UNANIMITY OF FARMERS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 47, 26 February 1946, Page 5

UNANIMITY OF FARMERS

QUESTION OF FEDERATION

MASS MEETING AT EDGECUMBE

SHARP DIVISION OF OPINION Complete unanimity of purpose, an objective which farmers throughout the Dominion have been aiming to bring about over the past twenty years was the keynote of the mass meeting of farmers from the Rangitaiki Plains, at Edgecumbe last Friday evening. Approximately 150 farmers from the Whakatane district assembled at Bell's

Hall, and were addressed by

| Messrs. B. V. Cooksley (Presi- ‘ dent Provisional Council of Federated Farmers), C. A. Walsh (Member of Provisional Couns oil), W. N. Perry (Chairman of the South Auckland Dairy Association) and A. G. Dawson (Organiser for Federated Farmers).

-The obvious difficulty as far was the split opinion regarding as the meeting was concerned the Federated Farmers movement which has made such remarkable progress over the past six months, and the estrangement between that organisation and the Auckland Branch of the N.Z. Farmers’ Union. The obvious sympathy of a section of the audience for Auckland . led to a number of interjections

and pointed questions, but the noteworthy fact of the whole meeting was a genuine desire of all present for a united effort by all farmers for the purpose of combatting the present trend of legislation which, it was claimed was fast depriving the man on the land of his equity, control of produce, and actual ownership. A further point which was well discussed was the prospect of a debate on the pros and cons covering .•the attitude of both organisations and .this was promised by Mr Perry at a date to suit himself and other speakers from the Auckland Provincial Executive. It Remains therefore, for the debate to be held before possibly the Rangitaiki farmers are in a position to form a new branch of the Federation in this district.

I Genuine Curiosity > The atmosphere was cordial throughout and the main object of the questioners appeared to be a genuine curiosity to learn the full truth Regarding the disagreement. Mr Cooksley, possibly one of the ablest

debaters heard in these parts for , many a day, occupied the major portion of the discussion and very forcibly put forward the case for Federated Farmers. It was his capable

handling of the position that must have made many converts to the Federated cause, and judging by the approbation his concluding remarks received, there appears to be no Shadow of doubt as to the desire of local farmers generally to get together for the purpose of battling .for common prosperity.

Possiblle Debate Later

Mr W. A. McCracken, who was •elected to the chair, briefly wel•corned the visitors, and was proceeding to announce Mr Walsh as first speaker when points were raised by Messrs. Mullins, R. Dunning and I. who expressed disapointment

that the original intention of holding a debate had not been carried 4Ut. They were there, they explained to hear the full text of the Federated Farmers side of the • argument, but in all sincerity, felt that it was necessary to have the other party present as well, in the form of members of the Auckland Executive of the Farmers’ Union. Mr Perry declared that he would be prepared to stage the debate at a

future date, and added that the meeting would not be asked that night to form a branch of Federated Farmers in the district. He and his colleagues were merely there to elucidate upon the various aspects leading up to the formation of the new organisation. ■ Mr Walsh then spoke on the actual facts leading to the formation of Federated Farmers, and stated that up to the present time, the whole of the Dominion, apart from the Auckland province, had fallen in -line and given their organisation complete accord. The heads of the Dominion Executive of the Farmers Union had merged with the Federat-

ed body, and it now remained only to bring the'actual project to the notice of the district farmers m the Auckland province, in order to acquaint them with the full facts of the case.

Expansion of Dairying Tracing the history of farming in New Zealand from 1900 to the present time, he stated that the dairying industry in New Zealand had shown remarkable expansion. From the time when the grazier reigned supreme, some 46 years ago, dairying had gradually built up a cooperative industry, which from £3,000,00 of produce "*in 1910, now reached the stupendous figure of £30,000,000 today. He showed how up to the time of the recent war, Governments of all colours had promised rights to the farmers, some of which had been carried out, and some of which had not, but it was obvious, in 1939, that the present Government of New Zealand, was determined to thrive on the equit> of the farmer by extracting from his produce sales, a heavy proportion of the money realised and diverting it to other purposes. It was in order io combat this dangerous trend that farmers who up till that point had been represented by ho less than 25 separate organisations should speak with a united voice and have some organisation whien

could definitely combat the trend in the interests of the farmers as a whole. The war breaking out pievented an open declaration along these ln.es. It wa* 'intended that farmers could never show complete unanimity. This was the Government’s greatest weapon to counteract the- farmers’ claims. In 1940, it was felt that the time had come icr a firm stand to be made. Various procedures had been held and eventually in 1943 the first move to bring the Federated Farmers into bemg was made. In effect, the constitution, was largely borrowed from the Farmers’ Union itself, and the 12 main points or fundamentals were broad enough to cover all types of farming in the Dominion.

