FARMERS’ POLITICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXIV, Issue 13890, 26 October 1905, Page 6

FARMERS’ POLITICS.

The political platform of -the Farmers’ Union, which was announced at a meeting of the local brancli yesterday afternoon l , has at least the merit of brevity. As it came down from the Advisory Board it hiad only throe' planks, the concession of„the freehold to Crown tenants, the 'maintenance of the present county franchise, and the extension of rural education, and even with the addition of Mr Leadley’s declaration in favour of freetrad© it is not a, very formidable structure. We do not know that there Is much left to be said on the tenure question. If the concession of the freehold is going, as Mr Massey says it is, to gh r ° the tenants only a greater feeling of security, the farmers surely might bo bettor employed than in agitating for such a. futile change in the law. The freehold will be no ntoro secure than tho leasehold. If the State can riopudiato ono contract it ca.n repudiate another. It would bo much easier, indeed, to “ burst up ” the freehold with am unbearable land tax than it would be to change the conditions, of the leasehold. But, of course, the leader of the Opposition knows nil thin as well as we do. Tho freehold is merely a party cry, that has been made to embrace every ptrinciple that is dear to the hoart of the rural elector. The m'aini ananoe of the present inequitable county franchise is another instance of tho marrow selfishness of the poEtical leaders of the Union. These gent3©mcn have never attempted to explain why a. farmer earning a. property worth £2OOO should have the Same voting power ne throe farmers, each owning a property worth £IOOO, and yet they are urging .tho electors to reject every candidate for Parliament ‘who dees nob pledge himself .to support this iniquitous arraugoment. Intelligence

and patriotism, in their estimation, count for nothing compared with wealth. The appeal for the extension of rural education, whether it means additional provision for primary education or the institution, of technical education, will have the sympathy of everyone; but Mr Leadley’e declaration in favour of freotrade, which has been tacked on to the platform of the local branch, comes at a rather inopportune mopiont. Mr Leadloy may imagine that ho could get along very well without the town workers, but we fancy that if ho ever succeeded in starving these tiresome people out of the colony lie would find that they had been serving some useful purpose as consumers and tax-payors. Luckily, the great majority of the agricultural community has far too much sense to suppose that the rights of property are in danger, or that wealth is a better qualification for the franchise than intelligence, or that the country would benefit by the extinction of the, towns, and we have no doubt that the members of the Union themselves will regard the platform that has been prepared for their acceptance with a good deal of shrewd suspicion.