FARMERS AMD UNIONISM

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19376, 14 July 1937, Page 2

FARMERS AMD UNIONISM

GROWTH OF OWN BODY KEENER INTEREST SHOWN (Spacinj K> Die Herald ) WELLINGTON, this day. Dating the past 12 months, keener interest by farmers in the Farmers’ Union has been noted by the Dominion president, Mr. W. Mulholland, who lias had just a year in office. In his presidential address at the annual conference to-day he said that during the past year he had visited all 23 provinces of the union, and had come into personal contact with large numbers of the farming community. “The most outstanding impression that I have gained,” he said, “is the growth of interest in and the influence of the Farmers’ Union. A year or two ago farmers generally accepted their organisation without taking much interest in it, and it was largely left to a few enthusiasts to carry on. “To-day I find throughout the country that the keenest interest is shown, that farmers of their own volition are . joining in large numbers, and that whole districts are organising themselves without the assistance of our regular organisers. The Government and the public now recognise the union as the mouthpiece of the farmers and it is a very important and powerful organisation. A great deal of credit for this is due to my predecessor in office. “So far this is satisfactory, but there is still a considerable distance to go before we can regard the objective of making farmers’ opinions as effectively felt, as it is necessary that they should be, has been reached. To attain this end unity is essential, and any action that tends to divide farmers into sections is fraught with grave peril.’’