FARMERS AND POLITICS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1519, 15 August 1912, Page 8

FARMERS AND POLITICS.

A QUESTION or THE HOUR. Refer ring to the proposal made at the recent Dominion Conference of tbe Now Zealand Farmers' Union to amend tlio platform of.the union, 31r. .TohnJl'Queen, 0110 of the best-known southern delegates to tho conference, had the following to pay to a reporter when interyiewed on his return to Southland from Welling- •> ton:— "There had been a proposal to amend ■ tho platform of tlio union. It was heM that tho platform, having been prepared a good number of years ago, could bo advisedly added to and altered in somo respects. For instance, in regard to politics, 'it had been understood that the 'Farmers' Union must bo non-political, and must not ally itself to any political party. That clnitE-o had been provided in order 'to get tho farmers to act cohesively and treat subjects from a non-party point of view. The farmers, as with even- other section, of thcr people, had joined their ■ sympathies with either tlio Liberal or Conservative parties. It was, at tho timo when tho provision was made, recognised that it would bo difficult to weld the farmers into one body if the object of ..the.organisation were suspected to"be po- ; litical, and it was therefore intended to banish: all party politics. It had been ; difficult at first to overcome the suspicion :thnt party politics, were a factor in tho organisation. After some time they t .succeeded in getting rid of the suspicious Spirit, among tho farmers and now they • .found that the party-political teloment had been almost completely banished from their As everything they touched on pertained to some aspect of politics; they found now that ther could not avoid what was politics ill New Zealand._ The union considered that the farming industry, which produced tho great bulk of the wealth in the country, should not be shut out of politics. Those who were engaged in the industry had as .much right to participate in tho politics of this country as any other section of tho community. That was the general feeling to-<lay amonir members of tho Farmers' Although it was not intended to join cither of tho big political .parties already established, it was recognised that the time had arrived, for tho entry of the farmer into the political arena. It was intended to establish a farmers' or agrarian party. In Germany, and other. Continental countries there-were parties similar to the propos- ■ ed Farmers' party and these were termed agrarian parties. .Believing as they did that the., closer settlement of the land of.tho country was the greatest ciues-' tion that cniikl come before a j'oung country. like New Zealand they desired to impress this point on y tho people of tho Dominion. If it were intended to encourage . the settlement of tho country- 1 they must lint handicap the people who were producing the wealth of the country, and if they desired to give this encouragement they must not load tho farmers : with.a burden such as the single taxer would suggest. Such a burden must in-, evitably tend to discourago people from cming. into the hack-blocks. ; This question of amending the platform was referred to tlie branches from the Dominion Conference. It would be discussed .by the branches and would come up before the Provincial Conference, and then be sent forward to the Dominion Confer- - crico next year." -i