N.Z. FARMERS' UNION

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 27 January 1921, Page 3

N.Z. FARMERS' UNION

COMPULSORY MEMBER-

SHIP

At a recent meeting of a Northern branch or" the Bay of Islands Union, a number of questions were asked, and answered by the organiser (Mr W. Pollock) in regard to various phases of of the union work. One speaker expressed very strongly his opinion that the union would never be a really live organisation, able to forcejfche claims of its members, unless some measure of compulsion were adopted. He pointed out that* numbers of farmers in every district refused to join the union, and only a very few of the members took any intelligent interest in the union's affairs or bothered to attend the meetings. Mr Pollock said he could not see the union becoming the power it should be unless it adopted political action or oompulsary membership—or both. As against the well organised forces of employees in other industries the farmers' organisation cut a poor figure. By organisation the farmers of Ontario, in Canada, had captured parliament in a country with twice the population of New Zealand. Some measure of initial success had been attained in Australia, and now the fanners of U.S.A. were starting to organise for political action. Coining to the question of compulsion, the speaker recognised the difficulties in the way, but those difficulties were, perhaps, not insuperable.

Mr Pollock said he was a cheerful optinnst,but felt at times that, in connection with the Farmers' Union, it would be very easy to cross the bridge of pessimism. Personally, he had only good to say of his treatment, and he had been successful in enrolling large numbers of new members. " But where does

this take us if these members, in many cases, are going to act as so many of those enrolled by the organisers prior to me have done? There are at the present moment hundreds of members in arrears with one or two year's subscriptions. When these men can be seen personally they can benerally be induced to pay up, but this means that organisation is costing twice what it should ; it means re-enrolment practically, As an experiment I sent out a oircular letter to a largo number of those delinquents, pointing out the necessity of supporting their organisation and asking for payment of those overdue subs.^ What was the result? You may find it hard to believe that the response was " nil," but it was so. A farmer is asked to" pay. 30s a year ~ a labour iin.jon.jsti pays two or three times this sum without a grudge, knowing that he gets value for it in the strength and solidarity of organisation. I have come across a few cases of what I might call monumental meanness in the cases of men using the union for their own ends who had actually failed, after requests, to uay their ir^itiuj subscription. r£hß experience of past treatment, especially during wartime' should be a sufficient inducement to make the farmers stiffen up their Hnks and st-ren^t-he^ their- union,'1