GENERAL BUSINESS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13489, 16 May 1907, Page 7

GENERAL BUSINESS.

' . FINANCE. . ' , The balance-sheet showed that members' fees totalled £214 18s Id, and £126 14s 2d j had been; paid into the account for the ] Land Bill campaign, while there was -a I credit balance of £158 12s 6d.'» Tlm receipts totalled £384 7s 2d, and the expenditure £225 14s Bd. ~ ' , f The treasurer (Mr. G. J. Garland)' went into the financial position at" length, and showed that at the present tinie there was a total in; the bank of £138 ; 16s 10d/ and a liability ot £36. ■;;-.-:■ Eight meetings of the executive ; had . been I held, and no* meeting called had' lapsed for want of a quorum.' Over 10,000 letters and circulars had beensent ■. out. ;* Sixteen branches had tepliedtl to the circular' regarding the potato blight/ • and it was proposed to send these ' replies ! ; to Professor Kirk, as was done in the case of rust \ in: oats. .Up, to .April 30 there were 52 financial branches, and there were : 896 financial 'members in the; provTuce. He ' understood .that "cheques had been posted . which would bring the financial member*] ship up/ to 'nearly 1000, and add another £30 to : the credit balance, which would stand lat about £165. : The balance-sheet was then adopted, and <» . vofctf»,«?f' iihnirk j-iy«g rptrizgeii~iTr?s>i r.--Oar*" land, secretary and treasurer. THE LAND BILL. There were five or six remit* from branches, all dealing with the Land Bill, and to the purport that no tenure would be satisfactory which. • did ; not give the option of acquiring the freehold. / These were discussed generally together, , , Mr. 'J. : B. Clark (Ohaeawai) said this was one of the questions members of the union were so thoroughly agreed upon that there seemed really Lno reason ..'discuss it.': They were all freeholders from ,the bottom of their hearts.' The present ten-, dency was to drive; tfte best' settlers to other countries, and at. present the _Ar/ gentine' was offering great facilities.. ' It would be a ci-ime.to .force young New .ZeaI landers to leave.-this country, as the Land I Bill would do.; (Hear, hear;) *- -• j Mr. T. "W. Wilson (PiiparOa) remarked I that in his district there .was /not a man i who was not a freeholder. •/ -,:

Mr. Allen Bell (Hamilton) said it was necessary to r point out that the union was acting purely in; the interest of the small man. The Hon. Mr. Millar had, said the cry.for the freehold was '. the cry of the capitalist, but every farmer knew that -was not so. If a man had only a small capital to start with; he should still have the option to acquire the freehold when able to do eo. (Applause.) He did, not 'think there were two opinions amongst the fanners of the country, and in .travelling round |he did not find one man with, tlie courage Ito take the platform and advocate lease* hold. (Applause.) ' „i

.., Mr. Duxfield said : there was'., one matter j the union had not taken 'a decided: stand, upon. '. : \' It had never ■.made it clear upon what term's it; thought' ' Crown tenants should acquire the freehold, and' some in, the House who did not dare to declare themselves leaseholders were sheltering beI hind tuis. He thought the tenant should have tue right to convert after paying;the ! 1 -per- cent, -he would have had to.-;pay • under the optional system. Many tenants had disposed of their leases, and those who* had gone in tod paid for the wi11,./and if; they ■ wero, to receive the freehold it could be undei .; nothing but the '-'original value. ' '.'-,v-' • :

