THE FARMERS' UNION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11877, 31 January 1902, Page 7

THE FARMERS' UNION.

A meeting of the Omahu and Hikutaia : branch was held on Saturday,- the 25th, Mr. v Bell in the chair,;;to meet Mr. Glass and ■ arrange- details of, the gathering of Thames .; settlers, which was .discussed sat.; the;,pre-, vious meeting. "The first business was the : election of committee and officers for ' tho j branch. Mr. Bell?was re-elected chairman, ; Mr. August Berg secretary, and the follow- ■ '■•> ing committee:— Elliott, sen., Alf. : " and W. Alley, Fotheringham, Elliott, jun., ! :with five others. The question of the picI nio was discussed. ; The Chairman remarked that it was Mr. Glass' idea for all districts to hold an annual gathering, and he hoped that the first to bo held in the. Thames Val- !■ •, ley - would :be '"' a success. All' the branches • in tho valley agreed to co-oporato and have '-. -X a monster picnic at Mr. j Elliott's place at . Omahu on.Saturday, February 15. ; It was agreed that'tho traffic manager be asked to •run an excursion train ;both up and down ' fto allow settlers to ■• attend from the whole • valley, and that ~, all Auckland members of Parliament be invited to attend. A strong committee -of 18 members was appointed "to arrange all \ details, 'canvass . the district, and appoint sub-committees from the other •1 branches to assist. Fruit is to form a ; special feature at this gathering. Messrs. , i Elliott, Back, and Alley were appointed to look after, the visitors. Mr. Glass was • then called on for an address, which' was done in his usual happy style, and at"the -close he 'was heartily congratulated on the ; great success ho had had in the Southern provinces. : The chairman and others de- ■ - precated the manner in which the railway ' orks' had been stopped this summer, and _,Jr. Glass's : remark on tho way the piiblio works policy was being carried out were . frequently • applauded. A letter was read .from the Manga toki branch, ■'■■_ asking this "branch to assist them in getting the price 'or pork raised from 3d to 4d. '■'; A sub-com- ". mittee was appointed to assist them by waiting on the buyers.-A long and most ,> enthusiastic meeting was brought to a close ~, :a t half-past eleven. -% ' A meeting ■of the Mangatoki branch was 'held on Monday evening, when Mr. Glass was present. It was decided to support the Hikutaia branch with their picnic, and to try and make it : a. big success. : _ Mr. r Glass then gave an address, after which a v large number of questions were asked, es- ' pecially about the Workmen's Compensation Act as affecting farme. 3, and it was unanimously . decided to support the Com--4 mercial Union, the Chairman to aot for ances, and to insure all their hands as soon ■as possible. The meeting closed with a hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Glass, and he was congratulated at his success in the .>•■'-. South. '''; ■:'■ -.■: '' The Ngaruawahia branch of tho Farmers' : Club decided to'adjourn-their' meeting on y Saturday to Tuesday evening to havo an address from Mr. Glass, the organising secretary of the Farmers' Union. ; A hearty vote of thanks was given to him' for his ad- : dress, and,they agreed to support the Commercial Union, the Chairman to act for Mr. Glass ■in the matter. The Chairman stated he was very pleased to see the way .the uni-n had prospered, and hoped beforo long that every farmer .would join it. They had already agreed to affiliate, as he could •-see that unless all pulled together they ;:;'could do very little. A vote of thanks to tho chairman brought the meeting to a .-close.