GETTING SOMEWHERE

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 72, Issue 6240, 10 June 1946, Page 7

GETTING SOMEWHERE

FEDERATED FARMERS | MR W. N. PERRY’S REMARKS “A great many difficulties have been ironed out, and a great many remain to be ironed out but it looks as if we are going to get somewhere and be able to start building an organisation which will be of real benefit to the primary producers of the Dominion,” said Mr W. N. Perry, president of the Federated Farmers, Waikato Province, at this week’s conference in Hamilton. “A great deal remains to be done, and we shall need all the support that can be given to us, both moral and financial. I would ask members not to expect the organisation to function perfectly for a start. “We shall need to have experience in its practical working, and when we have done so we will doubtless need to make adjustments in the organisation, because it is only when you have had practical experience of the working of an organisation that you can see where it can be improved. This was the experience of the Farmers’ Union, and it will doubtless be the experience of Federated Farmers. From time to time the organisation will have to be adapted to the needs of the farming community, and I have no doubt that this will be brought about when necessary.” Production of Food. “We can produce food if we get down to it, but it requires determined and bold measures.” said Mr Perry. Recently in the London Sphere there was published a photograph of 60 ships tied up in an American river. These ships are now surplus to the j requirements of the U.S.A. Surely, i with live and energetic measures, it should be possible for us to get hold i of half a dozen of these ships, man : them and have them sent to the Pacific Islands for superphosphate even if we have to send the men with them to dig out the phosphate. “If we get adequate supplies of superphosphate we can do wonders in the field of production, and I cannot see that it is impossible for us to do this. As I stated, it would require bold and energetic measures, but j surely we have the capacity to arrange | this. I know that the fertiliser works ' have been short of manpower, but here again surely there are enough charitably-minded people in New Zealand who would be prepared to work a bit harder to free men for such a noble enterprise Challenge To Dominion.

“If we were determined to make a real effort and real sacrifice, New Zealand could make its name forever as a country that really believes in humanitarian measures,” continued Mr Perry. “Are we going to say that when people are starving we are not going to work so hard? We can get more production, but most of it can be gained only . by hard work, since increased production will have to come mainly from the poorer lands of the Dominion, and everyone knows that it has been made much harder to farm these lands because of New Zealand’s present economic policy. There is a challenge here to all of us—a challenge which we can accept or ignore. What are we going to do about it?”

Mr Perry reported that the Dominion Council of Federated Farmers, in conjunction with the Farmers’ Union, had an interview with the Prime Minister on May 17 regarding an increase in food production for the coming season. “We had seen in the papers where Mr Nash had stated in England that the Government had a plan for increasing production. As we knew nothing about it we asked him to take us into the confidence of the Government and assured him of our wholehearted support as long as we had their help and co-operation,” said Mr Perry. Separate Province. “As this is the first annual conference of Federated Farmers (Waikato Province) I wish to congratulate all members on the success that has attended our efforts in establishing a separate province in the Waikato,” continued Mr Perry. “I am certain, with our big membership and the enthusiasm that is being shown by all that our organisation will be a powerful factor in looking after the interests of all primary producers. “The dairy section is functioning very well, and has already been taken into consultation by the Dairy Industry Council on matters affecting the guaranteed price for next season and the question of drought relief. Similarly the meat and wool section is doing very good work on behalf of the members of their section. “It is with gratification that I re•port that a settlement has been reached between the Auckland Province Farmers’ Union and Federated Farmers,” said Mr Perry. Mr Perry stated that the large increase in hospital rates was another issue that had to be in the forefront of Federated Farmers’ activities. “We hope to enlist the help of the Counties Association for relief, and I am sure that with the backing’ <♦ our large membership we will be able to secure a large measure of relief from this ever growing burden on the farming community,” he concluded.