FARMERS' UNION.
TARAXAKI EXECUTIVE MEETIX.J 1 A meeting of the Taranaki Executive of the Faainea-s' Un":on was held in Hawera on Thursday; present — Messrs E. Maxwell (Chairman), Forsyth. Blair, J. Davidson, J. Robscn, A. T. Jones, J. W. Jones, 7. Thorr-son and F. Chapman. I The Auckland Haidware Trade and Ammunition Co. forwarded a lcsolution protecting against "tlio extra ordinary increase." of duty on cartridges and cartridge ' cases, and pointed out that the proposed rate of 2s 6d per 100 was equal to 60 per cent, on British cartridges an<l 80 per ocnfc on foreign. Th© increase of rabbit? in the countiy was making cheap ammunition an absolute necessity to fa-rm^rs and ethers in order to cope with the pest. Mi- E. F. Hemingway, Stratfoxd t wrote, enclosing cheque for £1 as a donation to the funds of the Union, and as a mark of appreciation <on the part of a few supporters of the freehold in the district of tho address recently given by Mr J. C. Cooper. — On the motion of Messrs Davidson and J. Robson it was resolved to thank Mr Hemingway for this letter and conll. deuce ; and also that a copy of the letter bo forwarded to Mr Cooper. HARBOR BOARDS. Mr Trios. 0. Hodgson, Eltham, writing with ref&rence to the Harbor Bill now before the House, said : "I would respectfully suggest that your Executive: once miare move in the direction of endeavoring tto s-ecuro Electoral Harbor Boards, an>] that ratepayers only be allowed to vote."' There was absolutely no reason (he continued) for Government representation on these Boards any more than on Education Boards, County Councils, or Hospital Boaids. He thought that in many cases lib© nomination system did not secure the moat suitable member, nor did it represent the views of the majority of those intieneht<d. The. Chairman said the endovrcnents of Harbor Brards were safeguardc! by Act. He explained, that nearly every Harbor Board was constituted under a different Act, and that what applied to one Board did not apply to another . Mr Forsyth thought 'any resolution passed could only be applied to one harbor. The Chairman remarked in the case of tho Taranaki Board the Government nominees could not exercise their votes either for' or against the Qbvernmeo.t, because thl& Government's interest was entirely constived by Act. He indicated the lines upon which a resolution should be passed, and then Mr Robson moved : "That in the opinion of this Executive where Harbor Boards have executive powers they should be solely elected by the ratepayers, and that Boards without rating power shouid be composed of nominees from' all the leading local bfcdies in the district; also that it be pointed out where Harbor Boards are endowed the expenditure is covered by Act. Sfcconded by Mr Davidson and carried. Tho resolution is to be sent through the Colonial Executive to the Minister for Marine. NATIVE LAND COMMISSION. The Chairman (Mr Maxwell) introduced the subject of the Native Land Commission. It had been pointed out that Royal Commissions were "piloting balloons" — feelers' so that the Government may act to a certain extent upon popular opinion. The Commission was reporting andi recommending in sections, and if the Government 'received nothing but the praise which they were at pnesejat receiving from certain, sections' of the j community — chiefly the labor — and no protests were entered., it would appear that the whole of New Zealand were favorably disposed towards the recommendations ; but he contended that was not so, so he- thought tih© Executive should enter its protest aigainst the very small proportion of land that was recommended to be dealt with. The idea of the Commission, he thought, was to buy a certain proportion of me native land, and 1 to offer it as lease land, without right of purchase. The Union's chief plank was- "freehold," and as such they should enter a most empihatic protest. Mr Davidson said that if by Act of Parliament the 1 reduced area of hind' a man could 'hold was 640 acres', then the Maoris should be restricted accordingly; the natives .should be put on an equal basis whether in lease or freehold, more especially in Tegard to the freehold. The Chairman .said the tendency of the Government was to prevent the holding of large estates, whether by one individual, a whole family, or a company. They were going to break up the monopoly of landlordism, barring the Maori. Why should an exception be made with the Maoris? The present system was only a ouTse to the natives. Mr Robson was of the opinion that before the Government took any action the titles to the native lands should be ascertained and. individualised. If that were done, the Government would then know what they were doing. Mr Forsyth asked if it was wise to deal with the matter, while- the Commission was still sitting. The Chairman, in reply, reiterated his former statement that while a certain party were applauding the Union must decide whether thiey would applaud or otherwise. He thought they should protest. Mr Thomson agreed that the titles should be first settled, and that afterwards the surplus land should be thrown open for settLemtenit on the optional tenure. Mr Robson moved: That with reference to the Native Land Commission this Executive is of the opinion that the first steps should be to individualise all native titles to lands throughout the colony. Seconded by Mr J. W. Jones and carried. Mr Davidson then moved : That in the opinion of the .Executive the next thing to be done is that all the surplus land should be thrown open for settlement on the. optional tenure. Seconded by Mr Thomson and carried. THE LAND BILLS— THE ENDOWMENT. The Chairman briefly .referred to the endowment proposals in the Land Bills, in which nine millions of acres were to be set apart for purposes of endowment. He thought the lands should be put to lease with the right of purchase, and that the proceeds might go to endowments. A conversational discussion followed as to whether the lands should be sold on the optional or leasehold system, with' right of purchase, and eventually Mr Thomson moved: That this Executive enters a most .-emphatic protest against the endowment system unless all the
