FARMERS' UNION.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 517, 26 May 1909, Page 10

FARMERS' UNION.

.WELLINGTON ''PROVlNClALconference. ;,,/,.. agrarian aims clearly stated.' The annual conference of the Wellington Provincial District of the Farmers' Union opened at Eketahuna yestordny.. The president (Mr. J. G. Wilson) occupied the chair, and the,following were present:— Provincial Council—Messrs. J.:G. Wilson(Bulls), president; JVC. Cooper (Tano), vicepresident; A; H. Russell (Palmerston North), treasurer; Messrs. W. J. .Birch (Marten), Ewnn .Campbell (Wanganui), J. H. Es'cott (Woodville), Captain Hewitt : (Palmerston North); T. Moss (Eketahuna), D. M'Gregor, junri (Masterton), and H. A. Niyens (Tenui), as members of executivo committee; and! Mr., W. Hunter (Palmerston North)/.secretary. .Delegates—Messrs A. Howie (Waverley), E. Campbell and A. Robinson (Wanganui),,A. M'Gregor (Hunterville), o.'M'lntyro (Rangiwahia), W. Mills (Cheltenham), W. Morton (Kimbolton), H. J. Booth and A. R. Mayo (Feilding), A.' C. Perry (Rongotea), J. H. Perrett (SandoD), John Morrison (Halcombe); D. Howie (Pohangina and: Komako), J. Balsillie and F.Maule (Palmerston North), F. W. Venn (Shannon), T.' W. Brown (Waikanao), G. vßurdan (Wainui-o-mata), R. D. M'Kenzie (Masterton), H. A. Nevins (Te-, nui), Cecil Kebbell (Alfredton), ;.H. W. Bridge (Eketahuna), W. J. Moore (Makuri), H. E. James (Woodville),- A. M'Leavey (Makomako), A. Dickin (Pongarba), W. L. Falconer (Kaituna), J. M'Leavey and J. Devonshire'(Levin), N. Douglas (Gladstone), ■ eka), 0. P. Lynch-(Paraparaumu), J. W. Jones (Pahautanui), W. Hume (Pirinoa), and R.vDag'g (Ihurana Valley). '/-'. ; ;; V PRESIDENT'S, ADDRESSV ,' In-the:course"pf;his address, 'the president. : V^'VnV; ,B -'V'*:V'V ~-'" ! . ■'.■.''.-.'■ , '''f<''onqo : n\o're"i •tives in the Wellington, Province to another con-: fer'ence,' and,-when 1 ' look, around and; note tho 1 men:: chosen.Jh'yV; the::, branohes,;avhbm I. know to-be representative :men, it;augnrs,_well for. our-future''that 'such men. are'still found m" :tho':forefront;of/our,,.'moTeme'nt.. -Necessarily our ,power:-lics>in':expressing.;the views ofjthe i aimers'ioh- social "and.'.- political ■• sub]ects. The force "behind'i'usj.!'and- the "diss-of:-'men who, : spe"ak'on'behalf: of: the farmers, make a: great, difference: in'the way-these views impress the public, and,', while we have representative men at our conferences, our power will grow, and the discussions which take place uind_ the resolutions which ■■■ are passed .wjll -go forth, as the- views -of the great -majority of farmers and land ownersi'of-the Dominion.: They form, the only means We have of creating public opinion in our- favour. *' Farmers as a body, seldom express their opinions, though news-; papers frequently .tell them what they ought to think, and so,, unless there is some means, taken such as our union takes of stating far-, mers' -views,', the class is often ignored:. The politician who said: .'farmers are a fine class,but because they do net act in concert, they aw. no use'" to us, was- quite right in a sense. Their life in the country makes it 'difficult to meet in any number unless some large question •agitates- the mind of -all,-.'.and', they-, are too "aptto*' wake up ; after,' the event. The. union,; therefore;-' serves a\ great need, but here again- , farmers,' although: aware, of the..benefits do-, rived from it, are often too-'aoathetio to, give it the support'that these, benefits warrant, and it is loft: to. the. few to. carry :on the, publio work;:-;;,-• V : V; ; V ' -.-- V. v '' ■'•'■'•.'■■".'.•., Combating.. City Workers' Socialism. - •;.,'■-■ '^'Public -opinion-,is, howevorVeasilf created in towns, and,'.where the people dp not come in contact with country folk,-as in Welling- • theorists.and the 1 'cure-alls' .easily, 'capture.'ah*'audience/: and from that to the oapture:'of:the.working-man is,an.easy step.j It. is. obsor.vable,all-over the .'world that, the working 'man, is becoming, more of. a Socialist than formerly.' How, then-are we,: to counteract -this 'influence, : which, is, always at:.workV save by discussions'.from the other point of view,-ahd.which the newspapers,of the_day may publish'?-A great number.' of .men in..towns are opposed ,to anything we may ; say because we- do or say it. '.But there are also a', great ■ number'.of sensible people, who, if another view 'is''placed before. them ; in language, and which; appeals to their sense .of justice, '.will-be'prepared to help us.:-, '-,■-■.-'■ The Land Tenure; Battle..-,-;; -V -,'■ "Let'-us taken the freehold question a?' an'example.' The union'made the'granting' of freehold to Crown tenants' a real live political question;; and there was a majority of the House prepared to carry it."■' When the late Mr. Seddon found this to be the case, wishing tho'.