N.Z. FARMERS' UNION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2605, 17 February 1904, Page 17

N.Z. FARMERS' UNION.

OTAGO

The HamptJen correspondent of the- Palsnerston Times writes: — I tinderstand that 35 members of the Hampden branch of the Farmers' Union havo signed tho guarantee for ■'■he purpose- of obtaining the services of a veterinary surgeon to attend to their •warts. The next meeting will be held on tho second Saturday in March. Mr R. Walker has been appointed secretary.

Tho monthly meeting of the Pukerau branch was held on the Sth inst. Mr William Secular pr elided, and there- were 20 members present. Mr Paterson, veterinary surgeon, was in attendance, and prior to the meeting inspected several animals. The Provincial Executive forwarded pamphlets containing appointments for January and February. Reference was made to the establish ment of a labour agency by the union, and the branch was requested to pay immediate attention to the payment of arrears to ihe end of the financial year (March 31). The annual conference was to "be held on May 6, at which it was diesirable that the branch be represented The following resolution was forwarded for discussion from the Provincial Executive : "That this executive recommend branches to consider the desirability of making a small charge foi Mr Paterson's professional attendance in any case, but no ohargo to be made for advice only, otherwise it will be necessary to raiso the subscription." Mr J. Wilson consideied the resolution to be desirable. Ib •would prevent Mr Paterson being called away from hie regular appointments on trivial ca?es. He- would move: "That this branch is in favour of the resolution." Seconded by Mr Wm. Elliott and carried. — In regard to the cervices of the vet., the Chairman stated that he did not think Pukeran branch had any cause for complaint xe-gardmg Mr Paterson's e-ervices. Mr Pater•son could not attend the whole of Southland within a few days. In reply to Mr Catto, Mr Paterson stated that he had an appointment for nearly every day in the year. Mr Wilson moved that the branch express it&elf quite satisfied with the treatment received from Mr Patersou. Seconded by Mr Pullar, and carried. — The Provincial Secretary wrote regarding the position of guarantors who were not members of the union having the benefit of the vet'&. services. The executive had decided "That all guarantors not members may have- the benefit of Mr Paterson's services on payment of 10s D&r aujium.* but this

is not to relieve them of any contingent liability under their guarantees." Mr Paterson said that an idea was abroad that there was likely to be a deficiency of £250, but

ir Jvc (the speaker) had his way the guarantors would not be called upon to pay anything in terms of their guarantee. The> union had) been running for 14- months on 12 months' finance. His idea was that th© union should tide over the difficulty without calling upon the guarantors; it was for the executive- to attend to the matter, however, seeing that there had been a deficiency last year. Now that the union had established a firmer foundation, and members were stronger in its interests seeiag that they had obtained valuable concessions through its agency, it was likely enough that tho deficiency incurred would be wiped off. Tho union might be regarded as a new business — it could 1 not be expected to pay at once. There was always a jertam amount of loss during the first year. He considered that the assets of the union were equal to any deficiency likely to occur. — Mr Paterson then addressed the meeting at considerable length. He dwelt with the Mutual Fire Insurance Bill, upon which he said, the union had practically staked its reputation. The speaker referred to concession* secured to the farmers in tiie new Preferential Trade Bill, and 1 he explained that, following investigations made at the instance of the union, the present high price of wool had been secured. Mr Paterson gave a resume of the woi'k of the recent Science Congress, and concluded his remarks by dealing with anthrax, joint ill, etc., as at previous meetings. — The meeting adjourned with a hearty vote of thanks tc> Mi- Paterson and the chairman.

