FARMERS' UNION

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXVII, Issue LXXVII, 30 May 1919, Page 6

FARMERS' UNION

TARANoiEI PROTINeiAI, CON-

FERENCE

The following is a continuation of reg? * Pnwedmgfc in connection with the annual conference held at New Plymouth on Friday and Saturday:— BY-PRODUCTS. b^JrST"? 11** the Government be urged to investigate by-products bfeffitS^ 6 Wh6re SaV^s *? Mr Hodge moved this in an amended form viz-^Thafc the Government be urged to take' up the question of 1&e utilisation ofby.-products and in&cate the direcW'in which savings ™ e/4l ffected thro«gh their use Mr Chapman seconded. The chairman remarked that one way m which a saving might be effecttoJ aL m + Ww l soourilig- Most of our wool went Home as "greasy" wool, in +We Was a ™luabl e by-product in tliat grease which was made .into lanoline and such like. There appeared to be no reason why wool should not be scoured in New Zealand, sent Home clean, and the aby-products made . use or here. Mr JJenton said that thirty years ago at Home thousands of pounds' worth of grease from wool was' saved. Xne remit? was carried. .' ' . TAXATION. Mangatoki—That it. is advisable m the interests of just taxation that the ■ present system ,of collecting graduated land tax from mortgages • am^ lde<i in the following manner . i.e.—That moneys invested in mort- % gages upon lands be apportioned upon the unimproved and improved vaitte, pro rata, the part apportion-* ed upon the .-improvements td -be exempted from- taxation, as under the land tax, and the part apportioned jon the unimnroved value to pay the same, rate of tax in the"£ as is paid' upon" the unimproved value free of mortgage. ThisrwasHhe same resolution that was moved by Mr Astbury at last Provincial Conference, when it was unanimously carried. -In moving it again this year Mr Astbury-briefly traversed the arguments used on the previous occasion. There was no discussion, and the remit was again unanimously agreed to. * J . Mangatoki—That the land and income tax be amended in the direction of allowing farmers to charge against their income returns sums for work done by the wife- and children apart from domestic duties. '•' •**& P l S* y m.? ved this- In seconding it Mr Maxwell said that the present" . ,«system was merely an incentive to fraud. An individual engaged in a business and employing labor was allowed to charge up their wages against Jus expenditure, but a farmer having the assistance of his wife and children was not allowed to charge up wages tor them unless actually paid. But in any case he was not allowed wages for his wife's work. These people were engaged in most arduous work, and that the joint results of their labor should be taxed on a different basis to others employing labor was manifestly unfair and unjust. ...'•,' .. Resolution carried. ' COUNTY VALUATIONS Mangatoki—That the Government be asked to have the lands of the Dominion periodically valued at intervals of not less tnan seven years, and that valuations, of contiguouscounties be undertaken in rotation according to their position to each other. ( Mr Astbury remarked' that when this matter was previously submitted to the Premier he said that the difficulties were so great that the request was practically out of court. The " neglect of neighboring county valuations often imposed grave injustices on ratepayers in one county as against . the other. The proper thing was to have revaluation at least every seven years, and there was no reason. why the whole colony should not be done in one act; they could take counties in groups and in' rotation. . Motion carried.

TERRITORIAL INSTRUCTION. . Mangatoki—That where a number of Cadets or Territorials can be mustered in a country centre instructors should attend such centres in the daytime for the purpose of giving military instruction. Mr Perry moved this, and explain.cd that the matter had already been brought before the Minister of Defence, and finally left with Major Cox . Mr Astbury explained that the object of the remit was to strengthen the request already made that suitable buildings in convenient centres may be used for drill purposes, instead of compelling boys to ride four or five miles to attend night drills at some larger oentre. Mr Voullaire remarked that his branch had a grievance. Time and again the drill instructor had failed to turn up, and no explanations were made. But if a boy happened to be away there was a blue paper at once. The remit was carried. ELECTIVE EXECUTIVE. Executive—That the Auckland Executive'^ p:t> ; >oszi!s for the Elective Executive system be discussed. The preside- x udd that the Auckland Provinciai Ex< votive brought this matter up at t-Lo Dominion Conference twelve month- ;:.#;—hi fact, they had brought it for.-, ard on several occasions —-but it was or :■-■■ -,■,'■■;!!y taken any notice of at tlu .v co:,(\ rence, when it .was agreed to ;s':;nt it to the differ-

