter of the present Government as h-e is, and also as capable of forming an opinion of .the objects and value of ■ the .Farmers'. Union. Mr Field, in lias place in the House on October 2nd, said:—"The Farmers! Union had new apparently become a institution on non-party lines,'and as such its deliberations- onds doings were likely to be for the good of the country.. One of the first functions of the Union" seeme,d : to him' to be to criticise measures- dealing with fanning mutters. 1 Not only was the exercise of that function a vast.benefit to fanners; but it was also an enormous assistance, to members who represented farming because many of thsse' members could not be expected to \iriderstand all the intricacies of farming interests. He (Mr Field) confessed to,being such, a member,, and he looked forward tvit.li gratification to , the assistance which theUnicn was likely "to rencter him. ,. If ,Mr La'urciison, .were less .egotistic I should advise' him to learn' of Mr. "Field, but at , present such advice would be lost. etc., - k .' .. . . , W. S. MASLIN. .Geraldine, December. 16th, 1901. TO* THE EDITOR 09 THE SSESS. Sir, —Mr Lanrenson, the hon. memJoer for Lyttelton, began his political, career with something of the roar of the lion, but now, alas! it is likely to be;carried'on. and to the endy with the 'bray of an ass. . Whfctt 1 'stoiib, brave,; .strong words, ho oame. out with in his first political-speech. He was going into-Parliament, as an .independent LtberaJ, a lefju-winger of a .veryjjronounced type.-. .He promised well. Surely, said many of us, now we 'have an honest, sturdy politician, a man of grit and go, who, will "show the •country what a man" of independence of thought and action can do. ; Surely,'now, thought many, twe fiave i.come-to judgment.. So that" the 'tyhole' si>~ivn of Satan among Cons£rvatiros--and -Liberals may-look out. -But, , <alas ; f how • soon tbe br&ve gladiator degenerates'into a'meek, and gentle lamb under the'powerful spell , " of the'influence of the great .Mogul of .Parliament. Mr becomes he fairly melts like Wvax—-be-fore/tJbje eun god, King Rich'axd. To speak -plainly,- he soon deserts the Icft-wingerai and becomes the weak, and pliant tool of the autocrat of the colony.; . Let anyone tafcej the trouble to, read his spasc'aes, and tfouutliis votes in the House, and they ..will see full' proof of the above statement. His recent attitude towards th?a Farmers* Union, and hds speech at Ashiburton,, shows him to be , a man endowed with precious , little .common sens©. He has shown himself to be a meddlesome busybody with other men's -matters. - Hβ knows just' next to nothing" about tbe Farmers' Union, but hte is a "vain man, most ignorant of. what hris most assured, and therefore cuts such fantastic tricks before high heaven. ,. How true it is, "fools rush in where angels' fear to tread." ' "Mjc L. would do well to ponder' , -the following words of Burns: —

"Reader, attend-—whether thy soul Soars "fancy's flights beyond the pole, . Or darkling gruba this earthly hole, In'low pursuit; Know, prirctent, cautious, self-control . Is wisdom's root." I -wbnxier. if 'Mr Laurenson imagines for a moment that,he is- going to'deter tbe sturdy, "honest farmers from united action in • looking after their own interests foy stigmatising them as Conservatives. He might as well try to turn back the "Pacific Ocean with a pitchfork, as try ito stop the .mighty current of feeling that has taken possession of tbe breasts of these stalwart sons of the-soil. This young and somewhat verdant politician, will never rise

above the level of a third or fourth-rate Parliamentarian. He lias not at all shown that he has studied or mastered the finunees of the colony, and he is utterly ignorant of .the whole soienoe of government. Ido not suppose that he Mis studied for one hour (like many more membeis of the House) the rudiments of political economy, or ihe 1 economics of wages and industry. The latent actions of this hon. member have been more like the actions of a hasty, ra&'h, and foolisli! man, than a level-headed man of common sense, and his latest speech at Ashburton. was more like the bray of an a-ss tban the speech of a cautious, prudent man. This man has become a weak and pliant tool in the hands of the Premier. Ha hbs s'howri that lie is' a.'mere jellyfish in politics, completely destitute of backbone. It would be a fine tiling if Mr L. would put a •bit" of "conscience into his political business, and refrain from ping his hand into the public chest, and robbing the country of £40 last year and £60 this year. It is to be hoped that at the next election all these' barefaced public robbers will be relegated into tuat obscurity they so richly deserve.

"What stronger breastplate' than a heart untainted? Thirice is he armed that iath .his quarrel just. And he (but naked 1 , though looked up in steel, Whose conscience witty injustice is cosrupted. I would ask .the hon. member why.he hae remained like a< dumb dog on a question upon -which. he sbomld have .spoken . out in strong protest. I refer to the taxation imposed on depositors in the Post Office Savings Bank, 'by eucM. c low rate of interest on deposits. Our .paternal and i socalled Liberal Government makes a< boost of the large (profits eyery year mode * out of the Post Office Savings Bank, while all this profit is the of the thrifty and comparatively poor portion of the population. Whoever Mr O. Witty, of Templeton, may be, he has not had his wits dallied by country life. \ His |pi«oe of ready wit is worth repeating., The next *iine Mr visits a Fawners* Union meeting liejbad 'better take a glance into <%£&g-gW/'4nd ihe will diacoveir the National Ass.—Yours truly,'■* •; . LIBERTK