FATHER OF DAIRY INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1081, 21 March 1911, Page 8

FATHER OF DAIRY INDUSTRY.

v A WAIRAKAPA MAN'S CLAIM. ' , [To the Editor.l Sir,—Your Featherston correspondent is good enough to descri.bo me as "one ot the promoters of the co-operative, system of dairying." This is hardly putting tho Blatter properly, as I initiated the movement.in 1880-1, and. then asked others to join. The point was settled at' the Agri-' cultural Conference at Christchurch in' 1883; Messrs.'W. E. Bidwill, A.Matthews, W. G. "Foster (chairman of the ellingtfln Meat Export Company) and myself being delegates from Wairarapa and e!lington. The late Mr. Brydone was also a delegate from Otago, and he claimed to he "lather of the dairy industry," owing to the work he had done in starting his proprietary factory at Edendale.in 1882. This was such a purely proprietary' concern, that the Government took over tho land about 1003. One of my fellow delegates, knowing my previous work at Greytown, nudged me during Mr. Brydine's- speech, and after lie had finished I rose ai)d,called Mr. Brydone's attention to my .previous work in Greytown. That gentleman listened attentively, and after I. Hail .spoken, in the presence of .the, whole .conference, frankly admitted, "Yes, that is. correct." Further corroboration can be given in this matter, of the loss of its whole capital bv the first Grevtown Factory Company in 1886. Mr. W: C. Cuff was chairman of directors, and Mr. W. C. Buchanan and I. were also on tho directorate. The lhte Mr. John .Tudd, of Greytown, refused to supply his milk to the factory nnder <kl. a - gallon-. Messrs. Cuff and Buchanan argued that the company must give that price in order to obtain the milk supply. I argued that Mi'. Judd must only take whit the company realised, less the cost of. manufacture (herein Tested the only true basis of co-operation), lly opinion was over-ruled, and I thereupon resigned . from the directorate; as it was clear t.bat if the company sold its cheef.e,.for 3Jd. to Id. it could not ■possibly give* 4d. What resulted? The ■whole capital of the company was lost in that- one season. I returned to thewreck, and revived it again, but that loss of ,£ISOO was the beacon light, warning .every other company to avoid a similar Wreckage. I am giving the history of the first trnly co-operative dairy factory not only; in, New Zealand, not only in Australasia, but in the whole British Empire. I.founded it before even Denmark began its great work of co-opera-tion-in 1882; a co-operation which puts ■ that of New Zealand : entirely into the shade, owing to the unfortunate spirit of abject dependence which dairy farmers !now liave upon the Government. 1 have done, my work in dairy matters (save that,l will see the llolstein Friesian Herd- Book issued), but no greater work is: before any one to-day .'than to. relieve the dairy industry fi-pm Government interference. Tho Danish Government., is too 'wiso to interfere, but leaves the matters to the farmers, even to their having, their own experimental stations. The Agricultural .Department- -should ■be .aboliilied, and dairy and fruit farmers'rest entirely upon tneir own-resources, ■as. the Government only exploits them tor its ■ own purposes. TUe Danish farmers do. eyerytning for themselves, and until the New Zealand farmers follow suit, they will.'never reach the Danish perfection. . To show how wrong it is to depend upon tne Government, 1 have. for, years used lime 'and sulphur in the orenard, and could not clean the trees from scale. Last yc-ar-1 used oil, and the trees aro now . clean. Herein I had to go directly against the Government instructions. Another case! The Government very foolishly introduced tho. Irish ■ blight in potatoes. This, matter -alone is ot mpi#-' harm to us than.' all the good the Department may have done. ' Dependence- upon the Government is simply ruining the manly spjrit of yeomon independence. In ail. tDe- work 1 have ever done 1 liavo never looked to the Government for anything I do not want to. The Government is always the.enemy of the people; ijcnvr its friend.. All any Government does, in theje democratic days, is to play for its- own- hand. _ Theodore Kbosevelt had to,go'outside; his Government to do any good in making tho American people a little- more. honest. The less-the peon'.e entrust any government (Liberal or Conservative) the better. 'No great good is ever, done unless one individual first starts it, and then, let co-operation carry it on. The protection of life, and property is all a government should undertake. 'iVhat ' more ghastly mistake has ever, been witnessed than the whole history of New Zealand State-owned railways?-But it has paid the politicians and log-rollers to the echo. I hopo ' when Mr. Massey becomes Premier that he will abolish the Agricultural Department, and sell the railways, and with them tho Government Buildings in Wellington, cntting up the site into business lots. The only way to harden the spines of New Zealanders is to make Ihem depend upon themselves, as I alwars did, in the various matters T suggested for the general progress of the country. Your readers will therefore excuse nie when I say that .T am proud of being the "Father of the Dairy Industry," that, being purely an individual work in its initiation.—l am, etc., COLEMAN PHILLIPS. Carterton, March 18, 1911. The Dominion levy has been fixed by tho advisory committee of the New Zealand. Farmers' Union at 2s. 6d., instead of 2s. per member,