AN INTERESTING BOUT.

Putaruru Press, Volume IV, Issue 157, 4 November 1926, Page 5

AN INTERESTING BOUT.

VALUE OF FARMERS’ UNION Settler and Secretary Disagree. Charge of “ Mudslinging.” At. the meeting of the Bay of Islands Farmers’ Union Provincial Executive, held at Kaeo, correspondence between a Northern farmer and the secretary of the union was read, which was of a most interesting nature and went to show the attitude adopted by some farmers toward their union (writes the Luminary), and also the keenness displayed by the secretary in defending the actions of his union. Letter from farmer to secretary:— Dear Sir, —In reply to your two letters, you need not trouble asking me for that 30s again, because you will never get it. ‘ The Direct Action stunt without anything sound or in the interest of farmers in it lias put the cause back about ten years. Even the farmers’ paper is now dead.. Better try a few sound stunts such as—less American cars and other, goods and more British; a banking system paying interest on the people’s money they. hold; direct delivery of phosphates and save us in the North near deep water 30s to 40s a ton. We can combine and get a shipment of Walpole or other. lam satisfied anyone with a small engine milking cows or otherwise can grind up Nauru phosphate. All the talk about big plants is rot.” The secretary replied as follows:-^ Dear Sir, —As first I did not intend to reply to your letter, but on second thoughts will do so, not because. I think it will do any ; good. I imagine that you do not know or care what the union has done, or is trying tp .dp, but for my own satisfaction and in justice to those jolly good fellows who have been fighting your and my battle, largely at their own expense, for so,'many years. . . . ..

For over twenty .years the union has been trying to obtain a fair spin for farmers without much real success. What they have gained in one way has usually been filched-back in some other way. At the last election several of the members decided that to take a hand in making .the rules, of the game was the first, step, towards obtaining any real remedy. Quite a lot of farmers in the Bay supported this attempt. Did you ? I guess not. What did they, fight the election on ? I guess you do not know or you would not have written that letter. Banking, the very first thing on the platform, and you curse, the union for not going in for it. .Why, the union is fighting this issue at this very moment, but with hands tied because,you and farmers like you would not give your support when it was most needed. Another thing that the union is fighting to obtain is the making of the Bay, Whangarei, etc., porfcs.pf entry, so that manures and other' necessities can come in without going through the big and expensive cities. But out opponents in the cities are tremendously strong, and it will require, heavy- political -action-to get a" fair spin in this or any other matter of real importance. What have you done to help in pushing these things ? Other farmers have given their time and money for years (one farmer I met last week has subscribed £lO a year, not 30s that you grumble about) and if in spite of you and others not joining in .we are ever able to put farming where it belongs, that is on top, you will be as much in receipt of charity as if you stood at a street corner and begged for it; for you will be reaping the benefits of the work done' by others.

Every jolly thing you use, from a match to a house, is heavily taxed. If you have children, the boots on their feet are taxed. Did you realise that ? Do you know that the amount, of tax you pay through the import duties would keep a large family.in luxury in Europe ? Do you know that the union is fighting like a tiger cat to get you a fair deal on this matter ?

Yo,u withhold necessary ammunition. Money for propaganda is the ammunition we need; you refuse to use even your vote to support the union in its fight for you, and then you sneer and throw bricks because it has not done more than it has.

As regards manures, we ’ have been trying for some time past to get special quotations for basic slag f.o.b. Antwerp through the Belgian Consul, but the manure merchants’ ring is proving obstructive. I think that only a Farmers’ Government will enable us to carry this item through. What are you doing to help in this? Nothing; not even thirty bob’s worth!

Some of this is rather strong, But I feel strongly, and we won’t get anywhere by being mealy mouthed. I hope you won’t take offence at what is meant well. I am not asking for your subscription to the union.

The farmer replied again as fol- | lows! —In reply to yours, I am pre- | pared to admit you take some foeat--1 mg . t mudslinging. f If, the, sitting member was out and your man in where would the results j ; ."rite about come from? By splitting up the country party the I ,t party would be made stronger ; art iherefore more protected seeond- : a. . idstries, and higher prices for f. - lo pay for New Zealand made g. You can see my 30s, but cann., a e your own hundreds of pounds yo -!'ii d to send to Antwerp for . fo r ..fa. slag,, while our own people in tl thousands were unable to get w 1 it to which I am proud to say I d. : t. give even thirty pence worth. It want some more you can have it. .; hr secretary replied as follows: i 1 -Mr Sir, —The receipt of your lettei of the sth inst. was quite an unexpected pleasure, and in the very first paragraph you pay me a high compliment which I feel I do not really deserve. I have never had any tuition or practice in the gentle art of mud-slinging and am not sure that I should recognise it if I came across it. You, however, apparently claim to be a judge on this as well as all other matters and in this particular; and in this particular only, I am prepared to admit your eminence Without question. To ignore an argument is not the same thing as answering it, and I notice that you ignore the whole of the main argument of my previous letter,. These arguments were based oh elementary economics and I should have thought that you could grasp ther>i. I appear to have misjudged you in This respect, for I simply cannot belidve that you would be so dishonest as to‘ignore them of set purpose. 'As regard manures, we, here, find that basic slag is the only thing that is any' real good. If you were as good a judge on this matter as you claim to be of mud-slinging you would know that basic slag is a by-product of the Smelting of iron ore in a blast furnace and that it cannot be produced in New Zealand. To waste money in the use of unsuitable manures in order that unemployment might be temporarily reduced here is the sort of suggestion that T am beginning to expect from you, for you do not realise, apparently, that ’ the unemployment in the. cities can be directly traced to the falling productivity of our farms and that this falling productivity is .largely caused by the excessive cost of manures, including basic slag. i _... The present state of aji'airn • has been brought about by the ..Reform Party.,, which merely registers the de-l sires of the commercialiinterests. >The' few farmers still connected yjyith this Party are more. sJi ee P ih the House; and obey the Pq,rty JVVhip. in, Yhe Government's assaults on the farmers’ pockets. If anybody should ’up for the farmer he is , either'.kicked’out™ or muzzled with a biribe iiWtho shape 'of the spending of public money in-'his locality, thereby him to 'obtain a- little cheap notoriety. The Reform Party, whatever if was* before it \yas captured by the commercial interests, is .now no friend to the farmer. Judge, it by its fruits if you are capable of doing so. The farmer has equally little to hope from the Labour Party, and he is faced with the alternative of putting up with whatever the Commercial or Trade Unionist interests (whichever happens to be in power) care to hand out to him or of reforming a political party pledge to put the farming interests before all others. Your political wisdom, however, is in the inverse ratio to your cocksureness on this and other matters such as the origin and necessity of basic slag. The trouble is that your mind is a political blank and you either cannot or will not see where the remedy is to be found. *