The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, OCTOBER 21, 1901. FARMERS’ UNION.

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 242, 21 October 1901, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, OCTOBER 21, 1901. FARMERS’ UNION.

| \\ r u congratulate tho farmers of the district with having fallen into lino with the vest of the colony rn tlio forming of a branch of the Mew Zealand Farmers’ Union, and we feel sure that tho enthusiasm shown at the meeting on Saturday will be actively followed up. The County Chairman, Mr James Macfarlane, who has been a leading spirit in inaugurating tho movement iu tho district, ably pointed out tho distinct disadvantages that tho settlors wore laboring under iu not having proper organisation. lie showed that in the past farmers had shown no cohesion, and it had been practically impossible to form any body that would iuivo any power in the land, but the time had come when union was necessary, and they should follow tho example of other sections of tho community who bad organised for tho purpose of protecting and advancing their interests. Mr Maefarlano was followed by Mr Fisher, the assistant organiser of the Union, who explained the details of the worming in a very lucid speech. Ho pointed out that in the past farmers wore about tho last class iu the c mumnity to combine to promote their interests from the aggression of others. Whilst they remained single units their interests would bo overlooked. One of the first tilings the j trade unionists did was to get men i pledgod to support their interests, and ! to rnako laws for them, the result being j that during recent years tho colony ! had been largely dominated by labor ! legislation. The trades un.onists were not numerous, but they were able to swing the balance of power. It was now time that tho farmers awakened j to the necessity of combining to see i that their interests were fostered and j protected when they wore threatened. 1 | Up to the present the organisers of ; i the Union had met with considerable j | success. During the last few months : the progress of the movement had j been something astonishing. So far | labor legislation liad not seriously j effected the farming community, but the trend was in tiiis direction, and it was therefore necessary that some j combination was necessary to conserve i | their interests. The farmers did not ! wish to lower tho wages of anybody, | but they must consider how it affected them. If wages were to go up, it meant that on each rise in wages farmers were getting less and less for their produce. The farmers worked the hardest and they Vvere not to he blamed if they looked after their in- , terosts. In this age it was those who • made the loudest noise who got the most attention. In tho past tho farmers ' had allowed their ease to go by default. •' and they were combining to look after ; their interests.

The object of tho Union as outlined by the speakers was to get a complete organisation of the fanners all over the colony, so that their interests, both politically and commercially, should be watched and considered. There is no doubt that much can be done by the Union in securing new markets for the products of the colony, and also in bringing about a better

understanding between labor and capital. We are pleased to note that :t main plank of the Union is that it is to bo of a non-party character, and wo hope that this condition will be strongly insisted upon. Nothing will >ooner destroy the effectiveness of such a body as to allow the feeling to jet abroad that it is being run in the nterests and for the sole purpose of me class of the community. It 3 this that has strangled the rade unions throughout the colony, ,nd caused them to loso much of their lower in the land. The unionists, inroad of adopting a conciliatory spirit j awards capitalists, have on almost very occasion acted in a manner calulated to widen the breach that xisted, with the result that things

are rea -Ufa that state that capitalists ; re u:r ti-I *>• venture upon aur new; ulusiry in mi- 1 eolouy. it is tins go- ! a. re exti'emt' that the Farmers’ , m >’a ha- to avoid, and lor that rea- \ on great cave should he exercised to j ittve the best men available in each j .istrict at the head of affairs. This j pjn-ars to have been done in the case I •t tiie provisional committee elected i >;i and we look forward to - in i’nion 1 ring able to do nre.ch to . iva..cc me interests ot tins district. —~~— i