SOUTH OTAGO

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22675, 13 September 1935, Page 12

SOUTH OTAGO

BALCLUTHA Farmers' Union's Grievances A special meeting of the Clutha branch of the Farmers' Union was held on Wednesday night to meet a delegation from the Provincial Executive comprising Messrs R. J. Smith (president), R. H. Michelle (vice-prasident), C. R. Sheat, William Lee, Arthur Craig, A. C. Cameron (superintendent), and E. H. Calder (secretary). Mr Alexander Renton presided, and there was a good attendance of members and delegates from the various branches. The chairman extended a hearty welcome to the members of the Provincial Executive. There was an idea abroad, he said, that the Clutha branch had a grievance against the Provincial Executive, but that was not so as far as individual members of the executive were concerned, and besides, anything the branch might have done was intended for the good of the whole union. He had no doubt good would result from the visit of the executive. The first grievance the branch had aired was in connection with the newspaper Point Blank The branch considered the paper had been " forced on " to members. They had not asked for it, and as it meant the cutting down of their share of members' subscriptions to 3s a head it had not been acceptable, as the branch realised they could not do much with only 3s from the £1 subscription which members paid. There was also the' question of members of the Dominion Executive holding salaried Government positions. The branch also thought that the findings of the Dairy Commission had not received the consideration they should have got from the executive. Members had voiced an idea that the fact that there were Government office-holders on the Dominion Executive of the union might be apt to bring the element of politics into an organisation that should be free of politics.

Mr R. J. Smith (provincial president) said he hoped the branch's grievances would be removed, but he would leave that matter to his colleagues to explain. He would like to congratulate the chairman on the fact that five branches out of six had voted in favour of his (Mr Renton's) election as a member of the Provincial Executive, so that he was assured of his seat on that body. Mr Michelle said the remark had been made at a meeting of the Balclutha branch that the present members of the executive were there for life. Well, in the past four years there had been 17 new members out of the 24, which did not look as if anyone had a life tenure. The speaker briefly referred to the influence the union had exerted in securing reductions in interest and local rates, and aho lower fire insurance premiums, and concluded with an appeal To all farmers to join the union. Mr C. R. Sheat referred to Poir.t Blank. He said that the decision to continue the agreement for another year had been arrived at after a lot of consideration, and some alteration might be made at the next conference, but he believed they should have their own paper for propaganda purposes. Mr Lee said he agreed with some of the criticism that had been levelled by the Clutha branch, especially in regard to. members of the Dominion Executive holding Government appointments, but the Provincial Executive and the members themselves were not to blame. _ The rules of the union that permitted it were at fault. Personally thought the union should be a non-political body. As to the Dairy Commission's report and the regulations that had been put into effect, he considered they would entail a lot of expense and very little benefit to the dairy farmer. If a farmer presented a really good product at the factory door that should be sufficient and he should be freed from annoying inspections and regulations. Great benefits had, however, accrued to the farming community from the work of the union. He referred to the high exchange rate and said the Government was to be congratulated on raising the exchange. When New Zealand had a 10 per cent, pegged exchange Australia's exchange rate with the Mother Country had gone up to 25 per cent., and one of the effects was that a lot of New Zealand money was going to Australia for investment and the senders were makinsr £ls on every £IOO s«nt over, as well as securine. a higher, rate of interest. That had now been stopped. The exchange had particularly benefited the pig trade, and enabled a good export trade to be established. The union had also been a powerful influence in obtaining railway freight reductions on farmers' produce. Mr Arthur Craig said he did not agree with the view that men holding Government positions should be ineligible for a place on the Dominion Executive. If such a rule had been in force they would have lost the services of Messrs Waite, Sheat and James Begg. all of whom had given great service to the union. The Provincial Executive had been criticised as being composed of sheep men and not dairy farmers. That could hardly be correct when tffey had a man like Mr Lee on the executive. In Otago he found that three times the value of exports was taken from sheep compared with that from cows, but the executive did not look at that at all in making their decisions, and worked solely for the benefit of farmers a 3 a whole. His experience had been that those members like Mr Waite, who held Government positions, had been of immense benefit to the union. Mr A. C. Cameron spoke at length on the subject of the problems confronting the union, and said that criticism of the provincial executive was bound to have a stimulating effect, always provided that it was constructive criticism. The men comprising the council were drawn from all over Otago, and they were the best men available who had the time to give to their duties. Dealing with the mortgage adjustment legislation, which had done, and was doing so much good to farmers who had been badly hit by the depression, he said that an idea prevailed in some quarters that the mortgagee should get no consideration at all, but it was a mistake to suppose that all the mortgagees were on the " box seat." They were often in a worse position than the mortgagor. The speaker gave several instances of mortgagees who could not get their interest paid, and had nothing else to live on after a lifetime of hard work. To make the necessary adjustments between mortgagor and mortgagee required men of capacity, who in Otago had been appointed on the recommendation of the Fanners' Union. Th e speaker also dealt ' with the pooling of the loans from all Government lending departments under the Mortgage Corporation Bill, and went on to deal with the old mining laws as affecting arable areas in Central Otago. The union was interested in getting these old laws repealed, and hoped yet to succeed. Sheep stealing was nowadays becoming a positive menace, and as many as 700 sheep had been stolen from one Otago property in one year. The executive of the Farmers' Union was endeavouring to get an Act passed to allow of the stopping and inspection of all motor lorries travelling with sheep at night. Reductions had been secured in telephone charges, and railway freight rates througn the influence of the union. In regard to trade agreements with Australia and the embargo on New Zealand potatoes, the union had taken up the attitude "Hands off the oranges, for the sake of the children." If there was to be retaliation against Australia, then let it be by increasing the tariff on Australian manufactured goods. The speaker concluded bv warning his hearers against the illusions of the Douglas credit advocates, and said that there wns no universal panacea for the world's ills, but if the farmers stuck together thfiv would probably be able to ' get anythins they wanted in reason. , ~ , ~ A "cnernl discussion followed, after which" the visitors were entertained at supper.

MILTON Golf The followum: is the draw for the Toko Coif Club's first round in the Men a Championship:—A Grade: C. H. Hitchon v. D. M'Donald, A. Hall v. T. Clayton, I). J. Sumpter v. W. Hannah, R. M. Rutherford v. L. M. Scott. B Grade: W George v. U. Walker, J.B. Gray v. G. Clark. ' * , , , ~ > The first round of the clubs Ladies "Knock-out" Competition vill be played to-morrow afternoon.

Building Inspector The Milton Borough Council at Wednesday night's meeting decided to appoint a building inspector at a remuneration of half the fees collected from the issue of building permits.

Hockey Tournament Interest in the South Otago Ladies' Hockey Association's annual seven-a-side tournament has been almost completely overshadowed by the interest displayed in the South Otago team's success in the "K" Cup tournament at Gisborne. Nevertheless, with the return of the touring team interest has been revived in the tournament, which will be held to-morrow afternoon on the Toko Domain and the Bruce Club's grounds. Altogether about 25 teams have been nominated, including South Otago affiliated clubs and teams from Dunedin, Taieri, Brighton, Pahnerston-, and Central Otago. Further entries are anticipated.