FARMERS' UNION SUBPROVINCIAL BRANCH.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 7, Issue 364, 28 March 1918, Page 2

FARMERS' UNION SUBPROVINCIAL BRANCH.

Views of the Actinq " Secretary.

As has been more than once mentioned in our columns, a movement is on foot to form the branches of the Farmers' Union in the Franklin and a considerable portion of theManukau Counties into a sub provincial area, with.its own organising secretary, who will have Pukekbhe as his headquarters. The district will embrace all the country between Mangere and Mercer and from the Firth of Thames to the West Coast and will include a good deal of the most highly improved and productive land in the Province. Interviewed recently by a representative of the "Times," Mr E. T. Frost, of Tuakau, who has been acting as temporary secretary for the movement, said the proposal to affiliate the branches was well received by the farmers generally and there appeared to be every prospect that the movement would be a success. The leading idea of the new organisation was to foster that spirit of unionism and combination among the farmers which has become so powerful a weapon in the hands of the industrial classes. Another incentive was that there had been a great deal of dissatisfaction with the lack of proper representation upon the Provincial Executive. The method of election made it impossible for the members of the Union to put in representatives of their own choosing and every effort to make an alteration had failed. The sub-provincial scheme, which was now becoming pretty general in the Province, would, it was hoped, remedy this. It had been decided to appoint an organising secretary at a salary of £3OO per annum and travelling expenses. - A very large number of the farmers of the district were not '

members of the Union and it was considered that a live and energetic secretary would be able largely to increase the membership. More than a hundred applications had been received for the position and the committee would have no difficulty in selecting a suitable man. The"cost of running the sub-area was expected to be from £6OO to £7OO annually. To meet expenditure members annual subscriptions would be raised to £l, of which 3s 6d would go to the Provincial Executive. If one thousand members could be secured there would be no uneasiness about finance.

The executive functions of the new body will be carried out ,by a committee of which one will be elected by each branch in the area. These will appoint their own president, who will be, ex officio, a member of the Provincial Executive.