NEW ZEALAND FARMERS' UNION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 120, 15 June 1901, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND FARMERS' UNION.

CONFERENCE 01' DELEGATUS. | (Continued.) i'lause 3, "That the pre-emptive iigl-t nf the Government; ba abol sla-d, a- d the natives ba allowed to manage and dispose of I heir lauds with pioper re s'l.ictions ; and that aft-r such right i* recognise I they shall piy ratrs on t.ll lauds they will not sell »r 1 a e." Mr. Tate moved I hat the word;, "with propor restrictions" b-* del ted, anG ■'lie e interpolate 1: " With the conssia of 'he Native Agetit, two nttive us essor?, and tha S.M., who shall huve p-nver to withhold that con-ent." Hi urgi d th it the natives could net bi expected to pay ra'es unless thiy were dlowed .same, l'tilude They were at keen on making a bargain as were Eu opeans Mr. Leech movid, "Th.it the c'auso bif-tiuck out, and the following subs itu ed : ' That the Public Tuuiee be ■nftru':led to pay full n'es to kcii bod-es, instead of ha'f ratfs as at piesent, and that the Governooe-.t ta''e st n ps to individualism all native md when that ia done, the natives to ba liable foi' rates o r i l'nds occupid, the same as Europeans; Undu not areded f r occupation to he dealt with by the Government under the Cio-vn Lands regulations.' " He urge 1 tha* if ,h 9 native! had the ri»h',- to sell their lands the c uutry would h*ve a loi of paupeis cn their hand^. Mr. Leech's nraendmont w s carried.

Clause 4, " Thai every mea' s be tak«-n to reduce fre'gh's on produce to the lowest p iyablo limi', so as to a low s lis to send produce, etc., to mirki t aa p ofit, irsterd of a loss, ad at pi esctfpd u isltered. CI use 5, ■' Th t.th « < co nmi al hi < s if jji.e co i' try be so Iter- <1 > s to r i-i '.hep.t fits of th- farm r to an equa'ity with (hose of the o her industii 1 el s es " w s struck ou\ Gla'tsi 6, "Tna-- s'me ch m t le d>Viso I by chilli farm s «ith go d slew i y c u obt in 'entpirvy 1 -in > at law ivi'e< of interest and at sort not cr, to sive the sacrifiie of p oluc md s ockas at p e«nt" w<s car'ied. Poi c O'iing smill birdsi. — Hr. ; Hathnw v moved thit the matter be left i h 'ho 1 ca) iiuthoritiep.—Carried. "Sv4e Experimental Sc'sojl.—Mr Marx moved; that a St'te experimental dairy fa in b? < st blishpd in Tataniki. Such a farm was We turnel on' a m'llion worth of produce every y ai 1 .--Curried. f.e tur s. Mr. moved, " Tha' t s o Gn erament be requested fci h le tu e r on agricultural ch mi t y in c infection with State f rms, who e bu-i ess would be o educate the' faimi' g community by leclurrs acd pam h'cti giving prac'i -al illustia ionp.

Mr. Dive s 'conde 1 the motion, which he strongly supported. Mr. Hamilton did not see much h'-n' fifc would be derived. It would be si i.p'y duplicating officials,. who. c sahriias the farmers would have to piy, Ha moved an amendment, "That tl-e ques'ion of a 1 cturer be not entertained." —The amo dment wis-cirri»d. Fi'ee trade within the Empire.—Mr. said that if we had free trade our agricul'ural machinery would be . got more cheaply, and everything would be cheaper. 110 moved the adaption of the clause. In seconding the motion, Mr. Micrae said pro'e"tion had bean elo?ging the wheals of thn.ngiicuHural industry. The motion was carried.'-. The sa'ary far the year , was fixed at £25. Mr. Templer, who h id been ac'ingas secretary, was vo'ei a bin us.

SEGOND DAY. The Conference rrsumel on Wednesday. Mr. Poole, Kipong!), took his seat, The Class'ficiti -n Committer presented i*s report. The rules down to B9c ( ion 8 wpra on the lines o f amendments passed by tho CliFS'ficat.ion Opmrnittep. In clauso 8 the commit e recommended that the ancu 1 subscription be 4s per annum aftpr tHe end of the y.ar.—The clausi wjs passffd. 'it'llas 9 and 10 pifsed as printed.— Rule 11, oo the lines of tho amendments passed by t.he Confer ence, was ant'orsed. —Rules 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, find 18 were passed as p'intel— Rules 19 and 20 as amended were pa c s d.—A new rhino was that the word "branch" he inserted in every p'ace where the w. rd " centre" no-v appears. —The recimmen iatiorn of the committee were adopted. Mr. Gla'-s, in r.'p'y to Mr. Lech, said the organisation was in its initial stage 5 , and it whs incompe'ent for tho Co fe ence to discuss the question of representation. Mr. -Hamilton, who was unanimously elected president; a-.d Mr. Leec\ vicepres'dent. Mr. Astbury w>s e'ected auditor.

