MANIOTOTO FARMERS' CLUB.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume 26, Issue 1369, 17 January 1896, Page 4

MANIOTOTO FARMERS' CLUB.

At the meeting of the above clnb, which ■was held on Saturday, the 11th inst.. the attendance of members was somewhat larger and more lepresenta+ive than usual. The president of ihe club, Mr J. J. Ramsay, occupied the chair.

The secretary having read the minutes of the Inst meeting, which were confirmed on the motion c f Mr Chapman, seconded by Mr Bleach, a statement of the financial position of the club was laid on the Table, which showed that they had a credit balance of £3 17s in hand, which would be reduced to « little over a pound, when, outstanding : debts were paid. The secretary also pointed out that the club was still indebted to two of j its members. Messrs Logan and Ryder for money laid out by them in connection with business of the club. ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting was then held, and the secretary having read the minutes of the last annual meeting, which were confirmed on the motion of Mr James Hore. seconded by Mr Thos. Ramsay, the meeting proceeded with the ELECTION OF OFFICERS for the ensuing year. The President said that at the last annual meeting Mr. Law said it was owing to his (the speakers) irrepre«sive ability that he would support him for the position of president. He did not see that his irrepressive ability had done them any good as the club had had a very quiet year, but perhaps the bad weather had had something to do with that However, he would like to keep the club going even if they only held meetings occasionally. It was always a recognised body to bring influence to bear on the member for the district, or in any other direction, on behalf of the farmers. This year was their sixth anniversary, and as they did not .se*em to have got any smaller for a long time the probability was that if they could stick for a few years longer they would get a much larger club. He then asked for nominations for the office of president. Mr John Law did not see any Teason why they should have any change. The club had been fortunate in" having Mr Ramsay in the first place as secretary and then as president. He could not say whether their quietness during the past year had been due to the president being a little more quiet than usual or to the late severe winter; perhaps it was a mixture of both. He had pleasure in proposing that Mr Ramsay continue as president. If they kept the club together he had more houe for the future, and there were better times in store for them. There was much work for the cl-b to do, and if they closed its career at the present time they would close it when the work already done was just beginning to germinate. Two things were going to happen in the near future: one was the entrance of the Otago Central Bail way on to the Maniototo Plain which might eventuate this year; and they had also the Otago Central Pastoral Association holding its meetings at Clyde, and the Dunedin Association was putting out feelers to get bold of us here. It was impossible for them at present to maintain two institutions. They had either to give their support to Blacks or join Dunedin. Dunedin would probably be the one. for them to support. However, that was for the club to consider in the future. It would be a big mistake to allow the club to lapse. Mr Bleach had ereat pleasure in seconding Mr Law's motion. It was understood that the offices of president, vice-president, and secretary were all rolling ones, but it was better to rrmain stationery than to roll into oblivion, which might happen if they made a change. Then there was also the probability of the Farmers' Club having direct represent tation in the House of Representatives before another year, which was a great copsidera-r tion for them to look forward to. He quite endorsed Mr Law's remark.- as to Mr J. J, Ramsay's fitness to retain the position, if he would only cons.et to do soMr J. J. Ramsay said he would like to see the position a rolling one. but as it seemed to be the wish of the club for him to t?ike the office he had no objection, One reason was he had only been president of the club for nine months, and they had done very little business in that nine months. As to what Mr Bleach said whs likely to eventuate, it would not be his desire if it did not happen, as he hoped to stand for sonie higher position before the end of .the year. He thanked them for their good opinion of him. The motion was thep put apd carried unanimously.

Mr J. J. Ramsay proposed Mr Bleach for the office of seqrefaiy.

Mr Bleach hail to decline as he b?d fw.o or three similar positions and it took up all his spare time As he said last year he thought the business of the club could be carried on better by having a Jpresiriept and secretary li-ing close to each other. It would not suit him. if he wanted to see the president to have to run after him to Hyde, Punedin. or perhaps to Wellington. Taking jail this into consideration it would be better if Mr Jtamsay .consented to retain the position, Mr T. Ramsay thought it was much more desirable to have a new secretary. Mr Bleach then moved that Mr J. Hore be secretary for trie ensuing year, but that gentleman moved they could pot do better than to retaip their present secretary, which motion was seconded by Mr W. Mawhipney. £nd .carried.

ORDINARY MPETINCJ. Mr J. J. Ramsay said he had much pleasure in introducing to the clpb the Hon. Mr Bolt, x>f Dunedin. Mr Bolt was quite a town representative, never having yisited Central Otago before. He was highly delighted with the district, and anything brought before the Legislative Council concerning it would have his hearty sppport. The Hon. Mr Bolt, who was most cord jally received, thanked them for the reception they had given him, and assured them he appreciated highly the privilege of being present. He had spept a very interesting week, but the greatest pleasure he had derived from his visit was the idea he had gained of the aroopnt of lapdto be benefitted by the Otago Central Railway. He certainly had no conception .of the 'extent there was ; ; t was far what he had heard. The reports he heard jvere of a. .conflicting character. Some said the land w.as of po use, others that it Would grow anything, and others that it wonld grow anything if irrigated. It was a jgrand land for settlement if they couKI open »p communication with Dunedin. He was exceedingly pleased that they had decided to .carry on the club. There had been great mortality amongst sheep in the district dnring the past winter, hut he thought it would be a greater loss still if th,e Farmers' Club succumbed. Th.e need of the club would be fnr greater ?vhen they got the railway than it was at present. When they got the railway on to the plain it would infuse new Jife into the district and the benefits derived from the Club would be greater. JCOKKKSPOKDEXCE. The correspondence included a letter from the secretary .of the Blacks Farmers.' Club re Mr Ryder's motion passed at a previous meetipg askipg the Minister of Lands to j secure for the Crown tenants of ihe colony direct representation .op the Land Boards of their respective districts, in which the writer said that his cl.ub, while not agreeing with the general tenor of the motiop, were of opinion -•■• thai in future appointments .care should be taken that the appointees, while not necessarily residept in the ipterior should have been resident there, and should have a wide knowledge of the remaining Grown lands of the province, now chiefly in Otago." The secretary of the Strath Taieri Farmers' Club forwarded a resolution, passed at a recent meeting, viz. ■• Th?t the secretary write ,to kipdrcd societies asking their assistance in getting the extra rates abolished which are charged on some brapch railway lines, and that tjie several members of Parliament be requested to wait on the Minister and arge him to abolish these rates as being unfair to the inland "settlers andi tending to retard settlement; also that tae minimum weight in Class E (grain, ice.) be reduced from H jonsto half a ton." The. President, said that this matter had £cen frequently brought under their attention jawing their trip, and considerable feeling .-.xi.-ted on the subject. They had had hopes

