The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 1909. FARMERS AND THEIR INTERESTS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 517, 26 May 1909, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 1909. FARMERS AND THEIR INTERESTS.

; '■" — ~^~* —' ~ ' ' 1 '" In his address to the provincial conference of the Farmers' Union yesterday; tho President very properly commenced by laying ■stress upon the great urgency of what we 'inay call a thorough system of agrarian defence!'.- At past conferences, to:bo sure,' the presidential address' always stated tho necessity for. united thought 1 and action amongst the fanning community, but such roforonceß, prior 't?

the introduction of the Land Bill :in 1906, were generally regarded as little more than a necessary formality. That Bill, however, came as such a shock to the people °n the land that what had seemed only a formality, almost a! platitude, began to reveal itself as an important truth to be acted upon in real earnest. To omploy a high analogy, it may be said that the affirmation of the necessity for united action is as different to-day from what it was in 1905 as insistence upon British naval supremacy is different today from what it WaV before the recent naval awakening. What was a pioils sentiment has become a battle-cry. The note of urgency is apparent in the manner in which ■Mβ. J G," Wilson handled his subject, and although It would have been 'better if. the President had gone more fully into an exposition of the situation which farmers must facV yet we believe that there is no intelligent agriculturist who does not realise that his interests arc in real danger. . - Already heavy burdens have been placed directly on the shoulders of the farmer,, and he has no guarantee that those burdens will not be further increased unless he determines to stand up 'in selfdefence. But it is not only by direct burdens that the farmer is hampered and his interests injured; It is on him.that will fall tho heaviest load in tho event of the national distress.which is the certain end of unwise government. In the past he has been inclined to.regard as a matter of no concern to him everything which does not directly relate, to tho soil and his occupation of it. Ho has failed to perceive that/recklc'ss financial - methods, on the part of his Government' are inimical to his .interosts, and that it is on him that the'cost of Socialistic-legis-lation of every,kind must fall most heav< ily. Had the farmers been less apathetic,-, and better.organised,:they could long ago hayo done much to. check the dangerous' drift.of thecountry's affairs. The result of the General: Election in this province, v where- the farming; community is more widely awake to its interests, demonstrates very clearly! the power that the farmers,can.exert if.they will only take thd..-trouble to exert.it. But; as Ma. Wilson says, they are genorally "too,apt to wako up after tho event. , - The process of waking up mean, of course, the selection of any political party as. the party to, be supported through thick and .thin. : It' ttieana. ohly a clear ■identification of the-curroht. influences that are to tho disadvantage of prosperous land-holding,. .the exercise of pressure, at and between the Parliament-' ary elections, 10,. destroy'.those'.influences Despite; the'krge Representation of the country, districts'un the.House,' the tendency of recent-legislation'his-been antiagrarian, as Mn. -Wilson made clear in his address to the New, Zealand'Confer-. ,enco of tho Union in July of last year, the moderate , benefits 'that have come through the Agricultural Department notwithstanding,, for,, as we havo said before,; what;is done-'pn the surface is undone in the foundations, It is largely the fault of .the fanners, themselves that I their interests'-; suffereddespite their, representation in. Parliament.; They took no dare, until 1908, to test the views ,of Candidates thoroughly, and some of their representatives' turned tail, on pledges. ;■;■ ■■' ■■.■'•■■ - i ,',.■;■'■'■..::■>'■'■'< -,-"'■, I ;Tho outlook is'more hopeful, however, since tho last election: One.'of. the,fundamental principles of the I—a principle to-, winch" overy ' fartner natUrajiy: .subscribes—is' the national' desirableness of haying ,no barrier, placed in the way of the' man who wishes to become «a freeholder. . For the present the Government has defrauded the country of the land policy:which a majority in the country ..desires,, but in the coming bps-. sion. we should j'sce either an abandonment, ior tho .beginning of an abandon-, ment, of; a, compulsory leasehold policy which was unwisely , adopted under tho pressure of the city radicals. The Conference,.passed a resolution yesterday affirming thonecessity for granting drbWn I tenants: the option of tho freehold, and the, Union will of course watch closely the action of those membors 'who aro pledged to the freehold policy; ; !, There is a strong party, , on. both' sides of .tho' House, on which the Union can rely; Qf little loss importance than a revision of the law relating to'land tehuro is tho revision of the System of valuation.which, as the public has lately been made, aware, is pressing very severely and very unjustly -.upon the tillers of the; soil. 'These am questions requiring the:early, and serious at-, (tontion of the Legislature, and-wo trust, that they will bo given the cinphasis'they deserve at the general conference of the Union. There was'never a tjmc.when, the • prospects of the Union were'bettcr, or its activities more necessary, than they are I at;,.present. • The .farmers are-'.growing [ alarmed at;the successive/acts of hostility Ito their interests that ■■ have been comrmitted,by the Legislature. They see tho business of agriculture; becoming tnore and more regarded as a business to be [.heavily penalised. They: are. not blind to jthe significance of the fact that farming capital and capable young farmers are drifting away to Queensland. They aro realising that unless they act' in unity, and keep a vigilant eyo upon tho legislation and administration of the country, ■their position", will 6oon become intolerable. . A iittlo. moro. energetic organisai.tion, and they will realise, their power to protect.themselves against their.enemies.