FARMERS' UNION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 197, 22 June 1903, Page 2

FARMERS' UNION.

TARANAKI PROVINCIAL COSFERESCfI. SECOND DAY. (Continued). The President movel that auctioneers fee 3 si oull ba divided between County Couccila and Borough Councils. The resolution was discussed at length, the main argument being that as mist of the auctioneering took place outside the towns the counties were entitled to at leaa/a share of the fees, after which it was carried unanimously. Mr Balohar (0 irdiff) introduced the harbour qu«tioa With a reso'utioo, which afcer baing somewhit modifiid reid as follows: " That the delegates of this 0 inference pledge themselves to oppose any further expenditure on the New Plymouth harbiur o than from mrp'us revenue until the members of the Board are e'.actod ou a b isis of the valua'ion of the whole of tin harbour rating area, and that it be a recommendation to tha Oolanial 0 uncil to bring pressure to beir oa the G i • vernment with a vLw to restricting the Government rep'eß-naioi to one nominee. Mr' B lch?r fiv'- ured the idea cf dividing the rating district into

wards on a basis of vxluation and electing a member for e:cb, doing away with the G)V«rnmont nom'nees. Bu v , he pointed out, it did not fulbw be-ciu-ie his, b aoch were ajaiost the pr.'a-int s'ate of things they were op tothi extension of the hubour. He beh'evjd there w.re a large number who wished to sse the wo.k ca-ried out provided the burden was not made heavier on the ratepayers. Mr Frydiy said it was a mis' im« portin t question. All other rateable property wa* equilly represented except the hirbour di-s-ricfc. F.ve yei»s ago Mr Seddon hid pr;m s d redress but it had never come. Tney should insist on the principle that there should be eo taxation without representation. Mr Mtckie sud the position was difficult and would rem >in so until the rate was m»do purely a ratep*yere question. If ths G-ivernmsn'; had to help to pav tin pip-r tueyshou'd h»ve some say in ths ordering of the tune. Mr Parlaae was n:>t to th? harbour and ha Inpsd the qusa'ion would not be approached in a tpirio of antagonism. Tney recognised th-j va'ue of concentration of shipping, and there-

fore the matter should ba looked carefully into. But the basis of repress tation was altogether wrong. He found that the ratable value of the different localities at last valuttian were :<— £ Siratfurd 1,520,886 Hawara 2,032,665 Taraaski No-th .. .. 1,300,034 Taranaki South .. .. 494,634 Olifton 484,169 NewPlym.u'h .. .. 968,000 Thus Ilawer.i and Stratford with a va'uatioa of £3,553,551 had only two members whilst tha of the Histrist wi.h a valuation of .£3,246,837 had four representative!!. In adlition to this the Gov.srnm=nt hid three nominees appointed from around New Plymouth which made the disparity evonmoo appireit. He urged thu rh} Governmaut should h»v.) oae nomi iea only and that the district should bedividad, on a basis of valuation, into eight wards, which would eleoi a rn.-m----fcereicb. Messrs Voulhiro and D-tvidsJn supported the resolution. Mr Maxell said th*t, being a member of the B mrd he woul i not di«cu j s the pros and ons, bui as a nutter of ju-tioe 1 e thought tbe representation shou'd be more equalised and w.iuld materially he'.pthosj.'dvoiating exten--810 i. In reply to Mr Adlam Mr Max veil sad an adjustment of the boundaries had bean mail by a committee of the Boird, bu k , it was found to be a bad on?. In any ciss the conditions WITO now entirely changed, Mr Boddie siiJ he was proud of the 1 spirit in wbio'i the Oji>ferencj had tackled this subject. He were Bgreel on the point that thsy would not imva a foot or cjuntonance any change until the question of repre sentation was settled. He feb that if this were done tha large m>j >rity of the settlers we 'e open to consider the question on its meri's. The resolution was carried without dissent Mr Hine moved, that only bona fide ■ atepiyers be allowed to vote at the ' lection of local boiies.—Oarried unanimously. Mr Hine moved, that the Farmers Union is strongly io. favour of Mr Kirkbrid-j's Insurance Bill becoming luw.—Carried. Mr Waite moved, that the Government be nques'ei to clear noxi\i» weads from Orown lands. The mover and seconder (Mr Pryday) spike briefly in support.—Carried.

