DAIRY CONTROL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 28 April 1926, Page 11

DAIRY CONTROL.

THE WELLINGTON MEETING

A STORMY OPENING. (BY TELEGRAPH PRESS ASSOCIATION.) WELLINGTON, April 28. The Town Hall concert chamber was crowded with dairy farmers for the meeting called to decide the method fo electing members of' the Dairy Control Board. The meeting was convened by the Government, and the board, having been asked to conduct it, selected Mr. W. Grounds as chairman. Ihe Hon. O'. J. Hawken. Minister of Agriculture, was present. The first move was a motion that the meeting select its own chairman, and the atmosphere immediately became stormy, with continual expressions of dissent and approval. Mr. Grounds said he would prefer to be on the floor, but regarded the responsibility placed upon him as a duty. He ‘declared that the motion was entirely irregular, and said that he had for the moment lost consciousness of the fact that he was chairman of the Dairy Control Board. He h*d been appointed, and any motion that he retain or leave the chair would be out of order. ■ This ruling having- been accepted, the Hon Mr. Hawken addressed the meeting. He said that it was called to assist the Government in working out a system of election. The Act had been brought into force by the dairymen, and the Government was not likelv to interfere unduly with the business of the dairymen He hoped the meeting would keep the interests of the dairy industry at heart, and that Mr. Grounds would, be continued in the chair. ~ Mr. W. A. Veitch, M.P., moved that the members of the board be elected on the single ward system, six .wards for the North Island and six for the south, one producer one vote. When the roll call was made, and when Mr. William Goodfellow’s name was called with 157 votes, there was a chorus of astonishment, for most oi the names represented one to four votes. Practically all the names called were answered. ■A voice asked: “Are those 167 votes present?” The chairman : 1 ‘They are. (Proceeding.)