PARTY POLITICS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5196, 28 October 1927, Page 1

PARTY POLITICS.

OBJECTION BY UNION*

AN EMPHATIC RESOLUTION.

“From expressions of opinion at branch meetings and from individual members it is Quite obvious that any form of political action by the union will be met with keen disapproval in Wairarapa,” stated the provincial secretary (Mr J. Watson) at last week’s meeting of the Wairarapa provincial executive of the Famersf Union. Mr Watson added, that he already iad two resignations as a result of the proposal, and he had been threatened with many more if the union proceeded wi.th political action. In this connection one member wrote as follows : “I beg to tender my resignation as a member of the union. In the early days the union did a great deal of work for the farmers, but at the present time the leaders of the union seem to be all budding politicians. They havei started a Farmers’ Political Party, which in my opinion is absolutely against the farmers’ interests.”

The President: “Some members are ‘getting the wind up’ unnecessarily about political action.” Mr W. Colman considered that the matter had been played about, with long enough, and the union was lp&*ing members by it. He felt that tney should immediately hit politics on the head and be done with it. The opponents of tlhe resolution actively debated it, expressing the opinion that the executive was taking, and the closing of the discussion to the Press was an extremely unfair attitude to the whole district.

■At a later stage of the meeting the executive continued a discussion from its previous meeting on the subject of suggested political action by the union. A resolution to take the discussion in committee was carried by fifteen votes to eight.

After two hours’ discussion, on the motion of Mr H. Morrison, seconded by Mr W. Colman, the following resolution was carried unanimously :— “That this executive of the Farmers’ Union considers that it is against the best interests of the union to indulge in political action on party lines.”

The following letter, signed by James Watson, the provincial secretary, was published in th© Wairarapa Age the; next day :—

“In reporting the decision of the Wairarapa Farmers’ Union executive on Friday on proposed party political action, you truthfully said t.hat the discussion in committee lasted nearly two hours. This; statement in itself might lead members to suppose, that it took the executive two hours to arrive at its finding. In actual fact, the finding was conceded within two minutes of the resolution bqing read ; but so many members insisted upon expressing their views in support of the resolution that time passed Quickly, and in the whole committee; discussion there was no expression pf dissentient opinion. The length of the discussion did not indicate any opposition to the resolution eventually p'assed. What it did indicate; was the solid weight of support behind the policy embodied in that resolution. As the dsicussion was in committee the full facts could not, of course, be brought out in your report.”