THE FARMERS' UNION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13488, 15 May 1907, Page 6

THE FARMERS' UNION.

The sixth annual provincial conference of the New Zealand Farmers' Union, . which opens to-day; at the Chamber of Commerce, is an event of particular interest 'to Auckland, For, nearly seven? years ago, in "-- a remote part ; of the ."Neglected North, the movement was initiated which has since, developed into this powerful and important organisation. Those who prophesied at that time and for some years afterwards that the agriculturists . of the colony had neither sufficient cause for combined action, nor sufficient intelligence to carry it on, supposing they had cause, have been silenced ; by the growth of a union which maintains 'its offices in every pro- | vince and has active branches in almost every township. This growth, we believe, has been mainly due to the refusal of the organisation'. to abstain from participation - in polii tics, which abstention was eloquently urged by those party politicians who disliked to think of the agriculturist element raising its voice. I against the agrarian follies that were set going by impractical theorists. Yet, if there ever has been a body " of men compelled by circumstances to combine for political purposes it is the New Zealand farmers. Agricultural and pastoral products form the mainstay of our colonial prosperity, as may-be seen by a glance at our export statistics. Those whose capital and labour, applied to the lands of the colony, produce the bulk of the wealth that makes the colony prosperous were disunited and inarticulate until the Farmers' Union gave them cohesion and voice while the workers of the cities, traditionally organised and ably represented,; were not content with confining their attention to the furtherance of their legitimate interests, but were becoming more and more committed to attacks,upon interests which they mistakenly regarded as antagonistic to their own. This tendency may be seen . in the increasing violence of the ever-re-curring attacks upon " the Freehold, which might now be within measurable distance of success had not the Farmers' Union meanwhile entered the political arena. With the result that such an opposition is r being everywhere encountered to the Land Bill that its passage through Parliament is more than doubtful. We have no intention whatever of belittling the. rightful claims of what is termed "Labour," but it is well to remember that -the Farmers' Union represents not only the greatest active capital but the greatest labour force in the colony. For this reason it. is not only* generally progressive in its policy but invariably sound and cautious, constituting. a political influence which is deserving of the support and co-operation of all who are interested in the permanent prosperity of the community. The Conference is not only entitled ; to the : respect which every industrial organisation should receive, but to the heartiest and most sympathetic welcome which can : be given by the : City; of Auckland. ~ In the very nature of things, : the land question occupies an important place in the -subjects set for

discussion at the Conference. First and foremost comes, the claim for the Optional Freehold, on which' a solid and determined tight is being made by our agriculturists ■ against the Ministerial attempt to eliminate it from the land laws of; the colony. It is hardly necessary to say that the farmers of the province, as of the colony, are for the Freehold practically to a man, & fact which ought to Have a deciding influence upon the opinions of those who realise that the agriculturist knows more than others of agricultural conditions. The opening of the Native Lands is another agrarian question of general interest, and on this, again, the farmers are united, recognising that they have submitted too long to the maladministration under which millions of fertile acres have been locked up and many thousands of pounds extorted annually in excessive rates from settlers unfortunate enough to ? hold near untaxed Maori Lands. ' The scarcity of trucks; the high railway freight levied on road metal; the maintenance of long bridges out of the consolidated revenues; Grown tenantrepresentation on the Land Boards; the protection of riverside lands from being ruined by tailings; the construction of public works by contract ; government branding of fencing wire ; co-operative purchasing ; destruction; of noxious birds and weeds; are also among the subjects on the Order Paper, and show the direction and scope of the deliberations. It will be seen from these that in the Farmers' Union is organised a class which is personally and immediately interested in good government and capable administration, and that the entire community benefits by its operations. For what is sought for, primarily, is favourable opportunity to produce from the land those raw materials which form the source of most of our national wealth. That roads should be good and railways convenient and freights reasonable; that the land should be rid of old pests and an effort made to secure the colony against new pests; that trading should be honest, and grading upon practical lines; are all to the advantage of the farmers and through them to the advantage of every individual in the State. If the nonagricultural part of the population would realise that what chiefly ! concerns the farmer is that his industry shall not be recklessly hampered or carelessly tampered;with:: and that when it is affected by legislation enactments shall be reasonably devised and / well considered they would more easily appreciate his consistent . attitude towards land legislation. He is a Freeholder, not because he has any idea of accumulating great areas -of land, but because he knows that he, as every other man, works most contentedly and-with the best "-results upon land which is , his own. The farmer is against landlordism in every shape and ' form, and it is because he is top much interested to make a mistake or to be misled by passing fads and theories; that he is as distinctly against Mr. McNab's Land Bill. ■'