N.Z FARMERS' UNION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2815, 26 February 1908, Page 20

N.Z FARMERS' UNION.

OTAGO. A meeting of the "Lawrence branch was held ar, Tuapeka West on the 15th inst., and in 'spite of the fact that harvest was ml full swing and everybody working earls) and late, there was a very good attendance. The Secretary explained that instead! on holding all the meetings of the union uf Lawrence it was proposed to try tho ex* perirr.ent of meeting at the various centres-. The next meeting would probably be held at Evans Flat, and it was to be hoped thas it would be as largely attended as the present one. He considered that, in turning out ai they had. the farmers of the 'West wore to be lughlv commended. An abstract) of the busmen done .at the meetings of th<» Provincial Executive was read. The Ohair, man diew attention to the fact that the executive had to deal with a very large* rangfe of subject*, and pointed out that many questions came under their notica which could be dealt with much mora readily and effectively than could be dona by indiwdual members. He introduced 41 number of items for discussion, amongsfi them being "the administration of the Eabbit Nuisance Act," '"the establishment oil an experimental farm," "the proposed re, arrangement of the boundaries of the count* ridings," and, after various members hadi expressed thair view 9, the following resolit-* tions were adopted: "That a deputation consisting of the president ajid Messry

Cameron, Stanton, and M'Kay wait upon the Minister of Lands during his visit to the district and urge the claims of the district^ for the establishment of an experimental farm;" "That a cordial invitation be extended to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Lands to visit Tuapeka;" "That Messrs Fraser, Robertson, Browne, and Cameron be appointed to confer w ith the county council and engine-sr re the proposed alteration on the boundaries of the ridings." The arrangement come to between the" executive and Skene and Son in Regard to the engagement of farm labourers was approved, and members were recommended to support the same. A meeting of the Waikaka Valley branch rwas held in the schoolhouse on the 15th Bnst.. Mr D. Gilchrist presided. Ip-Federation With Employers' Association. — The Chairman wd that at the last meetSng it had been Abided to ask for more information relating to the proposed affiliation with the abo\£ association from the Secretary of the Provincial Executive. This lhad Ib^en obtained, aM-d Sir Allen had sent a, copy of the report <y* the proceedings of fch« untiual meeting of the association, together with their rules. Mr Allen pointed out that, the officials of <he Employers' Association were well up in all matters relating to the Arbitration Court, and wer« even more capable of conducting cases before the Arbitration Court than legal gentlemen. It was almost certain that as. soon kua the agitators had done with the Canterbury "Farm Labourers' Union, whose case twas recently before tihe court, they would comedown +o Otago and Southland to raise lurtiffir distu dances. It wa«, therefore, toecee^ary to iorn» tome organisation to cope Wi^h>their ■**«= bought the affiliation could ! be carried ou the executive jwying a lump cum of £^ is + o the local (association, tut there would be other expenses when a case was before the court. It ii?d been thought that it would be better »f each executive affiliated separately. The Chairman eaid that the federation was comjpoecd of all -kinds of trades, and the sheepOwncru of North Otago and Canterbury had affiliated with it. The Farmers' Union would nor do much good as an academic foody, and should endeavour to do someilhinsf to benefit its members financially. The fee of £5 5s would not hurt the Provincial Executive as a whole, representing as it did each of the branches. There *rould be other expenses, as had been pointed out by Mr Allen, if cases went before the court. Mr G. P. Johnston eaid the union should Bo something in the proposed direction. Q3he tendency of the times was distinctly jbowarda Socialism, and the Farmers' Union (should endeavour to combat this. Mr Hugh Smith moved : "That this branch recommend the executive to affiliate with the Employers' Association." There was no doubt that as soon as the Labourers ■Union had finished their agitation in rhe north they would come down to Southland Mr J. Ciouston seconded the motion. ' Tho Cfhairman said hte cordially aptoroved of the motion. A member of Parliament had mentioned to him that he could not understand the union taking up this matter, as it had been supposed to be » non-political organisation. The labourers liad skilled men representing them, and ihe employers surely had the same right, t was not a political matter at all, but simply Oiie union, being met by another. Union had been proved advantageous in the caße of the water difficulty in the Valley, and it would be advantageous in the preBent case , Mr G. P. Johnston also agreed with the motion, which was carried. —Land Valuations.— The Chairman said thafc he had, in accordance with the wish of members, inoluded land valuations in the order paper. It w*b not easy to see these valuations, for thos* of the old Knapdale road district •were only on view at Invercargill. He did not know why they had not been left at Gore, because it meant considerable loss of time and exoense to go to Invercargill to ccc them. They had only been on view , Cor a week. He had examined them, and j jotted down a few of the valuations in the | neighbourhood to see if they had 1 been ' tna.de upon any fixed principle. He had , found that properties on both sides and near the Waikaka stream had been valued , at *bout £6 per acre. These were very | unifoim, with a few exceptions, which . . oould be explained by the land having been ; , dredged. The better class of land on the higher ground was generally valued at £5 . t>er acre, while the land further away was 4»ut down at from £* 10s to £6. On the- , whole he thought the valuations were fair , Mr Ciouston said that rating on the i animi-roved value was most unsatisfactory, and gave an instance which ho claimed , proved his contention. The unimproved , value could only be arrived at by guess- j work, and he could not understand why :t: t ( Jiad jumped up as it had done. "While the ] value had gone up, too little ] was allowed for improvements. _ ] Mr G. P. Johnston did not agree with < Mr Ciouston, as he thought the principle j of rating on unimproved values was the t correct one, but he considered the assess- c anent was wrong. If the taxation were to be increased, as it gave promise of being \ pwing 1 to the unimproved value going up, Jie thought the sooner the Government took t over the land and placed them, on the same , i looting as leaseholder* Jhe better. The newj c