The fol'owing were al c L cd an Executive Committee : - Messrs. Fryday, P,,rlane, Marx, Macrae, and Inkstir. Mr, Marsh moved, "Thatthe fo'low ing clauses be aided o the pl.tf irm: ' That all public leipes of rural 1 mds ba brought under tho perpetual leasing system, to enable the tenants to havo an asset in the improvements mode at the expiration of the tetm of the We.'Carried. Mr. Holden mov d, '< That the N-w Z°ahnd Farmprs'U'ion take s*ep-! to form a coopera'ive fire insurance company which would accept risks ouly on farm building- 1 ." S erking t) the mo fcior, Mr. Ho'den paid the insurance compani-s 1 st h9.vily on tiwn properI i- s, and in ordbr to recoup their thpy inrivas'd the premiums on th' farmers' pr p r!y. j

I Tho P'oS''d u nt said the " o'her fellow " hfcd tl e farmer enough ; it w s time tho firmor squeiz d the "oth rfel.ow," Ho-elatel the hiVory of the fuccessfu' ondeaviur to r dnce 'he shipping and poin'ed ru that a farmfrs' organisation had cr at T'owe I '. He su»s , ested that tho Uuion -h uld approach the i' mpin;c-s in New Zedind, and say, "We hav • a couple of millions' worth of fire r'sks. At pr sent we aro pay'ng 16-, aid it is a ve y r'ire occur once th't tire dr-stroys a f.-n-merV dwnllirisj. You have boon us 16s to tn rn'ike up y«ur losws ' n town propartv. Are you wil ; ng to t k.) farmers' riskit 8-? The lomp'nies would then P'-i-l] iMy put their heads together. IF liev dfdined tl e offer, we could app'y o America. If th :t failed, we could g.) to Germany. M'\ Divo mived, tint it be an instnrctior-. to tho Executive to carry out lr< propcsal as set out by the p-e*i d nt.

[ Mr. Dive moved, tlia 1 -. the Union Ia?o its bestjpfl'or's to secure a roiistri I'mtion of se.ts oa the New Plymouth Harbour Board, on the basis of rateable value, find that the Government be appointed on a representative basisj,

Mr. Tate did not think the question j required imy discussion ; the reques-.t: was a fair ene. Mr. Forsyth move'l, that the law re-1 lating to the New Plymouth Harbour 13oard he amended so ps to make it onawful fir nomi' ated me»bei sto vote on th" amount of rate to be struck, or oi loar s s cu ed by rate on the die-, li t J Mr. Dive pointtd out that the vernmeiit coutiibuted towards th i na't oui 1 r v. nue, and wou'd rot fores'), tU right to have nominees on th> j Board, Mr P.trlane said the Eltham branch had ask d him to mcv, Th it th« Ut-ion use i's best endeavi ur to prevent the conversion of the New Plymouth H rbour loan, or furth r b irrowiug without the sanction of the ratepayers. It was suig' sted that the Board m ditated something underhaud, ■jnd that it would be as well to collect subscriptions and employ a solicitor io watch the sutler's interests.

Mr. Foreman s j.d the qu< stion was one of importance, and should be dealt with at onc», as the nominations might be made at any moment. The motion was earned. Mr. Glass S'id tin Union w.ntvd a paper of its own, to ke p the brand es in touch. He had decided to establish the- paper, ai.d give it a name. It would be simply a gazette for the farm'.i'i' own use. Tu <y did not want to m ike anything out of the paper. 1 j Mr. Pa'lano moved, That it be a recommend ti in to the executive to ake into onsideration the question of he establishment of a p>per, af'er .l.oroughly canvassi'ig the branches, wi h the view of pu dishing it at once, •f feasible. M". W, Svmes, M.H.R., wjs okcted i mo.ub.r of iho Union. A I). arty vote of thinks was accorded Mr. Gla s.

