THE FARMERS’ UNION.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 21 August 1924, Page 7

THE FARMERS’ UNION.

WORK OF ORGANISATION. ADDRESS BY MR. L. 11. Me ALPINE. At the meeting of the. Maiigaloki b; a.nch oi the Farmers’ Union, held on ciiday evening, an interesting lecture, during which he stressed the urgent tieed tor comprehensive organisation on •e cart el tiie farmers of the country, and instanced a lew of the many bendrits wnicii would accrue therefrom, was delivered by one ot the Dominion organisers, wir H. L. AlcAlpine, who is \lsitlng the district in connection with the campaign at present in progress. flie speaker was introduced bv the president of the branch (Air \V. E. Carter), who refer reel to tiie valuable " ork Air AlcAlpine was doing in recruiting -mem hers for the union throughout the district. Ju his 'opening remarks, Air AlcAlpme explained that it was not intended that he s'hould usurp the. position of the Taranaki organiser. Air AlcKenzie. who had been doing most ' excellent work, hut was unfortunately incapacitated lor the time being owing to illness. Owing to the urgency for immediate action, the Dominion president had requested the speaker to visit- the district and assist in the organising work. He hoped Air AlcKenzie would be again able to take the field and carry on with the work in the near future. He complimented the- local branch on the enthusiasm displayed, stating that very few of the many branches he had visited throughout the country had shown the same'interest.

Continuing, he referred to the union as the aggregation of members throughout the Dominion representing, according to their numbers, the power behind the Dominion executive. He was exceedingly pleased to note and encourage branch activities, hut wished to stress the fact that the branches were of value only when they were component parts of the union as a whole. The union must- he the objective. Branches might cease to function, but so- long as members remained loyal, and financial members of the union it could operate in their interests. Indicating the value of the 'branches for the representation ol local requirements if backed by the power of the union, he instanced a case in which a branch with a comparatively small membership had secured improvements requested in locaL public works. .it was not. however, the influence of the branch which had secured this, it was the ‘unana” of the union which had achieved the results obtained.

'Alien the union representatives waited upon political authority, they were always confronted with the question, ‘‘How many members have you goto” Unless ' they could answer in terms showing it to be Dominion wide, the required influence was lacking to secure serious Consideration of their representations. Among other things,' they wanted cheaper money, but they wofild not get this, or anything else, unless their membership was sufficiently powerful. A big effort was being made to enrol oOflXK) members, and owing to the work of enthusiasts from one end of the country to the other membership was increasing rapidly. The fanner wanted amendments affected concerning the operation A the Advances to Settlers’ Department. About one-third of its advances were being made to. city dwellers. It was the only department from which the farmers could secure assistance, and yet, because they were unable to safeguard their own interests, they were losing some of the benefit which snould he- available. Another matter vlnch required consideration was'tbe provision of adequate loan moneys. Approximately ;£241,000,000 would fall due when the moratorium., was lifted, and unless sufficient sums of money were available, a large number of farmers were going to suffer. If they were solidly organised they could command, and demand attention to these matters, but it was useless to expect any political authority to give due consideration to their representations if the ex'euDve was not backed in sufficient numbers. They wanted an agricultural bank, which had been virtually promised, but the promises had not as yet materialised.- In this again they could nut expect a Government to serve a minority. The farmers had the power to corn-' maud service if they would only realise and use it. Continuing on tins subject. the speaker referred tp the question often asked as to whether there would he money available for ; 11 agricultural bank, and stated ’bar, following the receipt in England recently "1 a cable which gave the impression that such a bank was being established in New Zealand, London financiers had promptly advised that Lb.000,(100 was available at the Government rate oi’ interest. There was nothing of an experimental nature about tiie agricultural bank, which had been tried in many parts of the world, notably America, France and Denmark, and in the latter country farmers had not paid more than of per cent for loan money during a period of 03 yea’s. Such a low figure might not be pjsmble in this country, but at the most they should not have to pay nune than 0} per cent if they could influence the necessary legislation. In 1.013. experts had been sent from America to Europe to study the system. Gn '.hoi;- return the banks had been establish i-L and within eight years had loaned something like 360 millions: sterling ai b per cent and less. If farmers in New Zealand would get together in a comprehensive organisation they could realise similar conditions, 'there was very little analogy lieiwccu the Advances to Settlers’ Department and the Agricultural Bank scheme. The weakness of the former lay in its political control, which rendered it subject to the whims of changing Governments, but once a hank charter were secured its operations could not be influenced. Speaking of the union organisation. Air AlcAlpine said that it was unique, among unions in that membership was purely voluntary. AYith approximately 86,00*0 eligible for membership, tire farmers had a wonderful opportunity of making their union the most powerful in the country, and yet there were many who failed to appreciate the benefits they could receive by supporting the movement. He wished to point out. however, that a union should he regarded as a body of people joined together to obtain definite objectives for the common gup cl. This could only be accomplished by complete cohesion, and bv the realisation that once decisions were arrived at the minority must lie honourably hound by the verdict of the majority. If this were not realised, the union would he worth nothing. The official interrogation ’‘How many members have you goto” implied "How many are financial,” membership being recognised only 011 that basis. In view of this, some satisfactory method oi collecting subscriptions wa.s absolutely essential. As was the case with tho local one. many branches were well served by enthusiastic officials, but in the event of their retirement it was not always easy to' fill their positions. Therefore a collection system which credited fees direct to the union was preferable, and a scheme had l>een devised whereby members’ subscriptions could be debited to their accounts with dnirv companies or wool merchants, and the ■union headquarters and branches credited with their respective quotas.

Every trading concern so far approached had signified willingness to accord with this plan, and all that was necessary on th-(j part of the individual wa.s to sign the order giving the company concerned the neeesasry authority. Though there was nothing compulsory about it, lie appealed to his hearers to adopt the system. Of a hundred members recently enrolled in the district, all had agreed to do so. Air AlcAlpine also referred to the union’s official journal, explaining the useful purpose it served in keeping members in touch with union affairs, as well as in disseminating useful information on farming matters, and earnestly requested that it he accorded a worthy support. On the conclusion of the address, the chairman said he had listened to Air McAlpine’s speech with great interest and pleasure. He realised that every 1 armor should join the union, and thoroughly agreed with the previous s-peaker concerning the big influence which could be exercised if the union were only sufficiently supported. He hoped the organiser’s visit would result in infusing renewed interest in the union throughout the district, and had much plea.su.re in moving a vote of thanks in appreciation of Air AicAlpine’s address. The vote was carried by acclamation. All present, in conclusion, signified their intention of adopting the subscription collection scheme advocated.