The President said it hod been distinctly; laid down by the Colonial Conference on two occasions that on the payment of the difference between the 4 and 5 per cent, and compound interest added -.; from the time of occupation, the holder should have the section at original value. This was noW a codicil to the union platform. (Applause.).;.... -■;'■- • Mr. F. Dve (Kaukapakapa) contended that the abolition ; of = the, freehold '/ in >the future- was not tho most important question raised by the Bill. He thought existing freeholds -were endangered. The Hon. • Mi-. Carroll said that present" freeholders were not in danger, but he (the speaker) agreed with Mr. Massey. There was no doubt that the present freehold and the future, freehold together would be. too big a' bite. If ; the Government got " the abolition of future freehold down without choking "•< the country, then the next bite would be existing freeholds. If ever there was a time when, farmers should join the union it was now, and if they didn't hang together there was not the slightest doubt that existing freeholds would be swallowed up by single-taxers. ; (Applause.) Mr. J. Flanagan (Drury) said that all the town agitators had votes, and it was the members who were returned to Parliament who would ultimately settle the question. The union should take more notice of what was being done by the other side. The Trades and Labour/ Conference .endorsed the Bill, but thought the lease should be 22 instead of 66 years, and the £50,000 limit should be £30,000, ' and the Hon. Mr. Millar said the limitation would have to be reduced. If the limit were,reduced to £30,000, what was to prevent the Government from reducing.it:to £10,000 or £5000?/ They .■•. knew that the/ Ministers, except the Premier and Mr. ; McNab, were decidedly, in; favour of leasehold and single tax. If farmers did.not take a firm stand the holdings of. no,. however small, I would be safe. ■;/ The agitators in the towns believed ; there; should, be no freeholdthey [ believed in land nationalisation— those who lived- on the land knew how farcical [that was. (Applause.) //• -V : ' ; ;

Mr. W. G. Barker (Mama) \\ mentioned a big block of land in his district which was cut up under lease,: and out of 23 settlers only eight remained, and the rest of the land went into the hands of. one man.

Mr. J. S. Wilson (Netherton) spoke of the lesson in favour of freehold; afforded by the contrast between counties which were leasehold and those which were freehold. In case of war it would be found that the volunteers were freeholders/not leaseholders. Mr. R. Keay (Paterangi) said it was known that the "Cabinet Ministers who were supporting, the Bill -were i urged / on to it chiefly by labour unions,' single-taxers, and socialists, and it was most unjust that these people, living in the towns, and knowing nothing about land, should dictate- to the farmer how he should hold his land. The farmers would have to meet these people in Parliament, and fight them there. Mr. W. J. Shaw (Kinohaku) said he represented a community of leaseholders, but who were all anxious to become freeholders. (Applause.) , Mr. S. Scniby (Wade) considered that a Government leasehold system would mean serfdom. Tenants would be at the bidding of Government, inspectors, and private landlords were preferable to that.;... Mr. H. J. Burgoyne (Clevedon) thought it simply ridiculous to expect, farmers to go back on to bush and swamp lands, and then at the end of 22 or 66 years give up their holdings at the, bidding of singletaxers. At this stage the luncheon .adjournment took place. . ■ " SINGLE TAX FANATICS." - Mr/. Garton urged that the union could do nothing too strong'' to' combat .; the forces arrayed against them. It -was reported that a fungoid had been discovered; in America that was destructive to black- ' berries, and he' hoped that a.fungoid would be discovered in New Zealand that would 1 similarly affect all single-tax fanatics and other fools." " ' '• . . Mr. Shaw said that the only means by which the union could achieve its object was to get 'together and put.; their candidates in-the field. . '•'■' -.''/' '. ', . " Mr. G. J. Garland said he , was glad to know that the great majority of the members of the union were freeholders.' Only a small I percentage were leaseholders.; (Hear, hear.) He urged the need for stronger organisation in regard to attempts ' to get better representation in Parliament up to the present the interests of the farmers bad not been properly represented or ' protected. In every other country the Minister for Lands was looked upon as the friend of the farmer, but would anybody in New Zealand say that Mr. McNab was the friend of the farmer? : (Voices: No!) Of course not ; he had brought in a Bill which deprived them and children for ever of the chance of obtaining. the freehold, this being the obvious effect of the endowment proposals. He referred to the workers' dwellings, and said that the holders of these would no doubt be. very glad of the chance of obtaining the freehold of their, holdings. The same spirit animated the farmers, and both should be given the opportunity of acquiring the freehold. (Applause.) _ The President said that it was 'desirable; that the waste lands of the colony should be settled as quickly Jas possible, and the best means of accomplishing this was undoubtedly by the adoption of the optional form of "tenure. The Farmers' Union, he said, was in favour of the limitation of holdings and also of the occupiers of the workers' dwellings being ,permitted to acquire the freehold of their holdings. If the other side continued .to put "' fads before the /' cotmtr" the ' / farmers must . be' equally"\* determined in bringing their side-of the case forward. .The granting ol the option of the freehold was by no means a gift, as some people would : seem to infer. As one man said the other i day, "I paid"! £600 for my freehold, 1 and ' this means £30 a year that the Government is receiving in interest." If the Government gave the option of, the freehold, it would no longer be necessary for.it to act as rent or interest collector (in/connection with" the resumption of estates) for : the London moneylender, and they would, have some money available for expenditure on public .works.-'; (Applause.) : / '.. iThe, motion., in favour ";of the, optional tenure was then carried . unanimously, ;in the } following form: —"That this branch r that the union will i maintain its present action in propogation-- of the■---■ optional tenure as the best form of land tenure for the whole country." . .'•■.■. ;. , Native LANDS question. ' Mr. Clark,' on behalf of the Ohaeawai branch, moved, "That the Government be urged 'effect; a : speedy and satisfactory settlement of all native lands, ; whereby they will/pay- rates, -and allow the country to be settled as it should .be." He said' that at present i the large areas of unoccupied native lands were worse than idle, as they were proving simply a hotbed for* noxious weeds. IHe * said .that 1 : at present the cost of Native Land Court proceedings was very expensive, and: there was general dissatisfaction with the results of,.the present system. He thought that the landsshould bo individualised, as he knew from experience the evil results of Maoris hold-; ing land in common; At present there were appeals after appeals". If the knowledge of some of the old ;, settlers could be made use of in settling the native question, it would be better than taking the evidence of natives, which frequently was not in accordance with fact. The result of this was that many injustices were inflicted by the decisions. He did not blame the judges, • who had to accept the . evidence.

