THE FUTURE OF THE UNION.

Shannon News, 17 June 1921, Page 4

THE FUTURE OF THE UNION.

SOME POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENTS. About ibi) farmers lrom the shannon, Levin and Otaki districts met at, the Druids’ Hall, Levin, on Saturday for the purpose of hearing an address by Mr W. 3. Poison, of Fordell, Pro-, vinc : al President of the Farmers’ Union, *upon the future of the movement. Mr G. Tully, local president, occupied the chair, and amongst those present was Mr W. H. Field, M.P. The. chairman briefly introduced the speaker. NOT A MENACE. Mr Poison said he always felt it a privilege to address his brother farmI ers on their common interests. He had not come with the object of lec- ! taring them, but he wished to impress on them the good work c|one by ' th4 ? ltlhion in the past, and the ! great prospect before it, if the farmers loyally supported it. As a union they had met with a good deal of opposition. The urban residents seemed to think the Union was a menace to the country at large, and he had recently given some attention to the. matter with a view to removing that impression. They must combat the* idea that the Union was working against the townspeople, and show them that what benefited' the country people as farmers, also benefited the townspeople as citizens. LABOUR UNIONS THE REAL MENACE. The farmers did not object' to unionism for legitimate objects, but labour unionism in New Zealand chiefly aimed at extracting a maximum of pay from the employers for a minimum of work. (Applause.) The result was becoming disastrous to the farmers. The troubles that continually arose afe into the very vitals of industry in this country, said the y speaker. As h means of dealing with the labour question, be considered that the principle of compulsory preference to unionism should be done away with. The Farmers’ Union, he said might develops misunderstanding, but it could not mean class hatred. That was the difference between farmers’ unions and labour unions. WHAT GO-SLOW MEANS. The effect of labour’s go-slow in New Zealand was that it- now cost steamers £6OOO to turn round in the Dominion, an enormous sum of money when multiplied by the number of ships that same to New Zealand. It took from 47 to 48 days for a ship to unload and load up again, whereas in Buenos Ayres, the port of our chief competitor, it only took seven to eight days, due to the fact that they have labour conditions which make it possible to get quick dispatch. He need say nothing about labour in the mines and the enormous increase in the cost of motive power, nor of labour in the freezing works, where some men earned as much as £l6 per week, more than a bank nfanager’s salary. The charges from freezing to f.o.b. were formerly from sd to 5-8 d per lb, and they were now more than double that. LOYAL FARM WORKERS. There was one class of labour, however, that he was proud to speak of. That was the farm labour, which had loyally assisted the farmers and was loyally abiding by the decision forced on them by circumstances to reduce wages. Recently meetings had been held with a view to bringing farm labourers under an award. He believed that farmers generally would not sacrifice the men who had worked so loyally for them, and that the men would thus realise that they had been wise in remaining • clear of unions. A PLEA FOR CO-OPERATION. Proceeding, Mr Poison said the townspeople co-operated. Doctors and lawyers co-operated to sell their brains and skill in the best way, and so did manufacturers and commercial men. The farmers proposed to do the same. Could the townspeople blame them? Was there any fault io be found with that—a policy they have endorsed and adopted. (Applause.) The speaker enlarged on cases of successful. co-operation. There were the raisin growers of California. Years ago they were getting five cents a pound and doing well. Raisins fell to 2i cents and production became unprofitable. It was stated the industry had come to a * dead end. The growers formed an association, and as a result of their organisation, their product never fell below 10 cents a pound, and at the present time realised 15 cents per lb. j Consequently the raisin growers had been doing very well indeed; so well that the American Government sought to prevent the export of 40 per cent of the product, hut the legislation designed to do Ihis was quite ineffecPAST ACHIEVEMENTS. In the past the Union had been fighting many baftles for the purpose

of clearing the decks, and it had made slower progress than it might have done owing to the apathy, and even antipathy of the ; farmers themselves. Mr Poison proceeded to refer to one or two of the Union’s accomplishments in the ' past. There was the fight nhe Union had put up against Mr McNab’s leasehold bill, which was killed as a result; and the fight against the 1 attempt of the farm labourers in 1907 to get an award, which was so thoroughly quashed' that no attempt had since been made to obtain another award. Mr Poison referred briefly to the parlous conditions in Queensland as a result of labour dominance. He recalled the 1913 strike, when the farmers had found 3000 men to work the ships and 3000 more to see they were not molested. (Applause.) He also mentioned the Union’s successful efforts to have the Sheep Tax abolished and tive. Again, the honey-producers of New Zealand banded themselves together in an association, and were now able to get Is per lb for an article that formerly brought 3d or 4d. We were going to have an enormous honey-producing industry in this country as a result of this co-opera-tion. The dairy farmers of Denmark, handicapped by poor soil and other ■disadvantages, had also achieved wonderful results by their system of co-operation. to prevent the dairy regulations becoming law.