- matter deferred, he appointed, a commission::' as:.'a. means' of getting■ .his olambrous followers out of a difficult position. This commission,: composed : mostly of opponents of the'freehold, and others with pliant minds who are easily convinced and'have since been'rewarded,' kept up the farce for'a while, and : cost the'country a'lot. of money. : This 'sufficed for that. Parliament., The next came in still -with,an apparent majority in favour of the freehold, but they were and secured a convenient though useless .provision to grant the right . of conversion to Crown : tenants. That sufficed for another Parliament Meanwhile .we kept pegging away at the point, and, at, last election, .we ;believe ■: that there- , was a majority, in favour, of it again. It re-' maihsyct to be seen .how these supporters of dur-great - plank ;'.treat the, question when it comes up;: ast'ebrae up it will." If "vie do not get our'way this Parliament, we. must still go, on r educating the < public' into 'our: way of thinking,-and" we may yet get it,at the next. -Parliament;-' but, what V I ..want to .'impress on yon all is that itis only by persistent and continuous effort: that we shall gain this-.great victory. V Like: : Great -Britain,. we' require . to build our -Dreadnoughts.now. for future' use., The Prosperous Bush Districts.: Eketahuna to be the sitting.pltice of the conference, and.it is acornfpr.t to think that.the people,in. this:and, the surrounding districts 0 are in a prbperous condition. . Commercial men tell me'-that Taranaki is the most prosperous district, in New, Zealand jnst 'now,-.-"owing- to. the -high"pricesiof.dairy produce. .But the Bush Districts must be Almost equally so, judging by the various paragraphs of the amount-of money paid but .each. month by such factories as the Ballanco: and others. I suppose,' therefore,' that the- dairy, folk have not been: affected ■by,;: the; strinsency in the money market Jwhich has been felt all over the Dominioni'.but more,-especially, . I: think,'.in ihe Wellington province; This has been caused oythe -''over-importation by merchants in anticipation of their requirements l , of the - North Island, arid;:bahkers--h'ave had to '.find money to meet engagements'.,:...-.; .';.-.'. V.'- -~ Woorand Money. '}.' ■".'."■'.:-' ■'■'Y..'.'-'* "But it,is somewhat aggravated by. the fact that -the average,' price of wool in/the South Island -must .be several, pence: higher: than .that of theVNbrtlv Island,": as the half-bred and: merino wooli iwhiclr has been at a higher level, is- grown . to 'a.-much larger extent in the south. Wool has, I am glair to say, somewhat recovered, and although' there is Btill no ple- ■ thora of/money, yet it as not so impossible.to procure as. it was-a few months ago. * Strange to say,- the amount: procurable on - mortgages is- muoh .curtailed;; and the rates on gilt-edged, securities: have "increased considerably. : The Advances '■'. to ,'iSettlers"'''.' Office has • lent about, .£1.000,000,■': and the money this replaced has either gone out of the' Dominion or into other channels of investment,' so that. recently : it was found that those who had to:renew their loans "had to pay a high rate. ' The banks havinz had more, money than they could safely invest in,trade securities had financed a great many land transactions, and these falling on tho market at the some time accentuated the, demand. The companies which usually lend money restricted the-business- in some cases, and in others altogether refused business. So that for a time there wns an unsatisfied demand for money on - legitimate mortgage. Speculation in. Land. ', : "The land transactions which had - been tokin?. place by' the exchange of paper naturally fell off.- But these speculative dealings only interfere with bona-fido transactions: It cannot he said that land has fallen to any extent, but tho fictitious ■ .values which enabled valuation of land for taxation purposes- to be raised have ceased to be quoted. An ;soon as' the over-im-portation of goods has been absorbed'and wo return to the normal quantities:we can afford the finances will right themselves, but ■ meanwhile we have the winter to get through, and I am afraid it will be one of 'discontent,' We 'are'none tho .worse of a check, however, for

there was altogether too much speculation going on—which is quite another, thing to legitimate enterprise. ■ ..;..: . Choese or Butter?' '•■' <'. '■■'• "There is however some unrest among dairy people as to the rival benefits of cheese as against butter, anil there is likely to bo an increase in cheese factories during the winter to be ready for next season. There certainly does seenrto be less likelihood of' Competition increasing in cheese than in butter, and although whey is not so valnable as skim milk, there is less work connected with it. Even taking this into account, the- price paid out for milk has been' higher in the case of cheese than butter. "But there seems very little advance made, however, in n much more important matter. This is the proper culling of. cows .by the weighing and testing of the. milk. In a few isolated instances this is being done, and everyono who has adopted this method has shown that the returns may he much increased. At Levin Experiment