TO WORK TOGETHER

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 32, Issue 3292, 23 July 1943, Page 6

TO WORK TOGETHER

VETERINARY SERVICES STATE CONTROL OPPOSED CONFERENCE ALL LOCAL CLUBS Representatives of veterinary clubs from Taranaki, Morrinsville, Putaruru, Ngatea and Te Awamutu were present at a meeting held in the Morrinsville Municipal Chambers recently in order to discuss a proposal for the affiliation of veterinary clubs. Those present were Messrs H. Parsons and A. K. Fyson (Taranaki), R. T. Scott, H. S. Stembridge, J- W. Attwood and A. A. Blakely, B.C.Sc., (Morrinsville), W. B. Hardwick and A. W. Vincent (Putaruru), C. H. Waite and A. Constantine (Ngatea), R. Davis, W. J. Hodgson and H. R. Clarke (Te Awamutu).

Mr R. T. Scott presided over the 'meeting and his opening remarks outlined the purpose of the meeting. There had been lately, he said, suggestions put forward for veterinary services to be supervised by the Dairy and Meat Boards. Extensive advertising for veterinarians' had been conducted in Canada, Australia anu America by the Dairy Board, and the names of applicants had been circularised among New Zealand clubs. The result had been that applicants had 'been swamped with offers of positions with clubs in New Zealand. The method had proved haphazard and had caused a certain amount of ps- ( satisfaction among the clubs. There had also been a move for the nationalisation of clubs under the control of the Government, and Mr Scott emphasised the undesirability of this. His opinion was strongly supported by the representatives of the veterinary clubs present. It was the contention of the meeting that the clubs had dene all the “spade work” in the organisation and development of the service and that in State control there lay the danger of veterinarians losing interest in their clubs and a decline in the present good service. State control was also described as being the antithesis of the principles of democracy. The Waikino and Taranaki representatives felt that a federation of veterinary clubs, was needed in order that strong opposition against Government control, or anything of that nature, might be made. It was desired, however, that each club should handle its own domestic affairs. The point was raised regarding the recent setting up of a committee by the Government at the request of the Veterinary Association and the purpose of this committee was questioned. A warning note was struck by Mr J. W. Attwood (Morrinsville) against soliciting the aid of the Government which would naturally want to havesome control in matters concerning a federated veterinary service. It was argued that the farming industry was quite capable of handling its own affairs, and a federated veterinary service was a farmers’ concern.Mr A. A. Blakely, Morrin's-ville veterinarian, advised that the Veterinary Association affected the veterinary profession, not the service. The committee consisted of representatives of the veterinary profession, the Department of Agriculture, the Dairy and Meat Boards, and the University Senate. The main purpose of the committee was to discuss the question of establishing a veterinary college in New Zealand. Difficulty was being found in obtaining veterinarians, and there had been considerable discussion over the success of training veterinarians in New Zealand. A move towards nationalisation had been fostered by a section of the Veterinary Association, said Mr Blakey. There were about 50 Government veterinariansl and about 23 private veterinarians in the Association; therefore the vote had been somewhat influenced by the Government members. The chairman pointed out that a meeting was to be held on Thursday between the Dairy and Meat Boards, when the matter of conducting veterinary clubs would be discussed and it was necessary to have some finality about the federation of such clubs in order that a case against State control or any such influence might be presented. After further discussion, on the motion of Messrs Wallace J. Hodgson and A. Constantine, it was decided “that a National Federation be set up consisting of representatives of Morrinsville, Putaruru, Te Awamutu, Ngatea and. Taranaki clubs, and such other clubs or organised farmers’ veterinary groups as may from time to time be agreed upon.” ' It was decided to designate the federation “The Dominion Federation of Farmers’ Veterinary Services.” The representatives present were elected as the committee with Mr

Scott, president, Mr H. Parsons (Taranaki) vice-president, and Mr R. B. Westwater secretary. Representation on the Government committee of investigation which had been set up at the request of the Veterinary Association was considered to be necessary to the federation, and the lattei’ was discussed at length. It was decided to seek the support of the Dairy and Meat Board in the matter and to send a deputation from the Federation to meet the Dairy and Meat Boards at their conference in Wellington on Thursday, with a view to obtaining proper representation on the committee. In order to overcome the problem which had been encountered in the past, of clubs contacting veterinarians who h’ad already received an of-

fer of a position with another club or clubs, it was decided that all negotiations for veterinarians should be made through the Federation’s secretary. It was also decided that services already in operation should receive first consideration in order that their services be maintained, appointments should be made in the order that they were received . On the motion of Messrs Wallace J. Hodgson and A. Constantine, on behalf of all the outlying services, a vote of thanks was accorded the Morrinsville service for arranging the meeting. Sentiments were expressed that the meeting signified an important step in the farming industry. An efficient veterinary service in New Zealand meant the saving of many thousands of pounds and a Federated Veterinary Service, controlled by the industry, could provide such efficiency. The meeting felt that the problems which the clubs had been faced with in the past had been discussed by the meeting in a commonsense way. Their “cards had been laid on the table” in order to assure harmony in the new Federation. It was felt that such an example could becopied in Wellington and of the problems of the country were approached in a like manner, they could be solved with less difficulty.