FEDERATED FARMERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 96, 24 April 1945, Page 5

FEDERATED FARMERS

AN AGREEMENT HAS BEEN SIGNED ORGANISER TO VISIT ALL PROVINCES IN TURN. (P.A.) Wellington, April 23. It was announced by Mr. B. V. Cooksley, chairman of the Provisional Council of Federated Farmers, that an agreement had been drawn up and signed which provided that members of the Farmers’ Union, Sheepowners’ Federation, Dairy Producers’ Association and Commercial Gardeners’ Association were now automatically entitled to voting power in the Federated Farmers. Mr. Cooksley stated that this would apply to all members of the above organisations, wherever they were domiciled. It was expected that a start would be made to set up provisional provincial executives of the ederated Farmers almost right away, and to this end a newly-appointed chief organiser of the Federated Farmers, Mr. A. G. Dawson, would visit centres to get representatives of the contracting bodies to meet and to agree on the personnel of provisional executives. The first area to be dealt with would be in the Wellington province. Mr. Cooksley said it would probably be some little time before all parts of New Zealand could be visited, and he would urge farmers in these areas not to be too impatient in their requests for Mr. Daiwson to visit their nrovinces. This applied particularly in the Auckland province, where the Farmers’ Union alone had nearly 10,000 members, and where there were spacial problems of organisation which were not yet finalised, but which were receiving urgent attention. It was expected finality would be reached by the time Mr. Dawson was available in that area. A plan of organisation had been agreed upon at last week’s meeting of the provisional executive of the Federated Farmers. This plan envisaged that every farmer in New Zealand should be given the opportunity of becoming a member of the new organisation, and to take part in the formation of branches, and while this might mean slower progress it was considered that the necessary steps to be taken should be on a uniform basis throughout the Dominion and it was, therefore, desirable. for different provinces to await the arrival of lhe organiser.