THE FARMERS' UNION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12468, 12 January 1904, Page 3

THE FARMERS' UNION.

The ordinary meeting of the Kaipara Flats i branch of the Farmers' Union was held on ' January 4. Tho attendance was good, and ; was further augmented by the presence of 1 Messrs. Buckton and Thomson, two of tho ' members of the Rodney County Council. * Correspondence included memorandum regarding road from Wyatt's boundary to | the Kaipara Flak railway station, tho De- 1 partmental reply being to the effect that ( as no money is at present available for purchasing land for this road the matter • must remain in abeyance until next session. * Thy Chairman said he could not see that 1 more could bo done just now, but, recognising the urgency for tho construction of this '<■ road, the matter must be brought forward as soon as possible next session. Air. G. 1 W. Thomson, the councillor for the riding, t said that the Rodney County Council had ] already sanctioned tho construction of tho t road, and he assured the meeting that that 1 body would do their best to urge the matter . upon tho Government. Mr. Buckton also i expressed his approval and promised his ' support in carrying out tho wishes of tho ratepayers, : Referring to tho proposed extension of ' the local government franchise, tho Chairman said lie considered it wrong to place i the owner of a small garden section on the '. same level as tho owner of hundreds of ; acres as to voting power Tho latter had the whole of his capital invested, while the former might leave tire colony at any moment The meeting was of opinion that legislation in this direction must in future : be keenly supervised and checked by the Farmers' Union, there being no doubt that ; if allowed to become law it woulc be the i thin end of the wedge of the single-tax ] movement. A petition regarding freehold tenure-, which has been forwarded by the colonial executive, was tabled by the secretary, who is desired to secured tho signatures of the Crown tenants throughout tho district in j support of the same, the object of the petition being to have tho Land Act so amended as to give the Crown tenants the option of purchasing the freehold. Tho petition received the support of the Crown tenants present, who affixed their signatures. Air. Buckton, the county councillor repre- ! senting the Tauhoa Riding, said ho attended the meeting for the purpose of acquiring information so as to enable him to carry out the wishes oi the ratepayers, and would like the opinion of the meeting re the traffic by : laws, which tho Count} Council proposed to revise. Air. Thomson tabled a copv for the consideration of the meeting, chiefly relat- I ing to width of tires for relative weights j and number of animals attached, so as to enable the Council to regulate the heavy I traffic for the winter months. After some discussion, it was decided that Mr. Thomson's views as to readjustment of the by- 1 iaws be approved of. The question of road improvement came ! in for a long and animated discission as to ways and means for improvement and for raising funds for that purpose. Tho chairman thought that valuing the improvements for the purpose of taxation was unjust, and opposed to true progress. All. Sainsbury said he would like to know what the rej valuation would cost the county. He would j not be opposed to revaluation by competent men, with a reasonable margin for improve- I j merits. Air. G. W. Thomson said that re- I , valuation of the whole county was an abso- | lute necessity. He condemned the present system of valuing by die General Government, which was a source of grea> expense to too local bodies. A readjustment of the ridings and revaluation would be necessary before the next election, and the readjustment of tho ridings would be based on the question of community of interest. He thought that a. special rate might maintain the roads, but a loan would be required to do any real improvement, and a road district should be made for the loan. He had aiwayr tried to expend the moneys accruing from the thirds" of the Crown tenants as neat as possible to the lands from which they were derived. The exceptional n&oa of last January had necessitated an overdraft for work which could not be delayed. This he had had to recoup, which had left him very little funds for general road work. The gum land an- 1 Maori land were a great drawback, as the roads had to be maintained through these lands, and no income was derived by the local bodies. It was difficult to know what to do for the best, but he hud decide' to employ a surfaceman for repairing the roads. It would j only be an experiment, as he could not yet say whether funds would allow it for a ! permanency. It was difficult to get labour | tot road work, as sometimes tenders were j called for and no application received He j was aware that the land was overburdened i i with taxation, and thought that some > j scheme should be .cvised in which tho i ■ j whole community should bear a share for j maintaining the public roads, since all made j use of them. i ] No definite means of improvement of . , mads were agreed upon, and the matter will receive further discussion later I' is felt . J that the delay in the construction of the l j railway m this point is a great drawback, as prooably metal could be conveyed j cheaper by rail than otherwise. The line is nuclei construction within three miles of . the Kaipara Hats railway station, but how i many years it will take to reach this point i at the rate of recent progress it is impossible to say, and in the meantime the ques--1 Hon oof road improvement is difficult to ■/ settle.— Correspondent.] 1 -————— iI" ~ - •