THE FARMERS’ FLEET. As to the future, they were unfortunately in the middle of the worst slump this country had ever known. Meat, butter, cheese and wool had all dropped in value. He did not want to be pessimistic about such a resourceful country as this, but the students of economics agreed that these periods of depression did not rapidly pass away. The experience of history was that it always took a term of years to rectify itself. The farmers were going to be up against pretty serious trouble in the next 12 months. The country would recover, but they would have to make use of every weapon ’ they possessed—and the greatest weapon ol all was cooperation—(Applause)—in shipping, in marketing, in freezing and in handling. Referring to shipping, he said there was nothing so full of difficulties. The subject bristled-with them, arid one of the chief was the provision of inward cargo for their ships. 'He could not tell them the scheme recommended by the Producers’ Committee, as it was still confidential, but he could say it embodied the best points of various schemes brought forward. He outlined a plan he favoured himself. It provided for a levy upon produce exported. They wanted nothing in the nature of an export or import tax, because later it might get Into the hands of a Government that would go so far as to throttle the farmers by this means. He suggested instead a levy that, would go to pay for shares, a levy on the wool producers, for instance, of say 2s per bale. The producer would get stock in the shipping company in return, and the levy would be collected by the financial institution through which the farmer did his business. The freezing companies would find the levy on meat, and the dairy factories on butter and cheese. In this way they would get a fund of half a million a year,' which would be capital. With that money they could go to the; shipbuilders and order tonnage to that amount. In the course of four or five years New Zealand would find herself in possession of a fleet of her own. In regard to marketing, something had already been attempted by the Bristol and Dominions Company, but like a lot of people, when it had a little success it began to speculate and went to the wall over its American fruit transactions. Its place was being'taken by the co-operative jfederations, Avhich had linked up and opened an office in London.

A LAND BANK. Co-operative banking was also needed, and the speaker quoted the perfect systems of land banking in Denmark and Germany as illustrations of what could be done. Groups of 100 or 200 farmers joined together and really gave a joint and several guarantee that they would honour each other’s credit, and provided advances up to 50 per cent of the security offered. The bank then issued to the farmer a bond which he could sell at current rates. A small amount was paid towards an insurance fund against any farmer making default. But so successful had these banks been in Denmark, that large profits had been distributed to the member's out of these funds. ITe contrasted this with the way the fanners’ own bank in New Zealand treated them, mentioning that it had recently made profits of close on a million. If they put money in on fixed deposit they got a very low rate of interest indeed. If they wanted art advance,

they knew what happened, and the bank actually charged them for holding money in current account. Tn Denmark the farmers got the current rate on current accounts from their land bank." (Applause.) A PEASANT POPULATION.

Another aim was closer settlement. The Union believed that a thriving peasant population would destroy absolutely the hold of the labour unions in this country. The suggestion was that certain farmers in each district, who were recognised as suitable for the position, allow their farms To be used as farm schools, where young men could be taught their business, and when they satisfied a board of their competence, would be put on the land in much the same way asthe returned solders were. (Applause.) FINALLY—FINANCE. I Those were some of the main points. Another important question was finance. They needed a strong membership. During the past 12 months Auckland had been trying a plan that seemed to be satisfactory. In the past, farmers had not paid their subscriptions, and the organiser had spent all his time canvassing for his salary instead of in organising work. In Auckland the farmer was asked to sign an order for his subscription on the firm through which he did his business, the order to be good till cancelled in writing. The amount was charged up*by the firm and passed on to the Union, so that tlie farmer paid his subscription without realfsnig that he had done so. They wanted money for organisation and for a publicity campaign.- Only a big membership and the interest of the farmers would make success possible. The olden* members who had fought hard for the Union were relinquishing the reins and the younger men were carrying on the movement to the best of their ability. ‘We want your help and assistance,” said Mr Poison. ‘‘Unless we have you behind us the whole thing will fail. I appeal to you as farmers, citizens and members of the Union to stand behind us and see us through.” (Applause.) On the chairman’s motion, a hearty vote of thanks was passed to Mr Poison for his address. ,