lands under it are put up to lease with right of purchase, atnd the proceeds may go to endowments. Mr J. Jones seconded, and the motion was carried unanimously. GRADUATED LAND TAX. The Chairman said the chief feature of the original Land Bill, which had since been broken up, was the limitation proposals. This had been substituted by the graduated land tax proposals, which practically (resolved itself into an increased land tax. This, he contended, would fall heavily upon landed proprietors and also absentees. Those who were quite free at the last valuation would to-day be subjected- to the graduated land tax proposals. It was recognised that 640 acres of firet-class land was n, reasonable amount for a> man to Jiave, yet a person holding 640 acres of highly improved, land would come under the graduated tax. ■The opinion of the meeting was unanimous in agreeing that the graduated land tax proposals were unnecessary, seeing that there had been no aggregation of large estates, during wecent years. A member pointed out that it was proved by the last Government returns that the aggregation of estates was disappearing. On the motion of Messrs Davidson, and Chapman, the following resolution was passed : It is the opinion of this Executive that, considering the fact -bhait there has been no aggregation of large estates during the last year, there is no need for a graduated land tax. THE VALUATION ACT. Mr Hodgson wrote requesting that the matter of securing an amemdmemib of the Valuation Act m the direction of securing a full and proper value for improvements done would not be lost si@Bt of. He pointed out all \hat was required was the extension of one clause in the amending Act, which stated that mo amount be allowed for improvements which exceeded the actual cost of .such improvements. All that was allowed was the actual cost of itb© work, noit tin© improvement at all. The valuation officers Tecognised that, but were powerless until the Acti was amended. The Chairman said 1 it was fully recognised that we were now at the top of & boom — indeed, ihe hoped we would have a few more years of prosperity — yet it appeared an extraordinary thing to him that? the unimproved value of land had risen enormously and the improved value decreased. The point which he wished to bring out was : if (there was an increase in the value of land— the land was the plant with/ which the farmer was working — as had been the case with the increased value of business ma^fe by tradesmen and others-, them it must necessarily follow that the men who hold tihe land; who were jresponsibl'e in a large measuire for the prosperity of the colony, were entitled to as much increase in value as the improvements warranted. lit must be- perfectly clear to all that tine owner of the improvements was entitled to the enhanced value of bis improvements. Mr Maxwell said it was a gross injustice the way the unimproved value had gone up, and no value had been put upon improvements. llr Forsyth contended that the Act was not so much to blame, as it was the instruction given from headquarters. Mr J. Arthur Jones moved: That the Colonial Executive be asked fto urge on the Government that the Valuations of Lands Act be amended so that the expenditure of local loans and rates on rioads, bridges, harbor and other works that add value - to the land may be deducted from capital value as improvements, and apportioned to ratepayers in proportion to ratable value. The Chairman further moved : This Executive consider the wholo system of land valuation by the Department unjust, and strongly urge on the Colonial Executive to persist in its endeavor to get the Valuation Act so amended 'as to ensure fujl allowance for all improvements to the land whether in sight -or not. Mr Davidson seconded the motion, which, was carried. CUSTOMS DUTIES. Mr Forsyth. brought up the Government's proposal to increase) certain duties. He thought the Executive should enter a strong protest against any incaw&se in thte already high protective duties. He. accord, mgly moved : That this/Executive strongly protests against any increase in the already high protective duties as proposed by the Government, and would point out the inconsistency and unreasonableness of asking the British people, who admit all o\ir exports free, to go further and tax themselvea in order to give preference tr- ' our exports, whilst we are at the same time piling up prohibitive duties against British exports. This was seconded by Mr Davidson and carried. LOCAL GOVERNMENT BILL. On the motion of Mr Farsyth, seconded by the Chairman, the following resolution with reference bo the Local Government Bill was passed:— That this meeting is strongly opposed to the proposals contained in the Local Government Bill to reduce in .any way the present voting power of rafeDayersi * LAND NATIONALISATION. On the moiwra of Mr J. Arthur Jones, seconded by Mr J. W. Jones, the following resolution was passed : "That this Executive consider that as the Farmersf Union of New Zealand they should be consulted as to any legislation issued dealing with land nationalisation, and also respecting legislation on the subject. The meeting t'oen rose.
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Bibliographic details
Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LIII, Issue 9417, 16 August 1907, Page 5
Word Count
1,916FARMERS' UNION. Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LIII, Issue 9417, 16 August 1907, Page 5
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