THE FARMERS' UNION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 59, 16 May 1907, Page 3

THE FARMERS' UNION.

TABANAK.I PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE. The annual Taranaki Provincial Conference of the New Zealand Farmers Union opened at the Town Hall, Nov Plymouth, on Wednesday afternoon. The chair was occupied by Mr. S. Forsyth, the President, and the various branches were represented as follows: Messrs. T. Chapman (Awatnna), T. Hodgson (Eltham), K. J. Morgan (Kaimata(, J. H. Ilobbs (Kaponga), N. P. J Riekard (Lepperton), .las. It. lison 0 (Ngaire;, It. Lambie (Opunake). J. W. c Jones (Patea), A. Voullaire (Hiverleaj, E. Maxwell (Kahotu), .1. Arthur Jones >' (Stratford), F. J. Virgin (Tarata), T. J. Davis (Uniti), .1. Iline. jun. (Waitara). " W. McLaehlan (Warca), F. J. Morris = (Oakura), C. Luxton (Matapu). !1 His Worship the Mayor (Mr..E. Dock- " rill) welcomed the delegates, and gave ; them free use of the Town Hall for the meeting. \ Mr. W. T. .Innings, M.11.1!., also welcomed the delegates. ; The President, on behalf of the ('on- ' ferenee, thanked both speakers. THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. In Lis Fresiclcntal address, Mr. Foisvf.li remarked Ilia I the farmers of the colony had had a very prosperous year, price";-, for all kinds of produce having been good, particularly so in regard to wool and dairy produce. In this province, too, there bad been an exceptionally fine season, giving greater yields of gins". and crops. TliU was the time when the wise farnvr would do hU best to improve hi position, in order to be the hotter prepared for the lean years thai must come. They had learned from experience that when any article of produce ran up to an unusuallv high price in a very short time the'high price checked consumption, whilst it stimula.ted production, and soon supply exceeded demand, with the inevitable'revulsion in prices. Touching on the work of the executive, Mr. Forsyth said meetings had been held regularly and well attend- , ed. The membership of the Union had '. increased somewhat, but the increase should be greater. They had the sym- '. pathy, lie knew, of practically every ' farmer, yet the great majority was con- j tent to allow the few to do the Union , work and finance it. To remedy this . an organising secretary for the provin- ' cial district should be appointed, to can- ( vass for members. Fanners had saved . a good sum during the year by ordering , their manures through the Union. The ] executive liad centred iis attention on < the Land Bill, and £53 8s 2d had been , received from branches and friends to- j

wards the fighting fund. This ought to be considerably augmented. The colonial executive had issued a complete reply to the Bill, for which they were deserving of thanks. But for the action of the Union there was little doubt that the Land Bilt would have been placed on the Statute Book without any material alteration last year. The Union was arranging a reply to every Ministerial utterance concerning the measure, and the meetings held were very s.icccssful, the votes being such as should convince the Ward Government that in trying to give effect to the unreasonable demands of the extreme Socialists and single-taxers, they were fast losing the sympathy and support of the great bull; of the settlers and business people of the colony. There had never been a time in the history of the colony when there was more need for country settlers and primary producers to close up their ranks, and do battle with extreme Socialism. Single-taxers, though perhaps not more numerous, were well organised, and were making more noise than usual, probably encouraged by the fact that some of their number had been getting into high places. A good deal might be said in favor of nationalisation of lands with compensation to tlie owner on the lines of the Lands for Settlement Act. and with fair condition to State tenants; but to nationalise the land by means of single-tax was nothing short of highway robbery. The highway robber must possess a certain amount of strength and courage, but the single-taxer required none of these qualitiesj seeking to do his work by Act of Parliament; but the low sense of justice was as apparent in the one case as in the other, and the immoral object was the same, viz., to rob or deprive the other fellow of his property. lie referred to the proposed Customs reductions as class legislations, for the loss of revenue was proposed to be made up by putting another screw on the land tax. The "'attempt to apply the l'arliaeu'iitary franchise to local bodies, and ilie other demands hatched out by the Socialists served to show that when the Land Bill campaign was over the work of the Union was" not iiuMied, for they must expect attack in some other quarter. 'Die President mentioned a preferential arrangement for accident insurance made with the South British Insurance Company, but the company bad now fallen into line with the OHIO'S, anil the regulation rates were charged. Agricultural education and the (qmnake railway were aNo <!i>.u-sed.