A public meeting was held at 2 o'clock, when Mr. Temp'er explained what had been d> n ' by the Conference; a.l-0 t':e n tun -'f the p'atfoim and the ibj ictsof tho U ioa. Mr. M< Guire, H.11.R., congratulated the delegates on taUiug a st>p in the right direcion. It always seemed strar.ge to him that the farmers had notuni'ed long before, He was sorry to see that tie membership of the (Jnio.i had beea restricted "to farmers and their employees ; a tinsmi'h who made milk cau9 was interes'ed in the dairy interest, and ho he':d that towns peopl » were as much interested as th« farming commut ity in the ad vane ament of tho district; Th re should be a omnaou platfoim, from which pufcy politics were rigidly excluded. M'\ Symes w.s pleased to meet th 3 del g.t s. Instead of the farmers beig plucked, chey shou'd be the ralew of the world. He trusted the Union would be a s'c:es j , and hs was perf ctly satisfied thit whatever the Government wo had it would have to take an inter, f-t in the farmers. He hopL-d <o S'je the pr<sent system of Land Board appointmetts abolished. The President thanked the members of Parliament for what they had said. I*, was apparent from tbe ; r utterances that the f umers had the Government atd the Opposition with them. The public meeting was tben closed, and business resumed. Mr.- Glass moved that this p-ovince assist tho nor ! h of Auckland in a'l trade, in timber, nine, e'e , and a'sist the north of Aucklanl in obtaining (he New Zealand wine t'> besd'd retail. —Carried. Mr. Smith move! tba* a'l Land Boards be elected in Now Z aland, — Cuv'ed.

Stats i sue of public money struck OUt:. Imprisonment for dabt aboli'.ion left to Executive. Waste t'mber on bush 'and referred to Pal men-ton Nor h Conferee •. Question of mixture of to • n and c un ry, mtmbe 8 in tnvu constituencies struck ou'\ Specif lons to local bodiss to be treated io simila- manner 'o mortgigrs for land tax purposes. Mr. Hithaway moved I hit all loans ♦o lon 1 b idias bo exenipt undir the same conlitions is nit registered mor'gageg for taxation purposes.— Carried. 0 unty Councils to be subsidised £ for £ referred to County Council Conference New I u-inrss wis then taken ns follows : - Mr L ech moved the roading through Crown Lands open to selector) pace with the set'-lemmt cf tho land.—Carried.

Mr. B'irgess moved thit in the opinion of this meeting the present system of taxa'io", which places the whole burden of heal taxat'on on real property only arid demands a Lnd tax f■ otn any farmpr in pose sion of anyI'hing over £SOO valu", whilst exempting other incomes up to £3OO a ye.ir. is entitrely unfair and un qud.—- ' Cartiai. Mr. Macrae moved that tho increased valuo which time gives to bush land be a'lowed as an improvement, alsi the incr ase# value arising from tne'aU'n® r a n 's hy mooey borrowed on the security of tho land, and thit Parliament b> aekel to amend the A f se=sm nt Act to g've effect to the foregoing, and t > havo present values reduced.—Can i id. Mr. Parlaine moved that th 9 Union request tha Government to issue choip excursion tlcbe's in the wintar months to extend three months, thus allowing the firming commu'ity an opportunity of rheap travelliuu, as upder existing conditions they are debarred from taking advantag ><f thrs* in operation.—o irried. M'\ Burgees movel that this mee ving against the sys'em of cattle inspcct'on a* at pr su teerreda r red out, as biing u'terly uso'ess, a> d simply an unnccrsvirv burden upon the tnxptyers Mr. Parlene mov-'d, that power b • g ven to ro•■sol'dito loci loans with'n rid n s upon taking a poll of ra'epayers in compl an r e with the r»-gulrtio sof 'he " Liars to Local Bo lies Act."

An amenlment moved by Mr. M-c----rae, that tho mattor ba referred to the ij r cal Bodies' Conference for consideration was cirried. Mr Friday moved, that all bona jide sfttl irs with large families be allowed an allowance for each and eve'y child in ex-'s'ance. Moved b'/ Mr Parlaine, that the Uu on be respectfully asked to use its 'T'st, ••nde.ivoiirs to pirvent the New Plymouth Harbour Hoard from eithtr converting tho pr sent loin or further borrowing without first obtaining tho sai ction of tho ratepayers at a poll of the sarn<\—Carried. Moved hy Mr B'nke, that this Union tako into coislderation the question of granting compensation to f-crnmrs for j roids taken through lands after occupied.— Carried. A voVj of thanks to the President closed the proceedings.