Commissioners they would hare got fairplny. People said it was cheaper to get goods carried by waggon than- by rail, which was ridiculous with the present price of feed. Mr Law said he had found out why a concession had not been granted. It did not come from an official source but from one of the most prominent men on the Lawrence lines, who said tint if the rates on the Otago Central were reduced the whole of the interior traffic would go that way. The speaker ! went on to criticise at some length the action of the Government in refusing to give the settlers of Central Otago fair play, and concluded bv moving—That the club co-operates with any society that has taken action on similar lines, and promises to give all the assistance in its power to get the rate abolished.—Seconded by Mr Chapman. Mr Jas. Hore suggested that if the secretary were to write to each society and get them to draw up a petition it might have more weight than a motion; as motions were, he thought, simply passed, over. If they kept on trying they might get some concession.—(Mr J. J. Ramsay : As it is getting near election time again). A very lengthy discussion then ensued, and the general opinion was that the rate was a '. most unfair one, some saying that the whole tariff was simply absurd, and the motion was put and carried unanimously. DUNEDIN SHOW. The President thought the present year was a splendid one to send down a good exhibition. A day or two previous he had a long chat with Mr Flint, secretary of the Blacks' Farmers' Club, and speaking of Mr Jas. Dawson's suggestion to show the exhibit in Naseby on the way down, Mr Flint said if they did so he thought he couid get his club to co-operate. In fact, they would do anything to co-operate and help the club by showing in any central place. Mr Flint was very anxious to send down something that would be a credit to Central Otago. A desultory discussion took place, ?nd the idea of showing the exhibit in Naseby was unanimously admitted to be a good one, and it was suggested that in order to make the cost of the exhibit as light on the clubs as possible, a small charge could be made at the door. Various plans of making the affair a success were discussed, and it was agreed that they would have to woTk in conjunction with those who had taken an active interest in the past in the show, the opinion being general that no committee would be complete that did not include Messrs Logan and Dawson. The plan that received the most favour was to hold a meeting in Naseby of those interested, and let a general committee be selected, including representatives from Blacks and other centres. Mr Law eventually proposed—That the secretary of' this club approach the County Council asking for the use of their rooms for the purpose of holding a meeting of those interested in holding a show in Naseby of the exhibits from Central Otago previous to their being sent to the Dunedin '\Vinter Show.—Seconded by Mr Gordon, and carried.

GENEKAL. The committee appointed to consider the best means of bettering the financial position of the club recommended that a concert be held at Ewebum somewhere about the time of the next meeting of the club, and that it be held as a harvest home. The president considered the idea suggested by Mr James Hore at last meeting—vi? ,to issue a number of honorary tickets, and let the members try and dispose of them, was a good one. It was decided to ask Mr J. L.aw, jnn., for the use of his woolshed for the occasion, the committee to make all necessary arranger ments.

The committee's report was adopted on the motion of Mr Bleach, seconded by Mr J Bamsay. Mr Bleach said he wished to draw the attention of the club to a small matter before separating, He would move tt- That the secretary write to the Minister of Lands asking him when he will be pleased to have the Eweburn and Sluclgerchannel township reserves thrown open for sale or selection. In speaking to the motion, Mr Bleach said there were about 800 a lying idle since the Pastoral Co. gave up possession. This land was a source of considerable annoyance to farmers in the neighbourhood, as all the spare stock in the county was sent down to graze upon it. and as there was nothine on it they goi wandering into other people's pad? docks. Further than that he had reason to believe that if the land was thrown open, several business people in and around the vicinity of Naseby would be willing to buy sections and establish their busipess right away. Jf the sale were postponed until the opening of the railway speculators would buy it up and bona fide business people would have to pay the usual cent, per cent. Mr W. Mawhinney seconded the motion. Mr J. Law did not think the club should support the motion. If the land were put up under the present system there was nothing to prevent capitalists buying the land as they would speculate on the chance of a rise in' value. If the land was the cause of annoyance to the neighbours they should ask the Minister of Lauds to invest it in a domain board or get someone to take control of it. It w.ould better to Jet the time arrive when the railway should develop the district before the land'was disposed of.

Alter a lengthy discussion between. Mr Bleach and Mr Law the motion was put and carried.

One or two other matters of detail pied the attention of the meeting, which concluded with the usual votes of thanks.

At the conclusion of the meeting the Hon Mr Bolt expressed his regret at the club being in financial difficulties, and generously .offered to deliver a lecture on come popular .subject for jts benefit at any time the club decided ppop. The offer was immediately taken advantage of, and details will be arranged later on.