The Conference then proceeded to discuss the remits from the branches. RLACKLKC <H'ARA.\TIXK. llr. A. Voullaire moved the remit -That the Covernmeiit ho_ approached to remove blackleg quarantine, from Taranaki as soon as possible, as it interferes detrimentally with this, sale of calves. - " iir. Jones (Stratford) seconded. Mr 1-1. R. Richards (Lepperton) moved an amendment to leave the matter as iu present. They knew the Department oilieers were anxious to get rid of this blackleg business, and they might take the Confeience at their word. If tinUnion asked them to remove the restriction, and blackleg returned, the olliccis of the Department would naturally turn round and. blame the Farmers' Union. The removal of the quarantine would not necessarily remove the necessity for inoculation." He thought quarantine ridiculous when calves had to be driven along public roads to public saleyards for vaccination. Mr. Davis seconded the amendment, liecause he knew there was still blackleg in his district, and if blackleg spread outside the district, the effect would be worse than the quarantine. The chairman said he ..add not: accept the amendment, a.-, it was a direct negative. Mr. Hobbs (Kaponga) said there was no great hardship in the quarantine regulations, for if a dealer bought young stock and wanted to take them out of the district he needed only to have them vaccinated. iir. Lambie considered no action should be taken until the disease had been stamped out.

iir. ilel.aclil-.in said Hint Hit' cases of blackleg reported from the Warea disnict had dwindled dow-n to one or two, as the result of proper regulations and restrictions. He thought that if the restriction were kept on, and proper precautions taken, the disease would short Iv be stamped out. ' iir. .Maxwell (Kahotu) considered in harm would be done by the resolution if the Department put sufficient emplia .-.is en the words l 'as soon as possible." Rut there was a chance that the resolution might lie taken as an attempt to unduly press for the removal of the Departmental regulations. He drew attention to tiie benelit accruing to (he district by the action of the Depart- ! meat in endeavoring to stamp out the

disease. Mr. Virgin thought tlieie was no need for the motion, and spoke of the value of the preventive measures taken. The Conference rejected the remit. NATIVE LANDS.

Mr. Hine (W'aitara) moved--"That the Farmers' Union strongly oji]i<.~c :itiy methods of with native surplus j lands which create or perpetuate a system of Maori landlordism.'' There was , every reasoiLi'or u cessation of tin- "Tai- ,' Ima." policy in conies-lion with native lands, c'luoiim: from lb.- Dliilv Xcv.s of Monday last hi- showed there was ,1 difference «f opinion amongst members of the Cabinet mi the native ipicstioii. ] 11,. stii-posed the Treaty of Wuiliingi | would he "trotted out" again. Dili tint I treatv was as dead as .lulius (Mesar. or it ought to be. for the Maoris had violated its conditions. It had been argued that as the Maoris were miahle to l„«k after their affairs they should he tivaled .reiieroiislv. If the Maori was an inferior sj.M-ir.ieii of humanity, he had no business to he a white mans landlord. Sir dosejih Ward had said at Homo the oth»r dav that New Zealand was a white man's country, and he was going to keep it white. To do that they must prevent the ui'huildin? of a native lauded

I aristocracy. . Mr Limbic, said he was oi that large ! section of peojile who were ojiposed I ■ : any kind of landlordism, ire suggested i Hi", addition of the following words to 'tin- resolution: "And considers that the. whole of the surplus native lands be ac- ' rpiired by the Crown and disposed of under the optional system." 1 Mr. McLa'chbm said the remit would | be in order if the Government was tnk- • inn; any s'«ps to settle native lands,'but j the Conference could hardly oppose the ICabineJi's work utjtil the latter had done,