j Mr. T. W. Wilson said that some na- | tives of an industrious turn of J mind had acquired their own farms, and were doing well. There ; were many / othei' natives who would be able to do equally well if the Government would only move ' in the matter and afford them proper facilities. _ Mr. Pohleu said that in his district native lands were simply a nursery for noxious weeds, rabbits, and other pests. ;/ He ; condemned the present communal system prevailing amongst the natives, and said that the only remedy was the individualisation of titles'. "■ ; ;

Mr. 'Duxfield spoke' of the difficulties surrounding the question, which", he said, called for the best efforts of all to ensure its '.-satisfactory-solution. '. ';"■'■ Mr. Wily; said, that the present . Governmerit"; had appointed a Commission, to deal with the -native land question, but ; it .was, lie was afraid, only a putting-off of tho question, and the drawing of the provaru.al red herring across the scent. / "Speaking of . the : appointment -of : Native Land Court judges, he said . that at one time they were selected on account '-of special fitness for the position, but now' the positions were" given 'as rewards for party services. As to the present Native Land Commission, it was not likely to. do any god.d* and he did not think that it was in':. tended to do any good. ./ ' , , I -: Mr. a Bell ■ urged,-that f -in settling , the native lands they should not do anything to place the natives in ■ the position; of -landlords. / They objected to the State "being the landlord, but Maori'landlords-would be worse. V ' ;-■■'■' ".'"-' Messrs. Flanagan,» Haylock, ; F. Dye, and J. S. Wilson also spoke in favour of j the motion. -'The' last-named expressed the opinion ; that the Commission would j probably do good work. -The motion. was carried. : SHORTAGE OF TRUCKS. Mr. Keay moved :> ■ That - this branch requests the Provincial Conference to ask the Colonial Council to draw the notice of the Minister for Railways to the fact that there is a scarcity of trucks on the; Waikato railway, farmers having to wait as long as two weeks for tracks to convey their stock away. • - He said ; that since the, motion was passed by the Paterangi : branch Mr. Ronayne, general -manager of railways, -had. met a deputation at Auckland, and had. given what must be considered a satisfactory reply to the representations made; to him. He therefore thought that little more could be done at present. He pointed / out the great inconvenience that "' some settlers had been put; to in consequence 'of the shortago of trucks; and sie mentioned a specific case in which a settler on driving a number of fat lambs to a. station had to drive /them - home again owing to the"; lack of tracks. • ' ; ;, Mr. Duxfield seconded the. motion. > Mi'. G. J. Garland; said that the Huntly Miners' Union had written to him. asking for; the co-operation of the Farmers'; Union 'regard to the question. The; letter, .however, had - arrived during his absence

