VOTE-SPLITTING PARTIES.

Shannon News, 4 October 1927, Page 3

VOTE-SPLITTING PARTIES.

LEVIN FARMERS’ UNION URGE! SOLIDARITY. BUT CANDIDLY CRITICISES GOVERNMENT METHODS. The Country Party was served up with tabasco sauce at two Farmers’ Union meetings in Levin on Saturday. It had communicated with various persons of high standing in the Union, seeking their help in obtaining funds with which to contest the Raglan seat. It is hardly in keeping with the traditions of political campaigning for a party to betray its nakedness in this way. However, Mr H. Denton, the Union’s Levin branch chairman, received ' one of the letters, and he produced it to the provincial executive? S’ ll *! also to the, branch meeting later in the day. As the Raglan contest was over, the necessity for a reply had passed, but the branch passed a resolution disapproving of the formation of the party. .

At the executive meeting, the chairman (Mr 0. P. Lynch) stated that the idea underlying the Country Party was that although people were told that they now had a farmers ’ government, it was nothing of the sort. The members of the ruling party followed their leader into the lobby against their own common sense and against the interests of the rural workers. ! When the letter was before the branch meeting, the discussion embraced the general question of political action. The branch chairman (Mr Denton) stated that until the last Dominion I conference, there was no unanimity in the Union as to political action. The Auckland people had been battling for it for years, but the Canterbury people were against them. At the last conference, for the first time in the history of the Union, they were unanimous that they must take some part in politics.' They had had their first shot at Raglan. Mr Gimblett: At the expense of the Reform Party. The chairman: They are not dut for the Reform Party. The Dominion Conference was not’ for them.

Mr W. G. Adkin: I hope that everyone in this room is for the Reform Party. It is the only party with any hope at all. The Chairman: Can anyone,point to anything at all that. we are getting out of it? -

.Mr Tully: This is the best showing the Country Party have had yet. The Chairman: They doubled tlieir vote.

Mr Gorringe: It is a very dangerous experiment. The Chairman: That was the opinion of delegates at the conference, but the ionference buried all that and appointed a committee of seven —the president and three from each island. When :hey came back they were unanimous • hat the political situation should be watched. Mr Richards: The Auckland people have voted that way for 15 years at .he Dominion conferences. The Farmers ’ Union must have politics, but v not party. As soon as we have that we will have divided opinion among our-

selves and will split every time. Last Thursday a lot of the farmers put the Labour man in.

The Chairman: Because they voted ‘or their own party —the Farmers ’ Par-

Mr Richards: The farmers split, and voted for three men.

The Chairman: What would you suggest in lieu of the Country Party? Mr Richards: You will never get unanimity if you take up one particular party. The Reform Party has been .lie most likely side to support farming interests.

Mr Adkin remarked that there were three parties—Reform, Liberal and Labour. There was no room for a fourth party. The Liberals could be ticked off; there were a few straggling members in the House. There might be some good men among them; but chey were not very well balanced,, as a whole. As for Labour, they ' knew what that meant, as small freeholders —confiscation in the long run, if the party could do it. He put his faith in the common sense of the British people as against a Labour Government. Th-. farmers would never consent to any Jung but the freehold. There was no 'tope from the Liberals, as they would never get into power again in the lifetimes of those present. The Labour Party were the sworn enemies of the farmers. Thus they must take the best party they could get —the Reform Party. They were not satisfied with that party, knowing that the members of it were apt to work for the moneyed interests. He hoped there was no one present who would think of supporting any other party than the Reform Party. Mr Gimblett said he had come to the meeting to do what he could to prevent this branch from helping along the Country Party. He did not want it to go out that they were against Labour, but that they were against the policy, principally the land policy, of a Labour Government. There were some fine men in the Labour movement, as in the Reform party, but the former were nailed down to the.land policy that no one on the land could accept. The Country Party evidently would never get in. A certain percentage of farmers were supporters of a Labour Government. The Farmers’ Union mem bers were the remainder, and they were in the minority. In ..that case, what

was the use of their putting a party up? When an election was approaching, they should be on the committee to pick their candidate. The Labour Party were cheering all the time. He hoped that this branch would pass a resolution condemning the action of the Country Party'.

Mr Adkin: Our work is to reform the -Reform Party.

Mr Lynch, provincial president, stated that it was unanimously decided at the Dominion conference that they take direct political action, in place of no direct action.

Mr Richards: That is a very different thing from taking a party stand. Mr Lynch: The Country Party is apart from the Fanners’ Union altogether, although it originated with the Auckland executive. Until we get word from headquarters, there being a special committee set up to watch the trend of things and try to come to some understanding regarding politics, we

don’t know what line the Farmers’ Union is going to take. Before the next election takes place the New Zealand conference will be held. A special conference will be called to go into the whole thing. Whatever decision the committee comes to, there will be something pretty solid about it. I don’t think the Country Party exists anywhere except in Auckland. The reason for this political action coming into existence is the side-stepping of everything we put forward. The Ministers are at their wits’ end to find sufficient excuses for not doing anything. The idea is to get men into Parliament who will see to things being done, irrespective of party. To-day they vote against things contrary to their own good sense, and vote because the whip cracks. Mr Richards stated that 15 years ago the Union sent out a list of questions, and the candidates who answered favourably were supposed to receive the support of the Union in each district, irrespective of what party they belonged to.

Mr Gimblett: The farmeis have not stood together.

Mr Richards:,, We have liever been strong enough. The Chairman: I think we should reply to this letter. It was to obtain help for the fighting fund. Mr Gimblett then moved as foll 6w r s, Mr Gorringe seconding:—

That the Levin branch of the Farmers’ Union deplores the action of those responsible for the creation of the Country Party in politics.

The mover stated that it v r as the actions of the Reform Government that

had put the writing on the wall. The Hon. Downie Stewart had spoken of the Government lending a million; but the mortgages in this country amounted to hundreds of millions. Could the small farmers be blamed if they voted for Labour? He did not think so. Were the. farmers not foolish to form another party? He would say, kick out the drones and put in .working members. Mr 11. McLeavey said, with regard to political action, that he would advise the branch not to be too hasty in passing a resolution either Avay. Nothing had been finally decided yet. A committee had been, set up to go into the advisability of the Union taking political action; but this was not to say that such action was going to be taken. Mr McLeavey counselled his hearers to stand behind Mr Poison, Dominion president, in which event they would be doing more good to the Union and the country as a whole than by passing resolutions that would be detrimental and playing into the hands of the opposing forces. Mr Gimblett said'it was'the duty of

the branches to show in no uncertain manner that they were opposed to the creation of any other party. They were not going to hinder Mr Poison in carrying out his work if they passed this resolution.

Mr Adkin: Unfortunately big finance ules the Government. Mr Lynch: The Government favours

that very largely because ityis .the big fellow who pays the income tax. The more he makes, the more they can pick off him. ■

Mr Gimblett: Bleeding the country to takq it out of the small, farmer with high interest. Mr Lynch: The same thing is happening in England. There is an enormous loan, and consequently the Government is favouring those concerns that are raking the money in. Mr Adkin said he had oiice pointed out to a bank inspector that 15 per cent, dividends were being paid by banks because they were standing on the necks of the small farmers. The inspector replied that this profit was for services rendered. The speaker’s answer was that the same services were rendered in the Old Country for 6 per cent.

On being put to the meeting, the motion was carried unanimously.