He explained the method of representation, which, he said, would enable the democratic conception to be applied full bore from the bottom to the top. In November, 1944, the Federation was registered, and the campaign to interest the farmers themselves was commenced. A provisional executive had been set up, and this would be succeeded by a permanent body elected by the first meeting of delegates which takes place next week, in Wellington.

For the first time in New Zealand’s history, the farmers would be able after that date to speak with a united voice. It was through this new body that an attempt would be made to halt some of the legislation now flowing on to the Statute Book. The Government was determined to experiment with New Zealand to the utmost, and the tragedy was that its deliberations were being formulated by men who had never done a decent day’s work in their lives. Mr Ferry’s Remarks

As Chairman of the South Auckland Dairy Association, Mr W. N. Perry said that he could speak for twenty thousand farmers and had no hesitation whatsoever in announcing that the objective vras one which the farmer had been waiting for for many years. He took strong exception to a letter written by Mr Dunning, which appeared in the Te Puke Times, and said that any person who declared that Federation of the farmers meant dictatorship and Fascism, offered a deliberate insult to the men who were behind its promotion. Such despicable language showed the quality of the writer’s mind, for the men behind the Federation movement were men of in 7

tegrity and honour. (Applause). If the farmers remained divided, they were not going to get anywhere, and the farming community would simply continue as a section working seven days a week in order to bolster up the balance of the community working only 40 hours a week. The only solution was to rave thd ialry farmers price based on a 40 hour week, and if it were demanded in a united voice, it must achieve success in the same > way that the labour unions had succeeded.

Common to All

Mr B. V. Cooksley said that although he represented the market

gardeners, he was nevertheless proud to be elected to the provisional position of president of the F.F.N.Z. He indicated the number of things in common which all farmers had with the market gardener, and he therefore was firmly convinced that only by combining forces could they achieve anything worthy of the whole. The Market Gardeners Association, he said would be the first of the primary producers to go before the Arbitration Court at the behest of its employees. It would interest the meeting to note that some of the items, which the workers were naming

were 40 hour week, with two spells off daily of 15 minutes for morning and afternoon tea, oilskin and gumboot allowances, and wages to the extent of 2/10 per hour. If his Association were ‘licked’ it would not be long before other farming lines took their turn. Only by complete unity could they hold their own. If farmers, at this juncture descended to a battle of rules among themselves, they were ‘sunk.’ Fertiliser was another thing which all farmers had in common, and much could be achieved by approaching the Government en bloc, but never individually.

He deprecated strongly the campaign of vilification against Mr Mulholland of the Farmers’ Union, classing it as despicable in the extreme. Farmers all over New Zealand desired to join up with the Federation, even those within the Auckland provincial area, and if the antagonism with Auckland were maintained much longer, he did not see how the Federation could go on refusing them admission. He sketched at some length the events leading up to the estrangement with Auckland, and urged that everything possible be done to overcome the misunderstanding which was holding two prominent farming organisations apart. At the conclusion of his address, a number of questions were asked by members of the audience. Mr Radcliffe claimed that by forming contact with Auckland, the Federation was poking its nose into a Ifamily row,’ since Auckland was merely a branch of the Dominion Executive which j.ad agreed to Fed eration.

Mr R. W. Dunning, who appeared to be recognised as the official opposition, claimed that he could refute most of the statements made by Mr Cooksley with regard to the Auckland approach. Auckland, he declared, was not the aggressor, and the offer of arbitration was merely a blind to cover the uncompromising attitude of the Federation in the past. It was impossible, he said, to put the arbitration gesture into effect. The grounds upon which the Federated Farmers stood were so shaky that they could not stand before an approved judge. He had been accused of slander, but could easily back up anything he had said. Mr Caulfield took strongest exception to Mr Dunning’s statements in his letters to the press, terming the officers of Federated Farmers as Fascists and dictators.

The meeting, showed indications of warming into a verbal battle between Messrs. Dunning, Cooksley and Caulfield, when the chairman interposed, pointing out the lateness of the hour and asking for further questions bearing on the subject. These, not being forthcoming, he formerly called upon the audience for a vote of thanks by acclamation to all three visiting speakers.