FARMERS' UNION CONFERENCE

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11844, 23 December 1901, Page 7

FARMERS' UNION CONFERENCE

[BY TELKGBAFH.—-PRESS ; association.] Itf vbrcabgiil, Saturday. The first conference of the Southland branches of the New Zealand Farmers' Union was held here on Friday, and was attended by 20 delegates*- ; "Mr.; Glass, ;. tlid v organising secretary, being also present. Mr. Barnes Milne! was elected to the chair. It was moved; s,''That a Farmers' Fire Insurance Association was desirable, and should be reoenVmcnded .10 ,'the New 'Zealand Con-: ference.'' An imi'.-itdnichi, "That tin- 6JH?ereiißi,ajipi'Btß:nT pldtiiig fire instiraivb on tile- ; sarnie footing as accident insurance; so far as getting - companies' to tender at' lowrates was concerned," was carried. "■••',■ ■ Accident insurance Was then discussed. Mr. Glass said the Premier had promised twice to give them a straight definition .of- the Workers' .Compiihsttfcitni; Act aS it 'affected farmers, but had never done ■■/..* The Act Was full of : difficulties. . One clause .wine" should be altered Wei that they coiild only insure & mad alter 14 clay's. . "That meant for* the first 14 days they got- nothing at all. The mattei was, left Mr. Glass' hands to try and get over the 14 days' question. ,:■"■■ A : suggestion that.corn exchanges be established in the penCreA was negatived. It. w»5 iiWvclt,. " That in the opinion of this conference on account of the low price of wool, carriage by rail should be reduced." Mr. McQueen said he favoured the motion, but should avoid anything like attempting to run the raltwars. , lib: uH!ici'stobd ililt one of tho.factors which weighed with the authorities in fixing freights was value. . Now the value of wool had fallen 50 per cent., and therefore he- thought the freight, should be reduced likewise.' It was resolved that the ; Minister .be approached with the view of bavins the freight on wool. fr'rtucfid: ~ A Inotibn, '■':" That.i; the sheep tax be taken out of the Consolidated. Revenue," was negatived. It was said the inspectors were paid out of this tax, and all their time was taken up with cattle. I The tax was introduced when sheep . were - infected ', with scab, ;. and was supposed to bo temporary. It had hung on, however, and it. was not right, as after scab h*»fl disappeared they never saw the inSpScfcbrs :sjain. Mi. McKellar • said the Woodlands branch was ot, opinion that the tax should be levied over all stock over which inspectors exercised supervision. Sheep should not, pay for the inspection of cattle, horJes,, and. pigs... ..•,.., ©A motion in tavoui of the grading of all beef and mutton - foi export, and that» all first quality bo branded "Prime/New Zealand," was lost. • . Mr. McQueen said the grading ot the Southland Meat Company was nearly perfect, and was giving satisfaction. Moreover, graders employed by the Government- were the only experts available, and if itho Government undertook grading they would simply have to use graders from the freezing works, and. .matters would be just as they were. The Southland Company had Government men, and had the privilege of paying £400, and ,not receiving a particle of benefit. . (Applause.) They were rejecting meat. just as before. /. .. ~ _. v . A motion, " That the conference appreciates the Government action in regard to trade with, South Africa," was carried..... -.; ."■ It was resolved that the conference oppose the proposal to elect local bodies on tl«e same franchise as general elections. It was stated that only ratepayers should have votes, and thai it was absurd that those who paid no rates should say -how the rates' were to be spent. One delegate said this was one of the most important thin'gs on the order paper. He believed there was something underlyingit. It was a deep socialistic move that they did not see through. Others supported the motion, and said Parliament should be made to understand, how strongly the- farmers felt on this question. . A motion, asking, the Government to guarantee the;' Correctness .ot railway Weights lor farm produce, was carried. : The . Government, it was' ■ said, should provide weighbridges at stations .where the export' of grain was great. The executive is to bring up the matte, when interviewing the Minister. j It was ,moved, "That in the opinion of this conference the Conciliation and Arbitration Act should be repealed." Conciliation was all right where the parties could, bo brought together. • Here . there were ; three employer, , labourer, and consumer. The last-named ..was never considered., .at all. An amendment, "That the conference is of opinion that the Act should be amended by the abolition of the Arbitration Court," was carried." .-' ;.':-'' ; ; :;' : , , - '' '.'

A • motion, "That as the . population is totally inadequate to requirements, the Government Do urged # to assist and devise a scheme: of. immigration,'' was.: poised.;.: Members said it-was ridiculous that a-fine country like this should only be populated by 800,000 people. The Government were to blame if they were in some measure afraid to, go against some of theii supporters, .who believed that immigration would mean keener competition and lower wages. The advertisement by the New Zealand Government in the Times was about half-an-inch. Canada filled a column, and-also sent out agents to all big shows and gatherings, advertising the advantages of' Canada, and offering 160 acres to every immigrant; There were only two phases of' the question— price of labour had to be reduced or. the price of produce had to be raised. New Zealand was farthest from the markets, and was paying the highest wages. The only remedy was to introduce more workers..:: Every farm was languishing for want of workers.

Mr. McQueen 'moved, " That the time had arrived when', foreign borrowing should cease." .This was lost. .... The .seconder said it .was the Government's borrowing. policy that had turned him against them. If they borrowed at- all they should borrow to bring in more people to bear the burden.'" . , On the, question of small bird poisoning it was decided to call attention to the breeding of birds in towns, and urging that rigorous means be taken to suppress them, and that the Government be asked to offer a bonus for the discovery or an effective poison. \ A motion to ask' the Government to pass an Act making rabbit-poisoning compulsory, was lost. - ._- '

It was resolved that tile Government carry road metal at the lowest remunerative rates, seeing that in some districts there ' was no metal at all. , ■-..-,-'-. ■•■- '.. ■' .

Mr. Milne moved, '.' That it was desirable that the Government should appoint one assessor and the farmers another to sit on Assessment Courts." At Milton it had been urged, that; the ..GoVernment should appoint one assessoi and. the. local bodies another. Thai was not .right; = because both of these wanted tc, keep up the land values, and he thought the union' should appoint one assessor. Mr. McQueen... disputed the statement that the local bodies wanted to keep high values against the farmers, and thought the conference should support the action of the Milton conference. _ This was carried. A motion, "That Customs should be collected for revenue, and not for protection purposes," was carried.

A, motion, " That oharitable ' Aid should coino out ■. of the Consolidated Revenue." was lost. ..-:•.,: v ,

1, It was resolved, that in the event of the Government receiving orders for oats • for South Africa it would .be desirable that the prico.-6iTercd.be' made known to the-executive of the Farmers' Union.