something. In fifteen years of ollice the Covernmcnt had made no attenijiL to ileal with the native In ml question. The ! Warca district was cursed with native hinds, which were year by year beconi- ! in;; a. grealer hotbed of noxious weeds. The chairman mentioned that there | was a Native Land Commission now . I silting to deal with the whole question J of native lauds. I Mr. McLuchlan admitted he was incapable himself of making any suggestion as to how the lauds should lie dealt wiih. .Air. Maxwell hoped the Conference would pass the motion unanimously. There were millions of acres lying idle, producing nothing, and paying no taxes: a bar to loading progress' and a hotbed of noxious weeds, absolutely worthless to natives, and, at present, to Euro[icans. Jt was absurd that the (lovornincut should purchase expensive lan,l for the landless, whilst they had so many millions of native and oilier Inn.is lying worse than idle. It was veil known the Crown had the pre-emptive right to purchase native lands, but this had been dons in a dilatory and patch work system, which wasted time, waslea the resources of the colony, and hampered industry of the Europeans; at lla same time indicting an absolute hardship on the ."Maoris themselves, for every year of neglect fif the binds made it more difficult to make productive. Tiicr,, were people who would tackle the reclamation of the lands if they could get a decent tenure, but the leasehold would not suit. The mo'ion was carried. Till-; LAND BILL. Mr. McLaclilan (Warca) moved--•That, in (he opinion of this branch, lb . Land liill is opposed to the best interests of fanners and the colony at large, and thai every fanner be urged to iij his utmost in opposition to same." lie considered the Taranaki bye-election had lit en won on the Land Bill, and instanced the loyalty and intelligence of the Warea ! folk iu voting for the freehold candidate. Mr. Maxwell seconded. '

Mr. Lambie said he was pleased to see that the Government had been unable to find a candidate to support the Land Bill in the Taranaki contest. But, although th» Bill might be dropped, the fanners were not safe. The object nt the land nationalisers and single-taxcrs was to lax the land to the value of the annual rental. Then the leaseholder would have the best of it. The legisla tion of the past 15 years had set class •igainst class. No man or Government, with a sense of fairplay would pass the. Land Bill proposals, but if the singletaxers had their way, the freehold was not safe. That was one reason why the. fanners should unite and stand up lor fair play and justice. Mr. Davis (Uru(i) said the Farmers Union was not united. The trades unions knew their strength, the Fanners' Union did not. Some branches took no notice of the executive. The trades, unions seemed to have money, but the Farmers' Union didn't seem able to pay expenses.

Mr. Maxwell said that if a man had been set up to support the Land Hill proposals he would not have got 500 votes in the recent election. He considered the Government, - by bringing up land settling people on them, were adding to the fighting ranks for Ihe freehold. They could not conceive a freeholder with brains agreeing with the single-taxer. The remit was carried unanimously. WEST COAST RESERVES. Mr. Maxwell, for the executive, moved —"That further endeavor be made to secure the right to native leaseholders under the West Coast Settlements Reserves to secure the freehold." lie considered that under the present laws the whole of the real improvements of the lessee would be confiscated. The ValuerGeneral had stated that the Valuation Department's valuation would not ue taken in fixing new rentals, but he showed that this was being done. Every year the value of the leaseholds was being raised, but only on the unimproved value, so that at the end of the term the. whoie of the real improvements would be confiscated. "Real improvement" did not mean houses or fences; they were tools of his trade. But if a man toolc up swamp land that would not carry a beast to five acres, and by draining converted it into meadowland that would support, say, a beast to the acre, that sweetening and improvement of the land was real improvement. He considered the Government had broken its contract with the lessees, and the only way of protecting the leaseholders was to give them the freehold. These lands under the West Coast Settlements Act were, not native lauds as native lands were known generally throughout the colony, but were merely hinds set aside in the interests of the natives. Referring lo the ltahotu township leasehold sections, which the Native Minister bad promised lo !;kc tenants the right to purchase, Mr. .Maxwell said there could never be any confusion with regard lo the unimproved value. Arguments in favor of leasehold applied to town lands, but the freehold to farm lands.

