FARMERS ADDRESSED

Southland Times, Issue 19292, 10 July 1924, Page 7

FARMERS ADDRESSED

MEETING AT ORETI PASTURE AND FARMERS’ UNION MATTERS. There was a fair attendance at the Orcti Public Hall last night when Messrs R. McGillivray, Government Agricultural Instructor, and Mr T. Buxton, Farmers’ Union Organiser, delivered addresses on matters of importance to the farming community. Mr D. McLean was elected to the chair. Mr Buxton said there were 85,000 primary producers fanning holdings of ten acres and upwards in New Zealand but of this number only about 10,000 were organised, and not all of these were financial with their union. The 85,000 producers he had mentioned had exported £50,000,000 worth of goods last year, but only about 10,000 of them saw fit to see how this volume of goods was handled and marketed. The others were going under Rafferty rules. Mr Buxton went on to emphasise the gradually increasing strength of the wage-earner, simply through their thorough organisation, and said it had been remarked to him that it would do the farming community a world of good if a Labour Government got into power, as it would make the fanners realise the value of unity and rouse them to pull together and look after their interests. In the earnestness and thoroughness of the organisation of the .wage-earners there was a great deal to admire, and it behoved the farmers to dq likewise, for there was no question that the prosperity of the Dominion depended on the man on the land. Mr Buxton went on to detail the work the Meat and Dairy Control Boards had done in the interests of the primary producers. Touching on the question of financial assistance to farmers, Mr Buxton said that it was stated that the lifting of the moratorium would not cause any serious embarassment to the farming community and that the farmers in Southland were in an excellent position to meet it as compared with other parts of the Dominion. Notwithstanding that, there were farmers who had told him that if the moratorium was lifted, and mortgage holders given a free hand, they would lose every penny they had put into their places. It was also being said that the farmers would have no difficulty in getting an advance from the banks if the security was good, but he would like to remind them that the banks were not fond of farmers’ accounts. There were no pickings from these accounts as compared with business men’s accounts. It was not correct to say that any farmer needing money could easily get it on giving security, and they contended that something should be done to put the man on the land in a position to meet the lifting of the moratorium. In this connection, and on the general question of financial assistance to farmers, they advocated the establishment of a farmers’ bank to give the farmer access to reasonably cheap money. After dealing fully with this question, Mr Buxton said he was a strong advocate of corporation and went on to discuss this question in its different phases. The speaker concluded his address by making an earnest appeal for the* 1 meeting to elect a man to look after the interests of the Oreti farmers by acting as chairman for the Oreti branch. Mr D. Campbell was elected to this position and Mr J. Deegan was appointed secretary. Mr McGillivray then spoke on the importance of good pasture, successively dealing with every phase of this big question. A full report of his address will appear in our farm page of Saturday’s issue. After a number of questions had been answered, the meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the speakers and the chairman.