ent centres to instruct their delegates how to vote upon it at the next conference. Major Lusk had issued a pamphlet setting forth arguments in favor of the system, and this had been replied to and criticised by Mr David Jones, of Dunsandel. Mr Maxwell said that Mr Jones was looked upon as one of the soundest and most reliable men down south, whose lead could well be followed oy farmers. Our present system of government had its counterpart in our Courts of Justice. An advocate on the one side, quite apart from any personal feelings, and an advocate from the other side brought out all the facts as far as possible, in order that the judge and jury might be able to arrive at the truth. In our present system of Parliament a similar state of affairs existed, and he cautioned farmers against lending their support to any other-system that lent itself to scheming and dodging. The present system of party government had great disadvantages and imperfections, but it was infinitely better than the suggested non-party system. After discussion it was resolved: lhat in the opinion of this conference it is not desirable, in the interests of the Dominion, to make any change in our system of Government such as suggested by the Auckland Executive m their Elective Executive proposals. STATE CONTROL OF PRICES. Executive-^-That the State should not interfere m the control of prices or marketing of any commodity, «x----cept where the same is being interfered with by the operations of trusts or similar institutions.

fWr o+ M;iX^ ell'T in mo™g this, said that at their Union meetings, at their branches, their provincial and general .conference they irad fought against any interference with the law? -infeS by BUPPJy::- and demand. Jl.veryone^present was in hearty -sym^ ■pathy-. with-the remit, and he would not waste time going over arguKure %W A tlian to ittt Out *™ reature. ihere was a strong suases™«i*y*tffain -section of the^mS ~tyJhat^ey "itend in. the future i ™w\J hat h% dont pay more than ' what they consider a reasonable price tor the necessaries of life produced in the colony, and they aim at havine: a government to defend, them in the control of such prices. . That section of the community that desires such has no conception : whatever of the other! side ot the question—ho conception of the conditions surrounding the producers of the commodities they.desire to control. They were quite prepared to take any amount for their own services, and at the same time have the P"ce or their own needs limited to'l what they consider a low price. There was no principle so good as the law of supply and demand to regulate prices. .Doubless some people would always take unjust advantage of opportunities to make money out of the consumer, but equally* they, too, would make it out of the producer, who has been "hit" just as often as the consumer. The suggestion to control the price of produce was not practical. Take, for instance, grain. An experi-, enced farmer under normal conditions would make his business pay over a period of years; He might have a good year and then a bad one. After a bad year there would be a shortage; the price would be dearer to the consumer, but the increased price would partly compensate the farmer for the previous year's loss. If the prices were controlled and"the crops, were a failure it would spell disaster'to the producer. An inevitable^result of price control would be lessened production, resulting, in an injury to the community and an injustice to industry and to the-State. The motion was Seconded by Mr Washer and carried,* NATIVE FARMING. Auroa Branch—That the attention of the Government be drawn to the need for something- being done to help and induce the Natives -to farm "and increase production on Native lands. The chairman said that he had brought this matter under the notice of the Parliamentary Industries* Commission in Hawera, and the chairman of the Commission said it was one of the most .-important matters brought before them.' The pakeha had all sorts of iflstructions and was always being assisted to a certain exteftt by-the Government to increase production and make his lands more useful to the State, but he had never heard of anyone going directly to the natives to try and interest or coax him to make his land more productive. If something could be done in that direction it would be a good thing for the natives themselves and for the State.

Mr,, Owen remarked that the individualising of native titles was the first step necessary. Until the individual Maori had a piece of land that he could call his own he would have no incentive, to improve it. He believed this could now be done on application to the Government, if that was so the way was opeu for improvement. But the individualising of titles was certainly the firsthand most essential step. | The remit was passed. COMPLIMENTARY. Votes of thanks were accorded to the president, secretary and executive for their invaluable work during the year; .to the New Plymouth Returned Soldiers' Club for the use of the room for the conference; to the press^ and to the hostesses who had provided the luncheon on the opening day. The president thanked the delegates for their strict attention to the business :on the order paper. He felt .that tVy all must have derived a great deal of benefit from the debates.

. Mr Maxwell hoped that delegates would leave the conference with the strong determination to extend the influence of the Union.