To questions, iir. Ma.vwc'l explained that the owner (th.- Coveriiiiieiil) had broken the contract !>Y iis system of arriving at a valuation.' iir.' .Morris (llakura) seconded, and urged that the original leaseholder should be given the freehold at the price put on his land under the original lease. (In iir. Ltmbie's suggestion "on cquittahle terms" was inserted in the rcinii, after file word ''secure."

iir. Voullaire opposed Mr. Mollis' ; opinion. lir. Davis moved an amendment so that the remit should embrace holders of all leases, Crown, education or any other kinds, lie was a Crown leaseholder, and the Crown had broken its contract with them. The chairman said the Union had already decided to support that. Mr. Jones (Patea) opposed the resolution, on tlic grounds that the land had been set aside to provide for the maintenance of landless natives, women and children, and old people. If the land were sold to the leaseholders it would ibe unfair. The colony was looking forward to higher land values. Though many considered the price would not increase, they were still buying up land to build up a certain income for themselves and th"ir families after them. Improved machinery would assist cultivation and increase land values. So that if 11 alive lands were sold now. and the money invested, it would not. give the .Maoris the same return as if they continued to hold the laud. Unfairness of valuation was another matter altogether. Another aspect of Ihe question 'presented itself: If the Maoris lost the land, and the money got inio the hands of the (ioveriim"ni, (here was no certain! v that the Maoris would get the nholi' of it. So long as the' Public Trustee was looking 'after them the .Maoris' interests were safe.

iir. Mine considered that no lOuropean owner would be allowed to hold this large tract of land—the State would have acquired it. He again objected to the svstem of while people paving rent to llie Maoris, and alleged that white children were being sweated in order to pay rent lo natives who sqandered the inoiiev in drink. Mr" Morris considered the lessee had no chance of being fully paid for his improvements, such as corse clearing. And if (hey hid to take the Cmoinmenl valuation ihe lessee might as well throw up the lease, for his induslrv and sweat were being - -ivcll for tile belielit of the Maoris. iir, T. Chapman could not see how the natives could be said to have this | laud monopolised, for the Public Tinstee had cut it up and leased it to l-ano-peaus. Mr. Yiruin asked if anv leases had expired, or'was iir. Maxwell's assertion meri'lv surmise* iir. Mine said thai the West Const leases had not expired, but thev were on the same terms as Ihe leases at Pahiatua about which thev had heard re- ( ceullv. .Mr. Maxwell sai,! the Covernmenl had power now to take hue!- from KiiroI peaus. lie was airain-l lai-ee monopolies. I end against the Crown and native land- | lordry. If immense landlordism on the I pni ( of the Crown was had, immense l.indlordrv under (he natives was much worse, ile emphasised (hat the lands were mil native lands, but were vested in fee simple ill the Public Trustee, lie slated thai lb- recorded unimproved

value I.l' native lands left idle was far below that of the unimproved value of these leaseholds whi'di had been worked by Kuropeaus. There was no question that tiie improvements were being forced down to I lie lowest and the unimproved value was being forced up. lie had some gorse land on this tenure, and he was satisfied he was not going to be allowed anything for his work of eradicating it. The natives themselves had done 'nothing to enhance the unimproved value of the land. They had not. contributed to the cost of roading; had done nothing in the matter of public works, or in building dairy factories or anything of that kind. He did not think these Jeases, or any land at all, were a good investment. As the country was thoroughly opened up and settled the. tendency was. towards a decline.-iu, values.

I liinialely the whole of the benefit ol improved machinery must go to the con sinner. He was satisfied that tile best thing for landholders on, say, the Waimate Plains, to do was to sell out at present valuation, and invest the money in some other way. In conclusion, Mr. Maxwell said that lie believed the Publie. Trustee's charges were 7'/i per cent, for administration, exclusive of deductions, which be considered excessive. The. motion was carried by !> to 5. Mr. Lambie (Opunake) moved—"That in any future setting aside of lands by way of endowment for education or any other purpose, lessees of such lands shall have the option of obtaining (he freehold, the purchase money to be placed as principal in the endowment fund." Mr. liine seconded.—Carried. LAND SETTLEMENT. Mr. Jones (for the executive) moved—--That until all Crown and native hauls in the colony have been settled the Union oppose any interference with exist in"- titles, such as limiting (lie area that can be held of lands for which unhampered titles have been granted.'' He considered it ridiculous to purchase producing lands, and re-oll'ev it without greatly increasing its productivity, when there were million; of acres lying idle. The colony's lands for settlement policy necessitated borrowing. lie considered that pcopl? anxious to get. on to the land should be prepared to go in the hack and open the country its the earlier ,ettlcrn had done.