t valuations would enable the Government t< i elate them, and swell their surplus. H< • agreed with Mr Ciouston with regard t< ■ the low valuation for improvements. Tin i farmer who kept his land in good hoar . got no recompense from the valuer. In t -, dry season like the present the pasture lane I did not look well, and the improvement! were written down by the valuers. He gar< an instance where the only valuation al lowed on a highly improved section wai the price of the buildings. This was ir face of the fact that the land was ;v; v better heart than it was five years ago. Mr James M'Phail considered that ratinj on the unimproved value was the fairest o: all. They could never hope to receive £ul value for their improvements. The farmei must continue to improve, but he musi remember that tbese improvements depre oiate in value. He could not see how Mi Smaill could have made his valuations lower, seeing that land was selling in Hit neighbourhood up to £11 10s per acre The selling value was the aeknowledgec value of the land, and so long as the selling price went up they could not muzzle th« Government valuer. He considered the valuations fair. Improvemente bucJi as housea and fences depreciated in value untii they practically disappeared altogether. He did no ( think his improvements were worth as much as they were 10 years ago. They must remember that they had had the us« of them. He was very much in favour oi the uJiimproved value. Mr Gilchrist agreed with Mr M'Phail thai on the whole the valuations were fair. There were a few anomalies which could be corrected. He said there was some confusion of thought regarding improved and unimproved value. The unimproved value wcnl up just the same as the capital value. The value of land in the tussock in the neighbourhood 20 years ago was about £3 an acre. Suppose a section to have been lelt in the tussock to the present time, while the neighbouring lands had been cultivated. It would be obvious that the value of the land left in tussock would be more than £3 now. It would have risen in value as the adjoining land had done, and if the unimproved value of that was £6 it would be reasonable to value the tussock land at that also. "Prairie value" was the value of land a great distance, from roads, or tewns, but the unimproved value rose as improvements such as roads, railways, towns, cities, or harbours came into existence in the vicinity. It was true that improvements such as houses and fences de preciated, but drains might not to the same extent These facts shou'd 'be borne in mind when criticising valuations. He did not think it mattered much on what value the rating was made, as a local body would or-ly raise the amount of revenue required. There should be as true a valuation as possible in view of the Government buying land for settlement and advancing money to settlers. The county council would be to blame if it struck the same rate as it had formerly done now that the valuation? w?re increased. No motion was moved, the Chairman remarking that the discussion of the matter w:it, siiffiVi-rnt.