A FARMER'S PARTY.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10767, 16 May 1911, Page 3

A FARMER'S PARTY.

INTERVIEW WITH MR C. H. " ENSOR, (Special to the Press.) Wellington, May 15. Mr C. H. Ensor, the prompter of fTie Farmers' Political Protection Federation, passed through Wellington this evening on his return to Canterbury, after an extensive tour through the North Island. In the course of an interview I had with him, lfe referred to the question of land settlement, remarking that few South Island farmers who had not seen ! for themselves, could realise the vast area of beautiful, rich land which was lying idle in the North Island. Between Gisborne, the Bay of Plenty, and Rotorua, there were some millions of acres of fertile valleys and rich rolling downs, some of the richest land in the world, now lying idle, and in an absolutely unproductive state. The land was held by the two largest and most incompetent landlords in New Zealand —the State and the Maori. Not only was the land lying in an absolutely unproductive state, but it was becoming infested with noxious weeds, vermin and rabbits. '"lf the six and a-lialf millions which have been borrpwed, Jij' : the State from the foreign moneylenders for the purpose of resuming developed estates," added' Mr Ensor, "had been used as a mortgage for the purpose of developing and settling the vast areas of its own unreproductive, socalled waste, land, the taxpayer and the State would both be in a better I position to-day. Much of the land mentioned is now producing and earning nothing, but with an expenditure of from £2 to £ per acre, it could be made to carry from one to three sheep per acre, and a very large proportion is suitable for dairy farms. If the graduated land tax was made to act on land which remained idle, or was not brought to a reasonable state of productiveness, the State anQ the Maori would fare very badly." . | EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. I On this subject Mr Ensor expressed ! the opinion that stud breeders should 'be encouraged, and not, harassed: by penal taxation, because they were creating great wealth for the Dominion _by spending large sums of money in improving the breed of stock and the methods of agriculture, and in comparison with the work which is being done by the State in that direction, were achieving far better results at no cost to the country. From inquiries made, he does not think the benefits received from the State experimental farms warrant the money that is being spent on them, but he does think that agriculture and scientific farming can be taught to young farmers with great success and advantage to the country generally by the methods adopted at Lincoln College. THE REASON OF PROSPERITY. "In a country such as this," said Mr Ensor, in. the course of further conversation, "whose prosperity depends on its primary products, and whose income last year was made up of 18 millions worth of products from the soil and three millions from mining and other sources, it is very plain that its prosperity lis 'reflected not by the amount of revenue collected by the State in taxes, etc., but by the" increased value of the export, trade. If this has decreased this year, it is a sure sign that it is time for the practical farmer to take a hand in politics and administer land legislation in such" a manner as to give the worker, the tenant, and the freeholder the opportunity to do their best to extract more wealth from the soil. In - passing through the country I could see enormous scope for increased production if farmers were given sympathetic legislation and encouragement to employ more labor. It is also interesting o reflect, when you see farm touching farm from North Cape to the Bluir, what a power in the land the farmers can become if they combine for the purpose of using their power as an organised political factor, and that is > their only practical method of dealing with the political power of organised socialism and labor." . , • : Mr Ensor found that both m Auckland and Hawke's Bay there was a keen interest being displayed m this matter, and that the farmers had made up their minds to organise on the lines ot. the Canterbury Federation-