THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1906.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIII, Issue 7969, 21 February 1906, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1906.

The Wairarapa Poultry, Pigeon and Canary Association is not progress- » ing in a manner tfiat can be de scribed as satisfactory. We must confess that our interest in the "pigeon" And tbe "canary" is not of an overweening character, though, no . doubt, suoh side shows tend to make the main Show more attractive, and 3 should be enooaraged, or provided <■ for to a reasonable extent, It is the 7 "poultry" that is, to our mind, the most interesting and decidedly the most important. To encourage poultry raising and to improve the breed-

ng of poultry is to undertake a work fhicb, if properly # carried but, ~ fould be a beueflfc to both town f md distrh'. The Wairarapn Ae- f lociation certainly need not deplore 1 ho main object of its existence; tis on excellent one, and one worth l vorkiug for on the right lines. \ j Poultry is, to some extent, a colonial I ndustry to day, and tLere is no | louht that it is an industry which will be considerably developed in ;he near future. The, Government i lave verv rightly encouraged the ' industry, and are possibly waiting for some further efforts on the part , 3f the people to give a fuller measure : Df assistance. ***** We may take it that the Wairarapa Poultry Association . exists in no parochial een9e, cr if the foregoing phrase bo disallowed, we will assume that the Poultry Association is not merely a "town affair"; but that it desires to incorporate the interest of both town and country, so far as the Wairarapa/ is concerned and of many outside districts. Admittedly the chief portion of the work in connection with trie Show falls upon the secretary. Those who visited the last Poultry Show in Masterton will entertain pleasant recollections of the visit, and will have noted in that Show evidence of a movement which is capable of being developed to a considerable extent. Two years ago Mr W. Basthope, who was, until recently, Secretary of the Association, aaoepted the position. At that time the Association was nearly £3O in debt, and the outlook was not by any means cheerful. For two year.* Mr Easthope did his be3t for the Association, and last year's Snow, which was decidedly creditable to the Association and appreciated by the publio generally certainly went to show that the Secretary had; discharged, his duties satisfactorily. But the remuneration which the Secretary received was the paltry sum of £l2. Mr Eaathope feels that the remuneration is tuu little for the work that he had to do, and has resigned. * * * *..,*. I Admittedly the position of secretary is a most important one, and I the Association should consider, with the prospeot of considerable development before it, whether £l2 per annum is a reasonable remuneration, and one calculated to act as an incentive to the secretary to put his anoulder to the Association's "wheel" and to push with all his might. We are aware that the Association is in a weak position financially, but the question of importance is hardly the actual present flaancial condition, but what the policy.of the Association is, or is going to be—is th,e policy going to make for progress, or to court disaster? Unless the 'Association' oan lay its hand| on an ''enthusiast" for the vaoant secretarial position, who will promote the interests of the Association as a labour of love, the better plan would be to increase the secretary's salary. For a salary, say, of £25 per annum a good deal of work might be expected, and a little more life and heart infused into the Association's work.