TOWN EDITION. The Daily Telegraph SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1881.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3201, 1 October 1881, Page 2

TOWN EDITION. The Daily Telegraph SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1881.

The New Zealp.rjd Industrial Gazette is a journal that is not much seen in the Hawke's Bay districts, but it often contains some very excellent articles on pastoral and ag> isultural subjects which T?erU extended circulation. In one of )t c iwto nuaibers, air ir-.stauce, there is an .'•rt:i:!ti oti " tbf r.o-operative movement *a<l t!ie Cani.erbnry farmers." which may jierhaod, otTar a cnggestion to the cheep ra>m-.•:>. Hud b'.'.u se-Uiers of Hawke's H-ij, Ti.'<? movement at horoe anil in Anttralia has of late made ioiporranf. strides, and its success shows Low largely it nuy assist in bringing to a prosperous •i£sue t which by individual effort alone would have failed. Many students of political economy are of opinion that cooperation is destined to solve the longvexed contention between capital and labor which trades , unione only aggravated, and which has baffled "the best intellects of the ape. In New Zealand the movement is very popular, and there is at present a disposition to extend the Bcopeofite influence, so as not only to include combination for distribution, but also combination for production. The most noteworthy enterprises in this direction are the two Farmers' Co-operative Aasociations receutly started in Canterbury. The Timaru Association has now been in operation since last February, and has even thus early made a considerable change for the better in the condition of the farmers of the district. This association already numbers 400 members, and as it has the good fortune to have an active and practical secretary it is in every way probable that, before long, it will include a much larger number, and its transactions be greatly extended. In addition to the saving effected by the reduction of the cost of freight and storage, the members reap the benefit of a cheaper scale of prbee for their agricultural implements and seeds. Up to last July the Association has imported 155,000 lbs of grasp and other seeds, and one result felt by the outside public, as well as the Association members, is thrt this season the local market price has fallen fully 20 per cent. The success of the Timaru venture, it is owned, led to the inception of the New Zealand Farmers' Co-operative Association, the prospectus of which is now before us. The provisional directors include the principal farmers round Christchurcb, and the capital is to be £250,000 in 50,000 shares of £5 each, although it is purposed at first only to issue 20,000 shares, and not to call up more than £1 per share. The new association, as may be inferred from the extent of the capital, proposes to enter upon a wide range of business, and in order to ensure the utmost benefit from lowering of freights in the shipment of produce, intends to act in concert with the Timaru Association. The vexed question of whether farming in New Zealand can be made to pay, depends largely upon the successful application of the co-operative principle.