I from town, and therefore the union was I nob represented on the deputation. He had not read the "report of Mr. Ronayne's statement, but he did jiot think that the i matter : could be satisfactorily settled. Mr. Duxfield: The Government should use their surpluses; -providing new rolling stock. (Applause.) Mr. Haylock spoke of his experience in regard to the shortage of trucks. Mr. Wily spoke of the use of trucks for conveying passengers ..;. on race days, and said that, more carriages as .well as trucks were required.. The motion was carried. CARRIAGE OF ROAD METAL. Mr. Keay moved, ! and it was carried: - I That -the- Minister for Railways lie approached respecting the nigh tariff on road I metal, 'and that he be asked for a considerable reduction in freight-to local bodies, say* by at least one-half. | In the course of the discussion;' Six. Keay. spoke of the scarcity of road metal in many parts of the province, and said that in some places it was necessary in winter to get a boy on a pony to drive cows out of the stockyards into the bails. Some members urged that the metal should be carried free, ; but it was pointed I out : that this could not be expected. "". APPOINTMENT OF VALUERS.." | Mr. Scruby moved as follows: '• j That all valuers appointed by the Government should bo practical , men with local knowledge. ' This 5 was carried without discussion. - MAINTENANCE OF ROADS AND BRIDGES. ' Mr .Scruby moved the following remit; sent by the "Wade branch:—.; That, all bridges over ', 30ft span be constructed and maintained out of Consolidated revenue. ' ''"•" "■''. . ■'/■'/.'

