ORDINARY MEETING.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume 26, Issue 1369, 18 January 1896, Page 4

ORDINARY MEETING.

Mr J. J. Bamsay said he had much pleasure in introducing to the club the Hon. Mr Bolt, of Danedin. Mr Bolt was quite a town 'representative, never having visited Central jOtago before! He was highly delighted with the district, and anything br6ught before the Legislative Council concerning it would have his hearty support. The Hon.'Mr Bolt, who was most cordially received, thanked them for the reception they had given him, and assured them he appreciated highly the privilege of being present. He'had spent a very interesting week, but the greatest pleasure he had derived from his visit Was the idea he had gained of the amount of land to be benefitted by the Otago Central Railway. He certainly had no conception of the extent there was ; ,- t was far above "jy hat he had heard. The reports he heafd were of a conflicting character. Some Baid the'land was of no use, others that it would grow anything, and others that it would grow anything if irrigated. It was a grand land for settlement if they could open up 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 during the past winter, but he thought it would be a greater loss still if the Farmers' Club succumbed. The need of the club would be far greater when they got the railway than it was at present. When they got the railway on to the plain it would infuse new life into the district and the benefits derived from the club would be greater. CORRESPONDENCE. The correspondence included a letter from the secretary of the Blacks Farmers' Club re Mr Kyder's motion passed at a previous meeting asking the Minister of Lands to secure for the Crown tenants of the colony direct representation on the Land Boards of their respective districts, in" which the writer said that his club, while not agreeing With the general tenor of the motion, were of opinion " that in future appointments care should be taken that the appointees, while not necessarily resident in the interior should have been resident there, and should have a wide knowledge of the remaining Crown 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.—-Thpt the secretary write to kindred societies asking their assistance in getting the extra rates abolished which are charged on some branch railw.-iv lines, and that the several members of Parliament he requested to wait on the Minister and urge him to abolish these rates as being unfair to the inland settlers and tending to retard s-jttlement; also that tue minim'tnn weight in E" (grain, fce.) be reduced from U to is to half a ton." •The- Prcuieut said that this matter had be-jn Irequentty brought under their attention Curing their" trip, uiid"-considerable feeling existed on the subject. They had had hopes >h*c wub the abolition of the Railway r~-»> ' •••= ; - •■• ••■-■• • •■ ■ • •• • • . 1

Commissioners they would have got fair play. 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 that 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 con- | eluded by moving—That the club co-operates ! with any society that has taken action on | similar lines, and promises to give all the j assistance in its power to get the rate abolished.—Seconded by Mr Chapman. Mr Jag. 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 con-" cession.—(Mr J. J. Ramsay : As it is getting near election time again i. 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 could 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, end 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 pn 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 work 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 com- ! plete 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 Dnnedin Winter Show. —Seconded by Mr Gordon, and carried.

GENEBAL. The committee appointed to consider the best means of bettering the financial position of the club recommended that a concert be held at Eweburn 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—viz ,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. Law, jun., for the use of his woolshed'for the occasion, the committee to make all necessary arrange; ments.

The committee's report was adopted on the motion of Mr Bleach, seconded by Mr J Ramsay.

Mr Bleach said he wished to draw the attention of the club to a small matter before separating. He would move That the secretary write to the Minister of Lands asking him when he will be pleased to have the Eweburn and Sludge-channel township reserves thrown open for sale or selection. In speaking to the motion, llr 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 nothing on it they got wandering into other people's paddocks. Further than tbat he had reason to believe that if the land was Ihrown open, several business people in and around the vicinity of Naseby would be willing to buy sections and establish their business right away. If 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 visual 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 Lands to invest it in a domain board or get someone to take control of it. It would better to let the time arrive when the railway should develop the district before the land was disposed of. After a lengthy discussion between Mr Bleach and Mr Law the motion was put and carried. One or two other matters of detail occupied 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 its benefit at any time the club decided upon. The oiler was immediately taken advantage of, and details will be arranged later on,