FARMERS’ UNION CONFERENCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19249, 13 August 1924, Page 11

FARMERS’ UNION CONFERENCE

REPORTS BY DELEGATES. At the meeting of the Otago Provincial Executive of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union yesterday reference was made by the President to the recent dominion conference of the union. He stated that all the delegates from Otago attended, and so far as he could see they had a busy time. A remit went forward from Dunedin with reference to the question of herd testing. Mr Singleton gave an address on the subject, and after hearing his remarks the conference was of the opinion that the cost,. whicfy worked out at £33 per man, was reasonable, but it was also of the opinion that the settlers should establish their own associations. r J ho remit from Otago with reference to taxing trading concerns was carried unanimously. The question of land tax was discussed very fully, and a remit favouring its abolition and the substitution of an individual income tax was adopted by 31 votes to 15. The question of protective duties on grain, which was a very sore subject with some delegates, was discussed, but nothing definite was done. In regard to hospital matters, a remit urging a more equitable basis between town and country was adopted, and another, urging that the upkeep of public hospitals and Charitable Aid Boards be derived from one-third of the levies from the contributing local bodies, to he calculated on a population basis, and twothirds on capital value, the Government to subsidise such levies by a flat rate of £1 for £l, was also passed. The matter of preferential voting was discussed and carried. The question of the meat merger was discussed at considerable length, and was eventually referred to the executive. A lot was said both for and against it. One of the most important remits wag that dealing with politics. This was discussed freely, and the remit bearing on the question was turned down by a very big majbrity, practically only the Auckland members being in favour of having a political party. The general impression seemed to be that the conference this year was the most successful ever held by the union. There scorned to be some “go” in it, and a feeling that they were beginning to get what they were striving for. Mr E. H, Murney, another delegate to the conference, dealt with the proposed agricultural bank and the moratorium. He thought the delegates were quite unanimous in the opinion that it was highly desirable in the interests of the farmers themselves that the moratorium should be lifted. Die effect of the moratorium on land was to divert A considerable amount of capital to other purposes, and the sooner it was lifted the sooner the money would drift back to rural securities. The opinion was held that those who felt that they should get an extension of the moratorium could apply to the Supreme Court, and if the case was a good one there was no doubt that the court would give them a hearing and they would get all the extensions they desired. The conference was absolutely unanimous on the matter. At first there was a feeling that the moratorium be extended for six months so that the grain growers and the owners of fat lambs would have an opportunity of getting portion of the year’s takings in before it was lifted. That, however, was a comparatively small item, as the returns were pretty secure, and it would not make a great deal of difference if a man asked for another loan. The proposed agricultural bank was one of the burning questions, and the discussion on it was looked forward to with keenness. The speaker concluded by dealing with a number of details in connection with the agricultural bank. Mr Christie said it had struck him that a lot of new and live men were coming into the movement and that the conference was successful in that the north and south had come together better than ever before. With regard to the wheat position the growers in Canterbury and the fowl feeders in the north found that the difference did not lie so much in the price of wheat as in the freight they paid. Wheat from Australia was no cheaper than New Zealand wheat, provided they could get a reasonable rate of freight from Canterbury. In some cases the freights from the south were higher than those from Australia. The question of overdue land tax was also considered. Apparently the land tax had been allowed to accumulate, and when a man purchased a property he was presented with a bill for the amount unpaid. It. had been decided that the amount of the tax bo registered against the land so that a man would know what charges there were against land when he purchased it. It was decided that (he Moat Board bo elected on a wider franchise than in the past, based on a suitable minimum of stock, and it. was hoped that the next election would be conducted on an extended franchise. With regard to the meat merger it seemed to be a question whether they were prepared to allow the meat works to pass into ' the hands of trusts or whether they were going to make farmers’ concerns out of them. Judging by the trend of events the farmers’ meat works were gradually being put down by the strong proprietary concerns. Although the merger did not appeal to most people the position seemed to bo that it would have to be watched very closely, as it was a question of being squeezed out or having the works under the control of the farmers. They might be sure that the executive in Wellington would watch the position carefully. There was a feeling that all sorts of things would be tried to put the farmers’ works down.

Mr Overton saij.l that ono thing that struck him was the genuine endeavour on the part of the North Island and the South Island to trv to reach an arrangement on the different problems, under discussion. One of the remits from Otago in connection with noxious weeds was amended to the extent that the Act should include not only gorsc, but also blackberry, which had taken charge of hundreds of thousands of acres in the North Island. Another thing was that boards should be formed to work in tho same way as rabbit boards. The general opinion in regard to agricultural education was that tho Government should take more serious steps to instruct the younger farmers than were being taken at present. Professor Perrin had worked out a scheme for instructing young fanners on the farm and then teaching them why certain things were done. Tho , insurance question had been discussed. There was a fooling in tho North Island that they should all join up in one big insurance company, forming a federation of all tho companies in New Zealand. Otago was out against the proposal to form ono big company. Ho thought that in the future they should confine their work entirely to the South Island. The conditions were different in the North Island, and tho risks there were greater than they were hero. Until they' got a substantial fund in the south he did not think they should take up the risks in tho north. There were now insurance branches in Invercargill and Christchurch, and inquiries had been received from Ashburton, TirnSru, tho West Coast, and Nelson. The latest report showed that the insurances for the last three months equalled those for the whole of last year.

Mr Waite moved that the reports of the delegates be adopted ami that they bo thanked for their services. Ho said ho thought that thoso who did not go to the conference had hitherto been very much in the dark as to what had happened in Wellington, but now they had got a: really comprehensive report. It. was a lamentable fact that, in the south there was no professor of agricultural education. Agricultural colleges were being established in both the North Island universities. They could only ho)>e that some wealthy person would come along and make an endowment to ono of tho South Island colleges so that a real school of agriculture could be started. It seemed a crying shame that two agricultural colleges should be running in the North Island and none in tho South.

The motion, which was seconded by Mr Craig, was carried unanimous^’.