FEDERATED FARMERS

Chronicle (Levin), 16 May 1946, Page 3

FEDERATED FARMERS

ANNUAL CONFERENCE MANAWATU DISTRICT The annual conference of the Federated Farmers of ISfew Zeaiand, Manawatu Provincial Distriet, was held in Palmerston North yesterday, Mr. H. J. MeLeavey, the ehairman, presiding After extending a welconie to the delegatcs the ehairman said it gave hiin pleasure to submit his report . covering Federation and Union aetiVities during 'the: past year during whielij the ehange over to Federated Farmcrsi had been made. , Pollowing are extraets from the very comprekensive report: "Perhaps the main feature of our work in the past 12 montlis was tlie ckaiigc over to the Pederated Fanners. This involved a considerable amount of work and tliought and I a'm happy to stiy that in this proviuce the results were very satisfactory. Too many of our niembers take the vicw that having paid their 30s they liave fultilled tlieir obligati'ons to the Federation, but uotliing eould be fnrthcr from the truth. The Pederation is the farmcrs' Parliament and if inembers fail to appreciate this point sooner or latcr niembers will iind people in charge of tlieir aifairs wlio have not tlieir interests at lieart. "1 tliink you will all agree that the futurc liolds many problems, botli at home and abroad, which will require our greatest goodwiil and iniagination to solve. At this very moment there are millions in Purope and Asia facing starvation and any backwardness on our part to help these people may liave repercussions wliich would be disasIrous for the white races. A t present we are witnessing a feeble attempt. bv the Government to get the people to inake sacrilices on a voluntary basis, but I tliink you will agree that the results will prove to lie negligiblc and only u proportion of the.'people will respond Lo this uppeal wliiie ihe otliers will carry on without any cll'ort to help. The seriousnoss of the occasion calls i'or drastic action in Wliich all should share; every efL'ort to proiuote production should be inade aud every otu'ourageinent given to farmcrs to | bring tlieir farms up to capacity oulput aud inaximuni elliciency. "Jn my opinion it is inost unfoi'tunate that in times such as these our legislators appcar to bc determiued to pursuc tlieir policy of Ihe fU-hour week. Pp to the present this philosophy of less work and more leisurc has noL been I applied to our niain industry, but it J would be ridiculoua to suggest or to j iuiagine that it could be possible to I present this Utopia to otJier sections of | iudustry and. expect the fanners to act i Ihe part of Ciuderella. Those engaged | in tlie farming iudustry are human : beings exactlv alike in this respect to ■tlieir brothers and sisters in .pthor irtdustries. Moreover, we are not: ua-! mindful of the promise of the iustiga-, tion of guaranleed prices that;. we (farmers j would be paid for ,our -sorviees bv the same measuring ,tape- a& applied to other sections who 'give; equal service aud. it is only naturai -to expect. that unless and until such jtime as this promise is fullv honoured, those engaged in our great farming iudustry will be labouriug under a sense of grav.e injustice which from a uational an.d production staudpoinl will .proVef to-, be uiost uiifortunate. Effcct of Excessiv.c Taxation. "It is not out of place to mchtion the hdmpering effect of excessive taxation on initiativc in this country and to suggest that some mucli' needed rclief iu this direction will eneomagc people lo do more and to give great, cr expression to their livcs. How ofter liave we lieard the remark that "it is not worth working any harder as the Government simply takes it away in taxation?' This outlook is periueatiug the ininds of furmcr.s and townspeople alike aud is leading to a gradual slowing down in production, just at a time whcn we are clainouring for an increased supply of cousumablc goods. Oue good method of overcoining the difficully would be to peg the taxation of individuals and companies engaged in j essontial iudustry ut last year's iigure i aud to allow them to eujoy free of tax j any income in excess of that iigure. X i am uware that many will say that it | is a pily you cau only help the starvj iug people of Furope aud clsewlicre by pandcriiig to the seliish motiyes of the people, but the fact is inescupable that taxation todav is stultifying our economic activities and tliat the advent of ihe good times we all anticip'atcd would coine aftcr the war is bciug dciayed needlossly.

