“WILL GET NOWHERE”

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16949, 13 May 1929, Page 9

“WILL GET NOWHERE”

! FARMERS’ UNION APATHY I ; BETTER ORGANISATION URGED j . I Organisation matters in connection with the New Zealand Farmers’ Union were touched upon in addresses given at the annual meeting on Saturday of j the Poverty Hay district. Colonel Row, Dominion secretary, and 'Mr. Chadwick, Dominion treasurer, presented their views with an idea of stimulating more interest in the district in Farmers’ Union affairs. it 'was maintained that a greater support j would have to be given by farmers to their organisation of they desired to secure benefits that other organised sections of the community were able I to obtain.

Tracing the trend 'of unionism throughout the past three-quarters of a century, Colonel Dow said that in 1851 trade unionism in England began to assume fairly large proportions. It was not till the 90’s, however, that unionism showed up greatly in New Zealand, but since then it had increased wonderfully. At present there were 401 labor unions in New Zealand with a membership of 101,000. The four principal planks were increased wages, a decrease in the working day, a better standard of living, and Potter education for children. The employers then had to band together to counteract this movement, and farmers were among that class. There were now 7 136 employers’ organisations in New 7 Zealand. GROWTH OF UNION.

The Farmers’ Union was founded by the late Mr. Glass, its objects being to remove from the Statutes any deleterious legislation, and to place l on the Statute Book anything that {was calculated to act for the benefit • of the farmer, to block any movement I that would react disadvantageous!,y on ; the farming community, and to do all i possible to help the men on the land. He had endeavored to ascertain rue exact membership of tne muon, and ho had found that financial members np- ■ proximated 18,000. A few years ago the total was not more than 4000, the building up being mainly due to the order system. j The Dominion was divided into 21 districts, the Dominion secretary went on. The Dominion executive was composed of the presidents of the 24 districts, with an advisory committee of six. The outputs of New Zealand freezing works totalled in value * £13,630,000 last year, and exports of beef, mutton, and lamb w r ere valued at £9,104,000. The dairv industry produce was valued at £19,000,000, of which £.10,900,000 worth of butter and £5,000,000 worth of cheese was exported. Wool growers exported wool to the value of £12,000,000, wdiile the aggregate from wheat-growing was £3,000,000 in value. These sections of farmers represented no inconsiderable portion of the Dominion’s wealth, and the producers should organise to protect their interests.

Colonel Dow 7 then explained the order system, which the union used for the collection of members’ subscriptions. Orders were made by farmers, w ho signing up as members, on a dairy company or mercantile firm, and he spoke of the splendid wav in which these firms had received the system. The union could offer no tangible benefits for the payment of a subscription, but he likened the position to the payment of an insurance premium; for which nothing tangible was given, yet the payer knew that thereby his interests were protected. GRADUATED FINANCE.

Mr. Chadwick said he w-as not so interested in what the union had done as what it could do. Under the present system the union w 7 ould get nowhere. Organisations were getting what they wanted except the Farmers’ Union. Professional organisations were not called unions, but they existed for the purpose of benefiting the professional men. The Farmers’ Union was wrongly organised and wrongly supported, and the benefits which were going to accrue were going to be wrongly distributed. The union was supported by some very small men who could ill afford the subscription, others who were not well to do, but who could afford the subscriptions, those who were well-to-do and those who were extremely well-to-do. All paid on the same basis. He did not think this was a fair w 7 ay of financing the union, because there was so much distinction. After 30 years of struggle the union’s resources were now only £3OOO or £4OOO. Farmers should get together to protect themselves. They should adopt the graduated scale of finance.

“The great stick,” he declared, “is money. The great factor is a strong financial fund somewhere. Where it is it does not matter, hut it must be somewhere. The country manufactured the produce,, the farmers say goodbye to the stuff, but do not bother their heads over what is to become of it.” In times of depression Ihe Meat Board and then the Dairy Board were formed. Prior to that it had cost more to produce the meat than what was received for it. The Meat Board and Dairy Board were responsible for obtaining better prices, but as soon as the sun shone again interest lagged. ' If the farmers had stuck behind the boards these institutions would have been more valuable than they had been.

The union had tried to give members value for their subscriptions, he added. Under the graduated scheme the subscriptions would range from lOs on the unimproved value of the property to £5. That was not sutiicient, but it was on the right lines. A portion of the union's finances was employed in securing addresses by members of the Department of Agriculture at various centres, even in outlying districts. The secretary was paid £250, which was not sufficient, and the union was able to pay for an organiser. The union'had also established a labor bureau. He urged that they should keep politics out of the union, otherwise the organisation would go as flat ns a doormat. ‘ ‘ Each mau has his politics and religion,” ho argued, “but keep them out of the union. Have your discussions but do not say, because the Government will not do a certain thing, we’ll vote against, it. There are another 1,250,000 voters in the Dominion, and you must consider them.”

The district president, Mr. F. S. Bowen, said that from the addresses given it was apparent that the day cf individualism was gone, and it behove those present to urge on their neighbors the advantages of the union. When they bad 50,000 members ike union would be able to obtain what it was asking for. It was thought possible that before long they would be able to get money at 4$ per cent. ’ Hearty votes of thanks were passed to the speakers,