Farmers’ Union And Politics

Northern Advocate, 14 July 1938, Page 8

Farmers’ Union And Politics

[Per Press Association. Copyright .]

WELLINGTON, This Day

The opinion that it was wiser for the New Zealand Farmers’ Union to maintain an attitude entirely apart from party interests was reiterated by the Dominion president, Mr W. W. Mulholland, when addressing the annual conference of the union at Wellington. Mr Mulholland said he believed, however, that the union would be failing in its duty to farmers and to the country generally if. having put forward a policy which was almost unanimously supported by the farmers of the Dominion, it did not vigorously champion that policy. “In following this line of action, I have of necessity been strongly critical of Government proposals which were not in accord with our policy, and I suppose it was inevitable that the Government should resent such criticism, and find it easier to criticise the critics than to meet our exanimation of their measures,” he said. “That has been the experience of all my predecessors, and I could hardly expect to fare differently. “It is surely going too far, however, when the Prime Minister, Mr Savage, whose Government has compelled workers in industry to join specific unions without any choice, goes round the country insinuating that the Farmers’ Union does not represent the farmers, and ti’ymg to induce farmers to break away from their organisation. I am glad to say that all Ministers of the present Government do not take up that attitude. They recognise the farmers’ rights to organise as being as inherent to them as to any other section of the community. Indeed, they avail themthemselves quite freely of the assistance of our organisation, which has been as freely given as its criticism.”