BEST HOUR OF COMMONSENSE

Chronicle (Levin), 16 August 1946, Page 7

BEST HOUR OF COMMONSENSE

-Press Association

FARMERS NOT ENEMIES OF LASOUR

By Telegraph-

WLLLINUTON, August JO. What was described by Air. L. Androws, who nioveu a vote of thanks to the speaker, as " the^ liest liour s commonsense 1 ' he had listened to toi nmnv a dav. was delivered by Air. H. L. Blyde, a' ' Taranaki i'armer, in an address in the Town Ilall last night. It was his aini, said Air. Blyde, to present the viewpoint of the farnier to the citv dweller. Air. Cr. IL Bruee,v president of the j Alakara-llutt proviucial exeeutive of; Lederated Larmors, presided over an, atteudance of about 300 people. At| lirst there were considerable intorjections and much irouical laughter. ■ But as Air. Blyde warmed to his suliject he inet with little opposiliou, and loug be-

fore question timo caiuc ho \vas 011 tiie best of terms with his audience, nmny| of who 111 were obviously Labour sup-j porters. j "A Real Struggle." ''Air. Blyde is heho to tell you what 1 a real struggle the farnier of todav has in order to keep his place 111 the sun, j said the clmirman. Air. Blyde said he spoke as rhainnan, of the action conunittee of Lederated ; Karniers, a body that lmd been broughtj into beiug because oi the intense dis-i appointment of producers 011 the land • over eertain legislation enacted during last session. t. uninienting pn the Llec-i toral Amendinent Act, Air. Blyde said that the farnier obj n-ted to the ehangesj in the electorate lo an adult popula-l tion basis, w hich was rogarded as Ihe • institulion of a cily ijiiota. i Tnen there was the Shops and Oflices Act, which had introduced a five-day! and a 40-hour v:eek at a time when the', country was desperately short of manyi of the necessaries of life. "We werei short of labour in aimost every indus-j try at that time, ' ' he said. ' ' Rightly j

enougn, the iarnters were asuea ro piuciu.ce inore primary products. Thev were 1 reauired to work a little longer and a little harder. But who has ever lieard] oi' a 40-hours cow or a 40-hoitrs mort-j g-age? Who has ever heard of the ewe wuich wili postpone delivery from Fri- j day until Monday?" (Appiause.) ^ ^ : The Btatuus Ameiidment Act. whicliliiought share-mil l.ers under the direct ion of the Arbi I ra i i >11 Lourl. lie clmr | i act erised as a dn'tiitet breaclt of faithj on ttie part of the Uo\ ernmeiit. 'flint, .-tatemcnt was greeted witli apj'lause. : Wlien Air. Blyde said he lield 110 brief j for sltareholders in ihe Bank ot New, Zealunders there was prolonger laugh- ; ter. "I belie c iu a Biate Bsink, " lie : | said, "but it sh -uid not be nt the whiiti; i and di'-tates oi' any political p;ixty; that is not in tiie interests of ihe j j i-ouut rv as a wltoie. " ! What had been the reaction of the farmers to such legiBlatioii? It had causecl the greatr A est among the 1 j commuhity he had ever known. At ( first tliey talkcd scrikes and direct | action; they even threatened to pour [ milk down the drains. There was in- 1 tense antagonism to the present Gov- ! ernment. However, it hecame the duty j of the action committee to evolve a | siiitabie plan. ",A\'ev.oii that committee, examined ; the situatioii can-tuiiy, and we came to : the conclusion that. as 1'arniers we coul" not [»i 11 niu- faltii on oue political party. , After all, we are only 5(5.9 per eent. ot the total popiiiation, and now tlmt the elecloral botiudaries are elmnged to an ; aduit basis, we are only o.ie-tiiird oi' the total populati'di of voters. llow then ! oe.itl we expecl either political party to j cater for the reijui renieiil s of the farm ing c(iiii munity In tliis so-calleo demoi-racy ure onr politicians leaders if political tliought, or ure liiey followei> i of political thoiighl l ' ' 1 No Party Ahilia tions In general, lie believeil. mos! , polit iciu.is would hesitate lu advoente 1 any niove unless they felt eertain a ! large body of public opinion was beltiml il. Therefore, it was f'atal to Imve aiii party aiiiliations. The committee tiien decidcd tlmt, "as Ihe I'armer had been ; slating his case for vears and had got nowliere, tlmt recognitioii could be aciiieved only when he lmd Ihe under stamliiig. sympathy and lielp of uli st-.ciions of the coiuinu uity. In the 1 pnsl there had been loo nntch antttgon I ism bet w i'i'ii, for extunpie, the ftirmers | und ihe watersiders. Air. Blyde pouti ed out tlmt 90 per cent. of tlio exports huiulled by tiie' wiiiersiders were the result of the farmers' work. lndeed, without the latter there would be 110 iniports. Why should they be enemies.' asked thsfH'tiker, who appealed 1o all seetious of workers and prodtu-ets to cooperate ' in 'Ihe general interests of tiie countiw.i The farmers were just as desirotiS of a j h>gh standard of livitig as the watei-! sidei s. llow ever, it w as essenlial t'lmi j all coju-ernod sluuild be fully aeqiuiini : ed w ith the faets. His object was lo ■ ajqieal to tlio.se "silent voters, " tiiej seclion of the community that swayed i elections, to avoid class antagonism, lo, judge all citses 011 the l'acts. J i) regurd to botli watersiders aml ! free/ing workers, the farmers lmd u, : ■ i'oot Ihe bill for the increased wages they sought. Howover, tlmt, did mu ; ■ necessarily constitute them enemies., 1 "Why should we stand apart and luiri j bricks tit eaeli other.'" asked M r. ! ; Blyde. " Is it not bet ter (o get to-; gether aml try to underst and eaeh | ■ ollier's viewpoinl?"