THE CITY'S WELCOME

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 668, 21 May 1929, Page 6

THE CITY'S WELCOME

DELEGATES RECEIVED BY DEPUTY-MAYOR MANY RURAL PROBLEMS The Deputy-Mayor, Cr. A. J. Entrican, opened the conference. He apologised for the unavoidable absence of the Mayor, Mr. G. Baildon, who was attending to other civic duties. Cr. Entrican expressed pleasure at seeing several women present, and congratulated the union upon the strength of the gathering. Auckland, he assured the delegates, was one of the most popular places in New Zealand for a conference —possessing as it did the assets of scenic beauties, hot springs, and other attractions, which seemed to provide an added incentive to those who had more serious problems to discuss in conference. On behalf of the city he welcomed them to Auckland. Cr. Entrican complimented the conference on the extent of its remits, and the ground they covered. He did not know how the conference was going to deal with all the remits in the time at its disposal. It was going to be a busy period for the delegates. Conferences such as this were valuable to ail sections of the community as dieas were able to be exchanged. SCIENCE HELPS “I know something about farming,” Cr. Entrican went on. “I am the son of a farmßr, and if I had my way now, I probably would be a farmer. However, my father said he never would have a son of his a farmer.” He recognised the value to the farming community of science, which had come into increasing prominence during the past few years as a result of wide experiments upou rural problems. Cr. Entrican offered the city’s congratulations on the splendid season the farmers had had. A few more similar ones were needed as a stern chase was a long chase,, and a bad season took a lot of catching up. Speaking of his early days in the North of Ireland, the speaker said that extracts from the agricultural text-books were read every alternate day at school as a reading lesson. This was a very fine thing, and the book, although 50 years old, had been approved by some of Cr. Entrican’s friends today. POSITIONS FOR YOUTH Some effort should be made to teach agriculture in our day schools, Cr. Entrican went on, because it would go far toward solving the Dominion’s biggest problem, in that of unemployment—if boys were enabled to secure blocks of land and farm them for themselves. We have only been trifling with the unemployment problem,” he went on, “and have been only tiding it over from month to month.” (Hear, hear.) “Is it not. far beter to give the hoys the land and let them get on to it and grow something worth while, instead of growing merely blackberry and gorse. In this way we will possibly be able to get a permanent solution of the workless question. I feel that it would provide the only permanent solution.” (Hear, hear.) The president, in his reply to the Deputy-Mayor, mentioned that the farmers considered they had an equal claim to the city to that of the city man. Certain things had to be done in the city in order to get a satisfactory economic result. It was not to be forgotten, however, that the prosperity of the city depended in a great measure on the prices received by the farmer for his produce. The president thanked Cr. Entrican for his interest expressed on behalf of the city of Auckland.