FEDERATED FARMERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16673, 18 October 1917, Page 4

FEDERATED FARMERS.

! |TE AWAMUTU ORGANISATION i I .OPENING OF THE INSTITUTE. I [by telegraph.— correspondent.] TE AWAMUTU. Wednesday The Farmers' Institute, which is to- bo the headquarters of the Te Awamutu Subprovincial Farmers Union, was officially opened to-day, many visitors being present. The premises, which are most com

plete and up-to-date, occupy a centra! position, and cost over £2000. In the I forenoon visitors were taken a motor tour of the district, the old battlefields of Orakau and Rangiaohia being visited, Major Lnsk and Mr. Andrew Kay, veteran ' soldiers, guiding the party. Apologies were received from several members of ' Parliament. In welcoming the visitors Colonel Wyn- i yard traversed the history of the negotiations leading up to the establishment of the first sub-provincial district. Mr. A. S. Wallace, Mayor, extended a welcome on behalf of the citizens. He congratulated the farmers on seeking organisation through the institute for the betterment of social conditions. Mr. R. D. Duxfield, president of the Waikato sub-district, congratulated the farmers on their determination to raise ' unionism to a higher standard of efficiency. The new system of organisation opened a new era for successful unionism. ' Mr. A. A. Ross, provincial president, also congratulated the pioneers of the movement, which, he said, would prove the greatest in the history of the union. In the past there had been too wide a gap between the provincial executive and ' branches, but the new organisation was , spreading, and soon all parts of the province would be linked up through sub- ' executives. Mr. J. Boddie said that co-operation which placed produce on the ships only ; went half-way. The time would come! , when co-operative control would extend, , to shipping and the distribution of pro- 1 - duce to the consumer overseas. 11l declaring the building open, Sir 1 James Wilson, Dominion president, said 3 that the acquisition of the premises was a most hopeful augury for future success. ! Referring to the affairs of farmers, ha s&id that there was a certain undercurrent of feeling in the towns that the farmer was receiving too great a reward for his enterprise. This feeling was not confined to the labouring classes, but extended to professional circles as well. There was a growing tendency to shift the burden of taxation on to the farmer, hence the I 3 necessitv for a defensive organisation to , secure justice for the primary nroducers. j Tea was then dispensed by the ladies. ! In the evening a smoke concert was held, , a ____________