Victory Parade Contingent. "Anothcr uiifortunate step wliich has receutly been takou is the' sending Home of tlie Victory Parade Contingent. It not only involves a hardshiji 011 the depleted food supplies at Home but ttlso the men concerned could weli be employed Jiere on ihe production i'ront. Jioats which should be usod to bring scparatcd wives and husbands together are lieing used to facilitale a i'unction wliich is not vvauted by tlie people here or the people in J'higland, and Ihe holding of such a i'unction is

in ill aeeord with tlie Hines. 1 linu enough for this ceremouial humlmg wlieu the millions of unfortunnte people, many of whom are our allies, who are facing famine, are adequaleiy clothcd and fod. Rchabilitation. "Anothcr major problem ealling for our greatest. sympathy and altention is thaL of helping rehabilitatc the relurued meu aud women of this Dominion. The difticullies facing these young people in sctling up homes for theniselves aud sccuriug jobs to tlieir "liking are euormous and unlcss we are pre; pared lo help in every way possible ti reaction will sct iu which will spcll disillusionment and despair for tliouaands of our young citizens. The erying need in the country is adequate housing and I feel sure that money spent in this direction will meaii liappiXjess and jobs for many of these people aifl will return good dividends to tlie country. The Government is doing its best, haxpper'ed by niueli of its own policy, to overcome the problem, but the greater part of their, efforts has beeu centred iu the town and tends to aggravate an already acute problem of large urban settlement. A proposition which I dealt with in my report to you a ycar or so ago appears to be even more nccesstvry today and would, in my opinion, go a long way towards cliecking the drift from the country to the eities and towns and also assist in no

small measure towards rchabilitating ;Hiany of our roturued pcrsonnel. £ rei'er- to the rural housing selieme. to be Tack'lfed .aloiig 'the lines of the creatiOli'of village settlements. Tlie day has goiie when the dairy farmer will build proper acconimodation for marrie'd people on his farm, and in most cases- it is qui-te ungconomic to do so. The estublislimcnt of rural settlements, in wliich cach owner can purchase a decent liousc and a piece of land for his own cultivation, will create pools of labour from which the farmer cau draw for his niaintcnancc needs and will assure a stcadv supply of young farmcrs growing up to take their rightful place iu the farming community. If we cau iinagine a tliousand of these villages throughout thc country we can visualise a well balauccd and happy community and can see that not only will hundreds of our servicemeu be happily seltled, but also rural life itself will be rehabilitated. This idea should bo puslied by thc Pedcration to the utniost and any approach by the Government to our organisation to sponsor the schemc should bc welcomed and encouraged by all. It is not intonded to suggest that uo efCort should be made to settlc thc returned meu on farms of their own. This is a vital section of rchabilitation aud it is cxpecled that every farmer will do his utmost to train aud accommodate men who are anxious to secure farms oi their own, but who, on account of having had insufhcient experience in farming, are required to servc a certuin period witli an approved farmer." JVLr. McLeavey was i;e-elected prcsident and Mcssrs B. J. Cottle and D. B. 1'owe were elected vice-prcsidents. Xoiuiiuitions for Ihe executive wero rcceived from most of Ihe branclies aud ollier names are to bc J'orwarded. ?»lr. \V. ii. Gimblott was re-elected Lreasurer. Afler tlie lunch iidjournmciit Mr. Cottle touh the chair.

Hospital Rating. Mr. Cottle introduced Ihe qucstiou of the large iucrcasc in thc hospit.al raio. The muller was discusacd ini'ormally. lie moved " thal a remlt from Ihis meeling go forward lo thc interprovincial conference at Wanganui dcaling wilh hospital rating. " This drew a suggeslion from Mr. G. G. Milcheli thal Ihe lcad should como from the couutics which should be approached. The chairmau theu aniendcd his resolutiou lo read "that a remit be sent to Ihe iuterprovincial couforonce that hospital rating should be taken off the laud and become a charge on the Social yeeurily Puud." This was seconded and caxi'ied. Mr. Mitchell then moved ' ' that the couutics in the distriet be asked to oppose any increase in tlie hospital rate aud that councillors be assured of the farmcrs ' fullest support in any aetion takou. " This was earried.