Mr. ' Liiinhie. in seconding, said '.he I L'inil-i I'm- Settlement jinlii-v was creating Inn ai.-.cmee landlordism, tin' Government acting as tin' I'aciois ..v agents in inlh"-iiii" Hi;' rents and sending the 1.,,,111' V out of 11..' country. II wa-i tli.it sort. <if ll«iii?r "'-it "lined i«>l:uul. \ v cre there mi \v:i.-.(<? liiii.K and a great nninhci <.r v.'i'v large estates, tli.'ii the Government should lie .ill!.' to puri-ha..' thee estates. Iml tin' sellers should accept Government bonds, thus keeping tin' imim.y in the country. Whilst not. wishing to set town against o.mntvy, he contended that this puiic-y of the Government liad neen forced on by the towns. Mr. Uickar.ls asked for an explanation of the motion, and Mr. Lambie said that it was time enough to talk of limiting area when the present waste lands had been taken up and settled. This was the thin end of the, wedge of the socialism, which would soon tiy to make men distribute their wealth held in any form. Mr. Maxwell contended that there was as yet no need to interfere, with existing contracts by which people had become possessed of land. No CSiyiDl) limitation or tl").(lti:i limitation, as proposed by the Land Hill, was yet necessary. 'The chairman said the poor man had no chance of taking up the purchased estates. If the money spent in purchasing these were spent in mailing Crown lands it would be of more assistance to the small man. Mr. Hine, though a staunch freeholder, favored the limitation proposals, but not the £5(1,(1(10 limit proposed by the Government. Mr. Rickards considered there were many estates that might with advantage he cut up. The Government had not acted harshly in this matter, and though there seemed to be plenty of estates under offer, had really purchased very few. It was all well enough to say "send the men back." Far too many had been "sent back," and they had come back poorer than when they went in. Lives of men, of women, and of children had been lost owing to people being sent too far back from civilisation, when there were many estates that could be cut up to support hundreds of families. Mr. Maxwell said the remit would not affect the Lauds for Settlements Act,

Mr. .Tones, replying, said there were only eight estates in the colony over the £50,1)0!) limit. If the (lovernment wanted to prevent further aggregation of estates they could put another screw on (he graduated land fax, and the owners would be glad to divest himself of any surplus land. The virgin land must bo opened up, if there was to be increasing prosperity. Mr. J-line said this remit would .be twisted to show that the Union was against limitation of areas, and moved an amendment to add the words "and that the power of the Government under the Lands for Settlement Act is sufficient." The chairman ruled that the remit did not deal with the £15,000 limit, Mr. Lambic agreed that it was cruel to send people away into the backblocks where there were no roads or tracks. If Mr. ltickards' statements were true he thought then' was a very fair indictment of manslaughter against the fioveinmciit. If he himself held laud that was loaded for roads, and no roads were made, he would feel inclined to use a rille when the collectors came for the tax. It was nothing short of burglary, lie knew of no other term that would meet the c:\i-t: The amendment was carried, and the amended motion adopted.

EVENING SESSION. 'the Conference resumed last, evening. .Mr .1. Uodiiic (Elthani), an exl'iM\ineial I'residcnl, addressed the meeting and made reference to the satisfactory manner iu which tli> Union was acting on the Land Hill proposals. He also apologised for the absence of Air J. Davidson, of the 11awera branch. ELECTION OF OFFICERS.

