FARMERS DEFY BAN

Chronicle (Levin), 16 January 1948, Page 8

FARMERS DEFY BAN

Press Association)

NEXT MOVE' IN UPPER HUTT DISPUTE AWAITED

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WELLINGTON, Jan. 15. ''The holding 'of saies in these p'remises is Tereby fofbiddeh." While the To'wn Olerk of Jtppe^- Hutt vvas posting offieial notiees in the above terms on the saldyards this niorhing, mounted droverS were cfaeking' their whips aiid heTding eattle and sheep into the yards fo'r sale.- It was like a seene from a westerh drama, with half the neigliboui'fiood looking pri and scores oi children on holiday with their. noseS in between the panels of the yards by the b'ellowing animals. Clouds of dust came ofl the roads. The Mayor of Upper Hntt (Mr. E; N.- Nieolaus) abstained from witness^ ing the couhcil's debaele. ♦ • * There was not the slightesf interference with the drovers. In Spite of the eouncil's thre'at to ptoseeute Da-lgety and Co., Ltd., if the yards were used, the auetioneer was on the seene anq his assistants were busily checking m the stocM • The sale was due to begin at one o 'cloek. This sale is a relatively smaii one, but .the next one, the February ewe' sale, is-the biggest event of the year, when 5000 ,o'r 7000 sheep change hands in two days of selling and yartting and droving through the boroug'h. Future in Doubt. What is to happen then? No one seen at the yards this morning eould suggest any alternative to using the present unreg'istered yards. . • The ehairman of the local braneh ot the Pederated Farmers (Mr. L. Andrews; said all tlie farmers want is an assurance of continuity, but they are willing to assist in every way in the provision of other yards if a scheme is propounded. In the meantime, he must contiriue to seli. In shirt sleevgs and wearing a wide hat, he was eariy at the yards witli a motor tfuck ot eattle from Kaitoke. The leader of the farmers was taking victory modestly, satisfled that the farmers were getting continuity so tar, at any rate. He does not disputc the faet that the Upper Hutt is fast passing from the status of a rural settlement drowsing in the Valley. It is, he agreed, necoming a elosely rcsidential area, in ihe centre of which a saleyard ltas no plaee, but he cannot help that. "Where is the alternative scheme?" he asks. The farmers are willing to .help, but as for a temporarv yard, that wiil not get affairs anv furtlier ahead. Iiitehtion to prosecitte. The Town Cleru (Mr. B. M . Wil-ms-hurst) said this morning, after posting his notiees, that the intention of the eouneil to prpsecute Dalgetv? for holding the sale in the unregistered yard — the council has forbidden the sale for health reasons — would be proceeded with. The inaximum pefialty under the Health Act would be £50. Farmers and Council. While the Upper Hutt Borougn Council last nigkt reaf&rnied its decision not to allow today 's stock sale to proceed, it was faeed' with the reaiity that it had no means of preventing it, physieal or otherwise."Unless someone is clubbed on the head," the police will not interfere, de clared the Mayor (Mr. Nieolaus) witti a gesture of helplessness. In the meantime, a crowded meeting of farmers in a nearby hall was triumphantly arranging a mass demon stration for the driving in of the stock dt 11 o 'cloek this morning. "They cannot put us all in gaol," shouted an excited farmer to his comrades. Kaitoke, Mungaroa and Akatarawa farmers promised to be on parade witn their stock at "elevcn on the dot. The honour of driving in the first tox of eattle, eagerlv sought for, was deiegated to the head of the local brancn of the Federated Farmers (Mr. L. Andrevfs).