Mr Meredith moved in the direction cf protesting agiinst any Acclimatisation Sosiety importing deer or other animals or birds to be let loose which might be injurious to the farmers. Several delegates from art u id the Mountain spoke strongly agiinst the proposal to liberate deer in the M.untain Reserve. The motion was carried. f Mr Boddie (Eltham) moved, "Thit I this Conference dtsires 11 support the Ipresant agitation in favour of the | Government constructing a railway to Mount for the purpose cf 'securing a supply of stone for the different Bodies throughout tho province." The mover said it was absolutely necessary that something should be done, and an unanimous expression of opinion from the Conference would go to strengthen the efforts of the heal bodies in this direction. ! Mr Fryday seconded the motion, | which was supported by Messrs Waice and Hine.—Carried unanimously. Mr Parlane movad thit " The Sraal 1 Birds Nuisance Act" be mado nundatory in Taranaki Provincial In doing so h 3 thought it would be agreed that", so far as Southern Taranaki was concerned, at least tha tmil! birds were a curse. Mr Belcher seconded, and stated that the Stratford AcelimitUation Society were willing toco-operate if ibj Act were made mandatory. —Carried unanimously. Mr Burgess (Warei) moved "That Governmont be asked to help in the maiotenaoce of main roads in those districts where no railways exist to relieve traffic." Mr Adlam seconded. Both mover and soconder spoke strocgly oa the question, tho argument being that ratepiyora in their districts had, as general taxpayers, to ht.'p to keep up tha'nilw*yp, whilst they received no b-jnefii from thtsm, therefore a grant from tho general fund of *ho Government would be an equitable quidprt quo.

Mr Blair dep eoated going to the ' Government f.T help beyond the usual. : subsidy on rates, but he thought no! limit shou'd ba placed oq the amount.' of subsidy in proportion to rates. j Mr Rickards movad, as an amendment, that the Government be asked to take over and control main roads where no railroads exist. Mr Astbury siii the question was l one of d=gree. Boa la were the veins and railways were the arteries of tha oloaial holy, and the point was whero | the limit would be drawn. It was a question whether it would not be wise for the Government to t*ke over the' whole cf the roads aud strike a tmill' rate over the whole of the towns anl ( country, at the same time consolidating the whole of the loans, Mo BidJie was oppr-ssd to any more dual control thin they had. Whit was win ted was mire exwnded powers to lo;»l bjdios. In this onnectiou he felt sorry that the question of improved local government had bean left ou* of the ordi r paps' 1 . 1 Mr Astbury said his idea was to leave the administration as at present, ! but consolidate tha loans. j After further discussion, the amendment was put and bst and the motion { carried. Mr Bu'gess (Opunake) moved, That no increise be made on the import duty on f.um implements and agricultural michinery,— Carried without discussion. Mr Hine (Waitir.j) moved that the Agricultural Department be requested to have some of tha lttely imputed s'ud dairy cattle placed in a central positiou in this province fjr convenience of farmers

Mr Ricktrds seoondid. Mr D avkbon questioned whether it would be wise to increase the cost of up-keepof the Government farms, which would undoubtedly obtain* if the resolution were giv;-n eff ct to. Peiple who wanted choice strains should send' thiir cattle to the farms. .After further discussion, the resolution was declared bit by 9 to 14. Mr Parhne introduced thi question of pref erenti il trade within the B itish Empuv. His belief was that if we pursue) our policy of drift New Zealand a-;d linglmd would so)n drift apart. Hi printed out that other counti ies, inclu iing Germany and the States hid come to freatrade within their ovn b>undarie*. When Mr] S'dloo cama back from Eag'aad his! idea wis a rebate of customs duties on]