' Mr. : Wily.'in seconding the motion, said ■> he was in favour of borrowing for sucK 1 purposes, and allowing settlers to pay the costs. . ,- „ » -■■ . 1 Mr. Wilson said that the Government • was already empowered under the Public ' Works Act to construct bridges over 30ft ; span. VHe spoke of the large number, of • wide streams that had to be bridged, and ! said that such works could be carried out only with the assistance of the Govern- ' ment. ' * ,•- '. Mr. Duxfield thought that the motion ' should also include the mam branch roads._ ' Mr. Borrie thought that the inclusion of ' roads might be left out of the .question, as ; the Government was not likely to give up 1 the political power represented by the pre--1 sent system of making grants for roads. Mr. Bell thought that ; all - public; 1 works should. be carried out by the County '< Councils or other local bodies. This would get rid "of, the present system of the Go- ! vernment making.all sorts of promises just ' • before elections in regard to public works. :< i After some further discussion, the mo- : tioh was carried in the following amended form : — _■ .. ■ ! ! That all main roads be constructed and] 1 maintained by the general Government, ■ and, i also all bridges over 30ft span, until such, time, . as greater powers are given to- local bodies [I to deal more effectively with such works. j '> : FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO ' FARMERS. >' The following motion was moved on'beI half of the Kiiiohaku . branch by Mr. i|Tya.n: — ' That this branch desires the- Provincial I Conference to discHßS ways and means ot ', financing small farmers, similar to agricultural banks established by European nations.. ; 'None' "of the delegates were acquainted with;' the ' details of ■ the agricultural ] banks referred to, and'it was decided to refer the matter back to the ' Kinoliafcii branch, with a request for.it to collect all \ information available by the meeting of the , next Conference. i REPRESENTATION ON THE LAND ; ; ■■-:•■; :■ ■ BOARDS.-:'. Mr. Shaw moved: ' ..;:;! That the Crown; tenants have power to elect a member of the Land Board for their ■ district. ■ ■■■■;■".,' In the course of the discussion it was urged by one speaker that all the members of Land Boards should be elected by the settlers, but against this it was ■■• pointed out that it was only reasonable that the Government, as' the owners of the land, should protect themselves by retaining the power to. appoint at least (half the members. , : _ ■ ■ ' - ■ The motion was passed in the. following form: — ;':' ",.''' ','*' ',' , That in the interests of Crown tenants it is desirable that at least one-half Of the. members of the ..Land Board should foe elected by the settlers. .. >' • RATING OF UNOCCUPIED LANDS. The following remit from Kinohaku was affirmed on the motion of Mr. Shaw':-— " ,That the Loans to" Local" Bodies Act be ; amended so that all unoccupied (native and Crown) land in any special rating area shall become ratable from the date of occupation. -.";-,■■ TARIFF REFORM. _ The President moved, and seconded: - ■. ' Should any - amendment be made to , the present tariff, it should be in the direction of a revenue instead of a protective tariff. ' The motion .was carried. LOCAL GOVERNMENT FRANCHISE. -The following motion was passed, on the motion of , the * President: — _ That only ratepayers be empowered to vote on local government matters in counties, road board, : and rural districts, and that this Conference protests in the most emphatic manner againat the proposal to extend the Parliamentary franchise for the purpose of electing these bodies. ! DAMAGE THROUGH DEPOSITS OF OF TAILINGS. Mr. J. S. Wilson (Netherton) moved as follows: — / • That the Govarumeilt be requested to adopt such measures as are necessary to protect the properties now being ruined by the mining tailings being deposited in rivers. He said that the Conference should strongly protest against what he ■termed' the callous indifference" of the Government on this subject. They had an engineer reporting to the Government. that no harm was being done, But yet the land was being submerged and ruined. As an instance, he mentioned : that a rock which at one time was 3ft" out of water at present could not b© .5een.:..... ;> . ~ . : :..- : , t ,„ . Mr. V Bell said this was a question which affected other parts of the colony as well * as.'; Auckland. ~ Hundreds of acres of •some of the finest land in the North Island were being : ruined by: the deposit of tailings. •/■"■■" '"'■.■,: -'JLhe; President said that he knew from personal observation that this was a very, serious matter for the fanners affected, many of whose farms were practically in danger of annihilation. ,; The statement that the trouble had been .. caused by debris coming down the Waihou was ridiculous. ,; The Waihou was absolutely clean, whilst the Ohinemuri was as thick as pea soup. ': ;:. • * j The motion was carried.- -..' -CONTRACT V. CO-OPERATIVE SYSTEM. ' ■/' '*" The President moved : " That all publio works should be constructed on the contract system, as against the co-operative system now *u i vogue. He- said that the experience of: several years had proved that the co-operative system of carrying out works was a failure, and that its only value was its use as a voting auxiliary force for the party in power. , . ...... ". Mr. Duxfield, in seconding the tion, referred to the experience with the Makohine viaduct and said that had the contract system been "adopted throughout the Main Trunk way. would have been completed by now. ; - : . ; ' ;;: The resolution: was carried. '. • * , ' THE. ANNUAL LEVY. . j Mr. Garland; provincial treasurer, moved.:- ; -:;;, ,■■;■/ ' ,:'.,- That the annual provincial, levy for the" ' vear ending March 31, 1908, be 5s each mem- . bcr. ■ ■;■ '■ ■: m ;'&s::?\jr .'>«- I ■-;:-..;■:*■.■':•:. ■ ".,"-■;;:,. i The motion was carried. ■ .