The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1914. THE FARMERS' UNION.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 81, 4 December 1914, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1914. THE FARMERS' UNION.

(With * -which -is iseorporiated The Tai hajs6 Post 'j.n'd WHmarlnb Ngwq.)

“United .we*-stand, divided we fall,” is. a motto that can-‘be pondered over to ..advantage by every member of the Farmers Union, * whether lie be enthusiastic or lukewarm, small farmer or large pastoralist; whether he be ordinary farmer grazier or fruitgrower, valuable food for thought is contained therein. The union organiser, Mr. H. J. Richards, at the mooting in Taihape a few days ago,' strongly urged every farmer to thrbw in his stiength with the union so-that .the maximum benefit., could -be obtained for all., In an article published this journal .Last> Monday we discussed the-ques-tions fof “Rating Native; Lands,,” “ Railway Freights on Hardwood,” and “Closer Organisation.” The 'only other important question which Mr. Richards went into at length, “ Collective Buying and Selling,” it is now our intention to consideiv Some pastoralists are inclined to be indifferent to the advantages association offers; if they cannot make the union a political machine the wheels of which must turn in their direction they drift awaj'. Such an attitude is no new thing, they were indifferent many years ago-and-the result was that the skin of a .sheep or an. ox was of more value to them than the carcase. They could not soil some of their meat at any price. Prime leg s of mutton were hawked from door to door, offered at a shilling" each, and very many were sold for less. There were the freezing companies and freezing works at that time, but no help came from them. Farmers were individualistic, they had no union then; they had to; take the price that was offered them until sensible men, the real pioneers of the .union urged them to combine and become like the proverbial bundle of sticks; till farseeing men, who had the necessary wherewithal, showed that there'was a way out of that starvation life. Some of the most .use.-,, ful lessons were given by thoughtful, inventive-minded men like the Wairarapa Beethams; they realised that it would be more profitable to boil their surplus stock down for tallow than depend upon the'then existing They knew their stock waS/feworfch more, and they accordingly ■ ball rolling; these men \vere the,real' pioneers of the fortunes of many a struggling settler. It was soon realised that what such men had done could be done by others, the union, in time, followed and now farmers receive 20s for every five shillings they got previously. By virtue of the union farmers have'been saved from many of. the baneful effects of modern - com-1 mercialism; they have themselves entered the lists against a multiplicity o f middle, profits, and have most sheet-inf!

fully marketed a good deal of own produce. They have erectfeh'i’ieir own freezing works in various parts* the country, and their Farr: are* tributing Company has: grownililF:ns -

Mr. Richards Indicated, it was able to

handle every ounce of the produce required by the large expeditionary force that hag gone from these shores to tight in the empire’s battles. Is the country storekeeper any worse off

because farmers handle their own products in this way? Not at all! Because fanners thereby have more cash to spend with them on comforts whereas before they could barely afford to purchase necessities. It is invariably a fact that where a farming community is prosperous and has a good spending power, the town in its midst .shares with it, to an equal extent, its prosperity. There are many requirements’of the farmer that the country storekeeper cannot conveniently stock; things that must at present be obtained from controlling agencies in the large cities- —things that are subjected to middle profits sometimes greater than the cost of manufacture. It is for the. purchase cf such articles at a fair and reasonable price that farmers should combine to purchase. The more the farmer can save by cutting out middle profits of city agencies the more he will have to spend with his country storekeeper. We shall go much farther than this by advocating agricultural banks, , somewhat on the lines of the European continental Credit Foncieres, in a future issue, for w r e are satisfied that the more money farmers in the Taihape territory have to spend, the greater’will be the prosperity of the town. It is a first necessity of existence that people should be able to buy and sell under absolutely fair conditions, and any marketing operations which compel producers to sell cheaply and buy dearly must re. suit in disaster to them, and to the disadvantage of the town their domestic wants are procured in. In this age of commercialism the individual cannot fare so well in exchange operations as the highly organised buy- 1 mg union can. Fruit farmers realised this long ago and while they have only been partially successful it is because they have not, through limitations, been able to reach the condition for which they are aiming. We do not know of ; any fully fledged buying organisation in New Zealand, but there are highly successful associations of the kind in other colonies. The Western Pruitfarmers and . Exporters! Tin-, ton, Cape Colony,, buy fruit eases, fertilisers, wrapping paper, spraying material, machinery and implements and save thousands of pounds a year. Ibis very obvious that for buying most advantageously .co-operation ia distinctly worth while; hut farmers have already, realised this and it only now remains to evolve a scheme of organisa tion that will prove acceptable to the many. Co-operative associations should be so placed and equipped with capital as to effectively deal with the whole marketing question—not only freezing, but also regulating consignments, cool stores, export freights, legislative assistance, and all the numerous minor details coming under the heading of marketing. We wish Mr. Richards, the Farmers’ Union Organiser, the utmost success in his efforts, because we know that the more nioney he can put into the possession of the farmers in this district the more prosperous wflll our town become.