British gootfs—now it was an increased tsx on outs ders, and the charge on Briti-h giods to remain unaltered. The Premier evidantly found it was easier to tquezj the farmers than the Trades Uiiioui-jts. Mr Parlane als) emphasised the consideration that Australia's lean years were over and that the success of the African market was problematical. The British mat kit must be their mainstay, an 1 anything to promote trade relations in that direction must be strongly supported. They must be iu a position to sell a* cheap as their rivals, and the key of this was lower cost cf production by way of reduction of customs dunes. He nnved: "Tint in the opinion of this Conference all goods of Bri-ish manufacture, giosvth or produce cerried to this colony in British vessels should be admitted at a substantial reduction up hi the present customs tariff, and t&at the Farmers' Union make a supreme tftott to remove as far as possib'e oil fiscal obstruction to trade between the colony and the Motherland." I At the suggestion of Mr Forsyth the words " and oppose any increase on foroign giois," were added. Mr Fiyday seconded.' Mr D.vidsoo, whilst agreeable to , the resolution, queried where the difference was to como ftooi if thsre was a reduction of revenue from cu-1 /ms. Mr Blair supported the suggestion jof Mr Forsyth, and as to Mr Davidson's contjn ion, thought it could ba 'made up by lowering th* exemption under the Land and Income Tax. After a long discussion the motion was carried. | Mr Fryday moved: " That the cooperative systj:n of labour oa public works be abolished." Tha mover spoke strongly of several instances of where he considered money had beau thrown away under the system. Mr Davidson seconded. Mr Parhne moved as an amendment "that the p esnnt co-opsra'ive labjui' system of carrying out public works ia unsatisfactory, and should be replaced, whenever practicable, by a system of small contracts." Mr Belcher seconded. The tone of the discussien was not in condemnation of the system, but in the manner in which it was administered, the opinion bung expressed, however, that in large wo ks sush as bridge extracts was preferable. The amtnlmunt was carried by 19 to 17.

A discussion arose on the question of the cast of administration of Arbitratioa Courts, introiucnl by Mr Vouliair,*, whs u-ged tint it shouid be borne by those usiug i\ However, as it was not char whether any of the cost came out of the general revenue, the nutter was dropped. Mc Al'en (Patea. Wes ), moved that it is necessiry that an Ac; should be pasted dealing sakdy with 00-opwative Dairy Factories, as ths present Oomp inies Act was not applicable to Cooperative Dairy Companies. Mr Parlaneseconded, but mentioned thit the Naioaul Dtiry Assojiation had the matter in h and, It was held, however, that a resolution strengthening their hieds could do no harm, and it wjs therefore carried, Mr Fryday moved that the Government be asked to give telephonic communication wii h ail back block centres, Mr Fryday sp dee at length upon the hardships endure i by persons injured in the bush diaries,' giving several instanoos. The resolution was catriod. The question of matting p'.aca for the nexi Conference was discussed, Mr Uoddie giving a heirty invitation to li-dd it at EirMm, It was deciled to lewe the matter in the hands of the Exiicutivi?. | On the motion of Mr Richards, seconded by Mo Mackie, a heirty vote of! thanks wn accorded the members of ia-st yen's Executive. The Oh urman mov t -d: " That the Government be urg d to establish an experimental dtiiyshool on the most ajuesib'.e site iu the North Island. Seconded by Mr Bjddie. Mr J. G. Wilson detail the step* that bad bsen taken in this dirtcim, and urgel that no effort should be spare I to provide facilities for instruction in the s tientifis side of dairviog, v.-iihout which the olonial diirymen could nit hope to hold cheir own in the world's nitik't. The raiHor would p,ob;ibly thi gone into >it the liton Winter Sh-.-w, and na Tar»naki j was the centra of the industry it was right that those interejttid should move

and appoint a delegate to attend tni urge the matter. Mr Parhne sud he thought a ficad school was a mistake. The best mode was to select an up-to-date factory end give practical instruction there. A fixed school would be an expensive item, if only from the reason thas the machinery would h*ve to be replaced from time to time wi.h more modern appliances. Mr Wilson said it was a consulting s'ation, thit wjs wanted—a place where, if anything went wrong, * manager could get advice. ) The motion was owned unanimously, Mr J. G. Wilson's address, r ported iu last issue, was then taken, and the ) proceedings terminated,