President: Mr Maxwell. Mr Forsyth was requested to again stand ipr,' re-election, but that gentleman declined. The newly-elected president here took his seat and thanked the delegates for the honor they had paid him. .Many important questions (including the referendum) would be sure to to brought forward during the year, and he recognised the. position would he an onerous one. Vice-president: Mr J. W. Jones (Patea); auditor, Mr li. Dive (Elthani); Executive: Messrs A. AUhuscn (Kaponga), S Forsyth (Opunake), J. Boddie (Elthani),',T. Davidson (llawera), J. Thomson (Ngaire), J. Chapman (Awatuna), J. Itobson (Ngaire), J. A. Jones (Stratford), W. Blair (Otakeho), and president and vice-pre-sident ex oilieio. Dulogate to Colonial Conference Mr S. Forsyth. NOXIOUS WEEDS. Mr Hobbs (Kaponga) moved. '-Tint in conseqencc of the spread of noxious weeds in this district lhi> branch is of opinion that more, cll'ectivc measures than are at present iu force are necessary,' and "That inspectors under tile Noxious Weeds Act be empowered to prosecute without lirst obtaining the permission uf the .Minister for Lands.'' lie spoke of ike spread of noxious [ weeds in the Kaponga district. That district had been amongst the cleanest in the province, but of late years ragwort and other weeds were, getting a great hold. At present lite law wav» not satisfactory, Mr McLuehlan (Warca) seconded. Mr Ilir.e opposed the remit, and moved as an amendment, "That this Conference recommend that the Clovernment place the Crown and native la,n'il;S' on, the same footing as ordinary lands as regards noxious weeds." Mr Richards (LcpperLon) seconded the amendment.

Mr TJavN (t'ruti) spoke- of the mail- , run- in which noxious weeds were allowed Id fjrov - ! 1 on reserves ami roads, i Several iilli,', •.: i... also spoke. Mr Chapman (Awatuua) vibji-ctod to noxious weeds inspectors heing »iyen more power. The foriucr needed consideration in the mutter, and it was not ■ always Die easiest thiu«- for a man to eradicate weeds. Almost even- farmer did whit he could tor his own sake. Mr .lones (Stratford) agreed with Mr ( hapmnn. He further contended that inspectors had plenty of power if judiciously enforced. The amendment was carried. uo.vns. Mr Mcl.achlan iW'nrea) moved, '-That U»h l.rancli deplores tin- altitude of the Aclin-I'mmcv re the roa.liiift of tlr hiirk-l.locks. and that enerL'etic step-; he lake,, to provide settles Willi proper meiailed roads." .Mr McLachhin desired (hat tile liivt ponioii lie- Klniclc out as tin- Aetinpj-. I'rcmicr had i?i\<-n a satisfactory explanation refiardini; the matter. ' He would submit anollier motion to read: 'That this Conference ur;;c on the Government the necessity for more expeditious rnadinir in the hack-Mocks." Mr Richards objected to the motion hcinjr w-ithdrawii, and a considerable discussion ensued. Eventually the following amended motion was put and carried:—''That this Conference urjre on the Coveninicnl: the great necessity for more expeditious roadinc in the Injck-blocks, and that energetic steps i>p taken to recommend that the (lovernment construct and maintain all arterial roads." ELECTORAL. 'ln the absence of the Hawera dclie'- ~ gate,: 4 Mr,. Yoltaire (Riverle'i) moyedj

"That it is advisable that some bettor method should be adopted to regulate the secrecy of the babot than at present in use, and that the Electors' Right system in vogue in New South Wales be recommended." Mr Morgan (Kaimata) seconded. A discussion ensued, several delegates opposing the remit. On being put to the meeting the motion was lost. At this st.ige the Conference tdjourned anil will resume at 9 o'clock this morning. AUCKLAND CONFERENCE. I'ROL'ONKI) LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL FRANCHISE. Per Press Association. Auckland, May in. At the provincial Conference of the Farmers' Union to-day, Mr. Kayo moved —"That, in the opinion of this Conference, the time has arrived when the Legislative Council should be elected on a property qualification, and that members should occupy their scats for six years. He thought no men under 40, or over (10 years of age, or who had not been ten'years in the colony, should be appointed to the Council. ..Members should be elected for six years, and if elected for a second time, should be Ulowcd to liold the seat, for life. .Mr. Borric suggested election on a louseholder's qualification. Caotain Roll moved all amendment hat 'the reference to the property ijtialiica'.ii.'ii be struck. Mr. 11. Wilv (vice-president) said bis leart was with Mr. Kaye, but his head vas with Captain Bell. The only way in vhi.h (he present inequalities could be •eiimved would be to give the thrifty nan a second or a "thrift vole," and no; o debar others from exercising a vole. The amendment, was carried unaiiiinusly.