The quarterly meeting of the Maniototo branch was held at Ranfurly on the 28th ult. Mr J. Howell (president) occupied the chair. A list of those who have signed the veterinary burgeon guarantee was laid on the table. It contains 92 names, with two lists yet to come- in, and it is confidently expected' that the total for this branch will reach 130 signatures. — The Secretary explained that a meeting of the Provincial Executive, of which he is a member, would be held shortly to consider the whole question of appointing and locating veterinarysurgeons for Otago, and he thought that Central Otago should make an effort to secure the services of one who should work the district from say Middle-march to Ophir ; and that the branches in those centres should be asked for an expression of "opinion as to their willingness to fall in with this project. The Chairman strongly supported the (Suggestion, and said that he had no doubt members would increase the amount of their guarartee if they could have the vet. within reasonable distance. The secretary was instructed to write to the Middlemarch and Ophir branches with a view of securing a vet. for Central Otago. — A communication from the Colonial Secretary to Mi Herdman, which wae forwarded to the branch secretary, re the protection of seagulls, was read, and it was resolved that tho secretary write to Mr Herdman, M.H.R., asking him to take the necessary steps to have the protection removed off seagulls within the Maniototo County. — Mr Thorn asked if anything had been done by the union in lespect of the small bird nuisance. The Secretary replied that the matter had been fully discussed at the different conferences of delegates all over the colony and also by the Colonial Council, and quoted from the -report of the Colonial Council held in Wellington in July last, whe-11 a motion Avae carried asking the Government to offer a substantial bonus for an effective bird poison. After some discussion, in which all the speakers were agreed that more energotio steps should' be taken to keep down the pest, and that the poison supplied by the County Council last winter was noaeffective, it v/as resolved that the secretary write to the County Council asking it to increase the price of birds' eggs and heads. — The Chairman asked if any reports were in from committees appointed to ascertain the individual losses by the recent enow. The Secretary sakl that there were only three or four individual reports in, and one of those was of so vague a nature as to be of no use. The Chairman explained that no doubt the reason more reports were not forward was that several members of committees were now in camp with the. Mounted Rifles, that several had not finished shearing", and that others were waiting for the result of the wool sale which takes place on tho sth Fcbruhiy before taking active, steps. He said that tho Land Board had called up the rents in the usual way, but there was no reason to think that concessions would not be granted in some shape or form to tho<3e> whose losses had been so heavy that it would take years of wonk and good seasons to make up. Mr James Hore contended that freeholders were also entitled to some consideration. If concessions aregranted to the Crown tenant tho freeholder will indirectly have to pay hi« proportion of the concessions so granted in addition to bearing hli own lo^s. which >'s probably, m many nsi^-, a.? he'ivy fes that of Crowii tenants. Oji the motion, of Mi W. Ma-

v/hinney. seconded by Mr J. Packman, it was lesolved that the .secretary write to the various committees stating the information required, and asking that the reports be sent in to a meeting t:> be held at Ranfurly on Saturday, the 27th February, at 3 p.m.— J Mr A. Frass-r reported that arrangements are almost completed to have monthly stock sales held at Tvedderburn.

A meeting of the Waikaka Valley branch took place on the 9th inst. Mr H. Smith presided. Mr A. M. Paterson, veterinary surgeon, was present. Mr Paterson gava an address dealing principally with criticisms levelled at him. He prefaced hw remarks on ihat point by briefly reviewing the progress of the union. The union had enjoyed a good deal of prosperity dtiring the past 12 ninths, and was doing a considerable amount of work, the full valuo of which members might not be able to appreciate. The speaker then inferred to the measures passed through Parliament owing to the influence brought to bear on members ot the House by the executive officers of tho union, and proceeded to say: — In Southland the union had had a rocky time. There had been newspaper criticisms — good, bad. and indifferent. Articles had beon delivered by all and sundry, some friendly and others not so friendly. . . . "When he read tho paper read at the last meeting of the brarch by Mr Gilchrist, he (the spcak-er) sat dowi and tried to discover what Le was driving at, and felt fully satisfied that he was only wanting to wake mr-mbers up to a senso. of their responsibilities. The paper might have the temporary effect of stopping the formation of new branches and prevent the appointment of veterinarians by other executives. . . . At Kiversdalo and Balfour, the complaints had been dii-eussed by larger meetings than those that pa^s-ed the hostile '•■evolutions. A unanimous vote had been passed at the meetings, and no editor had a right to question tho sincerity of those votes. Jt had been imagined by come that certain branches had been ignored, and Riversdale and Balfour had beea ignored more than others. He had visited these places as often as Waikpika Valley, and had attended quite as- many eases. The union during the year had got £250 into debt. Had they no assets for that £250? He thought they had. The farmere paid 10s to their union, and the sawmillers had to pay .'is entrance fee and 13s per year member-ship. They had an orga-nising secretary, whom they provided wi^h an office in town, and they paid him £200 a year for going down the line and meeting members occasionally — nothing in comparison to what he (the speaker) did. Farmers whose interests were 100 times as big complained because they were asked to pay 10s. . . . He paid as much in a week as members did in a year. The point was that if they Had an ordinary foe of £1, there would be no deficit, and even with 10<3 there would be no deficit if all f aimers joined the union. . . . Apait from the complaint of the Riversdale, Balfour, and Gore branches., a few members were causing all tho trouble in the union. The bulk of the members' were satisfied with the present arrangement, and because three or four members showed dissatisfaction they found people ready to magnify it. They were the cause of the whole trouble. There were in the Invercargill offices numerous letters thanking him for what he had done in the backblocks where he was never /supposed to havo gone. The backblockers got as niiich attention ac any other placo. That day he had bern giving advice by telephone for a member at Mernvale, and they could nearly always get communication, with him in that way. He hoped they would' take for granted that he was saying nothing he did not belie^^ to be true, and what he had said he hoped would bo taken 111 good part. . . . Mr Gilchrist proposed a \ote- of thanks to ilr P.ircrscn for the large amount of information ho had gi\en them. . . . Ho would reply shortly to the strictures p_r-\3ed on himself He (the speaker) had said that Waikaka Valley, Balfour, and Rnersdalo districts wero not getting so many visits as those in tho southern part, and ho was glad to learn that that was nofc so. It showed that theio were too many districts for one man to woifc. . . . His chief caiKe of coi.ipiainl was that they were in debt, and havo to call on the guarantors. His expeiienec was that the more people consented to piy the nioro they would need to pay Tho Colonial Council had boen ruling in Southland and, perLap-s, ether pails too xnvch. They wished to vai^o. tho levy to 2s, and appeared irritated at tho ton-e of the executive's reply They evidf-ntly did not know all the fasts Ho wi-hed tho executive to explain them ; but, as it had not done so, lie tool-c it upon himself to do it. Some had got incensed at vt^at ho lad said, and there wai> a meeting of the executive on Friday, the principal duty of which, he believed, was to discuss hio speech. Ho did not wish to hurt the union. Perhaps one or two things he hi<d said v.vre indiscreet, as they might stop new member' Some wanted additional vots.. but he would be strongly against that in the meantime. It would be a &ood thina if the executive