Farm, from published figures, it has been proved to be possible even in three years to largely increase tho averago yield. Even with all this before them and with the certainty of increasing the output of milk by a very large quantity we are very little furthor forward than wo were/There are about 550,000 dairy cows in New Zealand. If we allow 100,000 for domestic use and take 400,000 cows supplying dairy factories, then for every, extra ,Ib. of butter-fat yielded you realise an additional <£16,G66 om the 400,000 cows. With systematic culling and proper feeding the averago in a few years could be increased by 1001b. per cow, and that would mean, even if you were to discount the figures I have given, considerably oi;er a million sterling per annum, so that it is, as I say, a much more important matter to the Dominion that our dairy farmers should use these improved methods than whether cheese or butter should be manufactured. ' . / Rural Education. "In the Wanganui education district many of the scholars have been taught how to test milk, and some of the ohildren have insisted upon their fathers getting their testing machines. By this means, perhaps, we may get an upward movement.. When the small expenditure of time, labour, and expense is considered one wonders why it is not adopted by all. Nature'study and school gardens, which the union popularised, have made immense strides, and children now vie with each other as to who will get the garden prize. Some of ..the A.' and P. Associations are giving prizes for the best of school gardens, and the competition excites wide interest. jThe agricultural classes,.however, have not filled as well as we hoped when they have bcon tried in connection with technical classes, which is disappointing. '■■'... '.."The Chief Inspector of Schools in the Wαngahui district thinks these technical classes should be made compulsory in the same waj as attendance;,at the primary schools, but the public does not view this with favour. It is, however, to be regretted ,that our ypung men in the country do not show greater enthusiasm. Other classes such as dressmaking, woodwork, art classes, etc.; fill readily, but agriculture fails to draw.: When the great competition we hare to enter into in the markets of the world .is considered and. the great necessity there is for, .at any rate, a smattering of scientific knowledge necessary for intelligent fanning, this is the more to be deplored. Here again we can , only hope that the present system of nature study taught in the schools will awaken such nn interest in the pupils that they will wish when they leave school to continue their search after knowledge in agricultural matters. . Parliamentary Questions. .'.-'•■. "Since last conference there has been nn election for the House of Representatives, and it is well to note that.a greater number of members who agree to our platform have been elected on both sides of the.House, arid it will be the duty of the executive to closely watch the legislation and report how tho members who have subscribed to our views carry out their pledge. . . . ' . •. • "Compulsory' military training was the subject of much discussion at our" last Dominion conference, and a resolution was passed asking Parliament to make some provision for the training of our youth after they leave school. There has been no greater argument in favour of the necessity of this .than occurred at a meeting held in Wellington tho other, night to promulgate these views. , Tho leaders among those,who are opposed to this movoment had so little control over their followers that they .could not restrain them from trying to defeat the object of the meeting by undisciplined noise.. It is understood that tho Prime Minister,purposes to bring, forward somo proposal this coming : session on the. subject. Departmental .Changes. •. ; ;.-.■ . "In the change of-'Ministerial portfolios the Prime Minister assumed l that of Lands and Agriculture, -but since then Mr. T. Mackenzie has been appointed Minister for Agricultural The whole of the Department has been reorganised, • Mγ. Eitohie accepting another position, and other changes haying taken placo. Unfortunately for the Dominion, Mr. Gilruth has resigned his position as Chief Veterinarian, an"d accepted a 'chair* at tho University of Melbourne in Veterinary Science, where I am sure, we "all wish him complete snccess. ; His work-as the organiser of the Veterinary, ; Department and his teachings of nnimal health will always remain in the minds of those who appreciated his distinct personality, Mr. Reakcs is now in the position directly under the control of tho Minister. As the ..whole reorganisation has taken ,pjace : so recently, ,it is too early to know how the changes are going to affect the work. But farmers, I am sure, will join with mo in continuin? the cordial relations which have always .existed between tho union and the Minister for, Agriculture and his Department, and in the'hope that, however good the work'.was in the past, it will be better in the future." -' . .'■• .