could afford it, but they could not a± presentHe must say that not one single member of the 58 in the Waikaka Valley b-anch had spoken against the vot. Ho (the speaker) had 1 worked hard to get the 58 members, and among them were some waverers whom he had 1 got on the understanding that Mr Paterson would be in the district three or four times a year, and it would be handy if they happened to have sick stock at the time. . . . He would like to see more attention given 10 organising. His remarks on that subject had been misunderstood. What he meant was that the organising would follow the veterinary work as a matter of course, the lecturer in the evening- following the veterinary work in the day. During the past two months it had all been veterinary work, and most of that in the southern district. — Mr Paterson . No. Insinuations had been made that because his home was in Inv&roargill he visited more round there th»n anywhere else. He never spent more than two clays of the week in Invercargill, and he had gone from his home to Drummond in the middle of the night. — • Mr Gilchrist said he did not wish the guarantors to be called on, and he wanted the membership fees to pay expenses. H© had suggested at one time that an attempt should be made to make arrangements to dispense with the veterinary surgeon. — Mr Paterson : I am quite agreeable — 'Mr Gil-chri-st: lam afraid of that. Continuing, he< said his intention in giving his speech was to put the union ahead. — Mr Paterson re>plied at further length. He stated that) Mr Gilchrist had a,t one time told him he was going to deliver a paper, and the speakle-r advised him not to do co, as they had started the year two months to the bad. Ho found that going through Southland the union was getting more into the position of a permanent institution. If ho saw it was going to be a failure he would) lot stick to it. It had its battles to fight like other unions. He disagreed with Mr Gilohrkt that ihe organising could be done in a fortnight. He did not call bailing up farmers for 10s and putting their names down organising. He could vrcbably eavo the £250 if ihat was all that was required. Organising was getting every individual farmer to realise wh"\t his duty was as a member and getting branches to stick together. Had they begun sensibly and made the subscription £1 there would have been no humbug ; but, even with th© 10s, lie thought they could make the finances come right. They had lost two months of the year, and he had advised Mr Gilchrist that if there was a deficit the first year they should go on into the next year instead of ca-Iling on the guarantors tc pay up the first. He was quite agreeable <;o lose his salary those two months or get it later on. — Mr G. P. Johnston seconded the motion. He was pleased to hear Mr Paterson's explanation. Mr Gilchrist's paper had not done any harm. He believed every member would pay an extra 10s and not take advantage over the guarantors. He felt confident they had one of the best veterinarians it was possible for the union to get, and he hoped that it would progress more smoothly In future. The motion was carried amidst applause. — It was resolved to hold the annual meeting of the branch the first week in April.